Expository Sermon Preparation - Part 3

See the previous series:

Expository Sermon Preparation - Part 1

Expository Sermon Preparation - Part 2

(11) Write and develop your sermon.

1. Organize your sermon material.

Review and organize any insights, illustrations, quotes, or other supporting material for your sermon that you gathered during your passage study. Now you should arrange that material in preparation for outlining and writing your sermon.

2. Create a sermon outline.

A sermon outline (also called a homiletical outline) is a way to organize thoughts about how to preach a passage. The structure of the sermon outline need not be bound to the structure of the passage's exegetical outline. Instead, it should be focused on communicating the main preaching point in a way that grabs and holds listeners’ attention.

3. Create a sermon document.

Is there a question that this passage answers or a tension this passage resolves? How can you structure your sermon so that it maintains tension on your way to providing a resolution?

4. Add illustrations to your sermon document.

Take the material you gathered during your study of the sermon passage and select illustrations to insert into your Sermon document.

5. Add application points to your sermon document.

Review your sermon outline and locate areas to include calls to application.

So what?

• How does the truth of your passage apply to your listeners?
• What should be your listeners’ response?
• Is there anything they should do or believe in light of the passage?

6. Write your sermon body text.

Now you need to write out your sermon. The main advantage to writing out your message in advance is that you will have put thought into not only what you want to say but how you want to say it. You may begin writing the body of the sermon; others begin with their introduction or conclusion.

7. Write your introduction, conclusion, and transitions.

Your sermon needs an introduction, body, conclusion, and transition sentences that help you move from one idea to the next.

8. Prepare to preach.

The final stages of preparation for preaching vary greatly according to your individual preferences. You should pray that God uses your message to reach your listeners with the truth of the gospel. You may take your message and practice your delivery.