I am gearing up for my first trip of the academic year to teach at the School of Preachers in Riga, Latvia. The first weekend we think about the questions: “What is preaching?” and “How does a preacher prepare a sermon?”.
First, I choose or am given a biblical passage or theme to preach on. Sometimes this is last minute but usually we have plenty of time to think about it. Often at this stage I will open a document on my computer, cut and paste the text, and jot down a few random remarks that occur to me at the time. I then close the document and don’t open it again until nearer the time when I need to preach.
Second, I have a corner of my brain where I am thinking about that sermon, making connections with my life, the church and what is going on in the world. Sometimes news items or cultural landmarks will help me to see some of the connections between the biblical text and the daily experience of my hearers.
Third, I begin to work on the sermon. Here I am looking for four things:
Purpose, structure, movement and message.
Purpose: I want to know why this text is in this place. For example, the story of the lost sheep can be found in two places in the New Testament: Matthew 18 and Luke 15. What is clear is that the story is used for different purposes in each place. In Matthew 18 it speaks about caring for the little ones in the congregation, but Luke 15 it speaks about winning the lost.
Structure: I want to see how the passage hangs together. I take note of repeated words or ideas. What patterns can I see in the text and in the book from which it is taken?
Movement: The ancient view was that stories have a beginning, middle and end. I try to trace that movement in the text. Where are its turning points? What are people doing? What questions do they ask, and how do these actions and questions advance the story?
Biblical commentaries can be of immense help at this stage. They are often good at structure and movement.
Message: The Bible contains great stories and part of the pleasure of reading is seeing how these stories work. I want to ask what is this passage saying to its original hearers, what is it saying to me and what will it say to my congregation?
Fourth, I put the sermon together. I usually have a sheet of A4 paper printed in two columns in a landscape format. I fold the paper so that I have two sides of A5. During my preparation I have been looking for pictures for a PowerPoint presentation. I am a visual thinker, and these slides serve as a visual backdrop for my words.
Fifth, prayer has been a vital ingredient to the whole preparation process but, before I preach, I pray over what I will say. I think about the people who might be before me and pray that the message of the sermon will connect with them and bring transformation.