Like everything else in our world, leading a local church has become more and more complex. More and more is expected of every pastor, but there are still only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. Yet, during that same 24/7 the pastor will be expected to respond to every pastoral care need, attend a lot of meetings, and in most churches, preach three sermons. While one of these sermons could be considered a Bible study, there are hours of preparation involved.
Let’s tackle the last problem. How, given everything else a pastor has to do, can they be expected to deliver three substantial moments of teaching and preaching? The secret is to make your work serve more than one preaching/teaching moment. All of your study, all of your preparation has to be captured so it can be used more than once. So, how do we do that?
First, plan your sermons in advance. Take a half day and plan your sermons for the next 3 months. If you can, take longer and plan more. This will allow your worship and discipleship teams to plan their parts of the church’s ministry comfortably in advance. These days, few sermons are preached without some kind of visual aids. This advance planning will allow your creative teams to accomplish their work with minimal stress. Of course, if you’re on the design team, this will give you a few weeks of lead time to prepare your sermon support.
Second, remember your Sunday morning service is your priority. Give most of your time to the preparation of this sermon. Let’s be honest. This is the only time 60%, if not more, of your congregation will engage with you. The Sunday morning sermon is the only time you’ll have to communicate with them. So, make it count.
Third, use your overflow research for Sunday night. There’s always more good stuff than you can use in one sermon so use it Sunday night. Any parallel verses or multiple points from the Sunday morning sermon that you couldn’t use, make them the focus of the Sunday night service. No one will be offended if you begin Sunday night by saying, “There was an interesting point I couldn’t get to this morning.” Most will appreciate you leaving it out of the Sunday morning sermon so they could get to lunch on time. Also, you emphasize the richness and depth of the Scriptures by doing this.
Fourth, use Wednesday nights to prepare for upcoming series. If you know you’re preaching on the Sermon on the Mount in six weeks, teach on the Sermon on the Mount on Wednesday night. Use this time to get a head start on your upcoming sermon preparation. You’ll be surprised how many sermon illustrations you’ll find because you’re thinking this far ahead.
Lastly, use quotes you run across, questions prompted by your reading and random thoughts for your social media. Using social media allows your congregation to be part of the sermon’s preparation and conversation.
Using the old preaching truism that you can count on 1 hour of preparation for every minute of your sermon leaves little time for the pastor to do anything else. Teaching Scripture is one of a pastor’s primary responsibilities and yet, with all of the other expectations, sometimes the sermon gets robbed of its required attention.
Having the discipline to follow this simple formula will make sure you’re prepared every time you preach or teach. Your congregation will appreciate your work and focus. You’ll appreciate the confidence of always being prepared when you step into the pulpit.
