The Front Porch - Sermon Preparation

I'm debating our new Brule I'm Lewis love and I'm Tony Carter and welcome to the front porch welcome to Portugal once again nice being your neck of the woods again yeah nice day to it in Illinois we're chopping up today guys we want to talk about sermon planning sermon preparation right yeah so what's that look like can you look so we about gays right so day one reading reading the text in a in multiple translations what day of the week is that for a Tuesday Tuesday so you begin on Tuesday I get on Tuesday okay so what does one I want to begin on Tuesday okay in a good week Tuesday is my is my begin day Monday is my off that take mine's an off day enjoy so I come off Sunday and I rest Monday yeah so Tuesday it's reading reading the text multiple translation I'm gonna read every every translation I have on my my software and then running all the cross references doing all that so basically if I if I had good penmanship it would be my Bible and in a notepad like one big long was like King John Jesus old school so it's mean my Bible in a keyboard and I'm looking at that text I'm looking through I'm looking for typically look for the text you know repetition key words key key thoughts and that kind of thing I really what my goal is to know that text through and through and to you have my outline you know and where I want to go with that text done on Tuesday that's kind of A to Z looks so day one you're trying to finish with the text kind of in your heart in your head that's right and an outline on on your keyboard on that on paper yeah what's what's the day one for you when do you say one typically Tuesday you begin to kind of inch it up a little bit I mean Tuesday I kind of reserved for meeting the people are you off Monday - yeah I kind of do money's like a honey to do day okay you know so I get stuff done around the house that I need to get done run errands I might need some repairs or something like that so I usually do that over on Monday and you do the repair you take it to the shop it depends on what kind of look but uh and then Tuesday kind of begin to wrap it up like Lucette looking at the text and various translations beginning to get an idea of you know what the text is saying where I might want to go with it I don't do a lot of you know work as far as writing anything now it's a lot of meditation praying and reading of the text with the time that I have allotted for Tuesday which is about how much well that depends because Tuesday also kind of reserved for time to meet with people so people want to have a meeting it's usually on Tuesday okay somebody want how to lunch I try to do it on Tuesday you know and so on depending on what's going on there in between meetings you know going into the afternoon with dinner with the family maybe sometimes a few hours a couple hours whatever get it in on Tuesday just meditating and praying through the text is that first thing is that just two hours in Tuesday somewhere that first thing in the morning after you finish or whatever I have meetings every Tuesday morning I meet with a men's discipleship okay so then following that I might have another meeting and I plan one individual or a local pastor or something like that Tuesday's really took meeting day okay but in between those times or when I don't have anything planned you know I'm reading at meditating on that text and I'm a rising myself with the various translations what might be some discrepancies between translations knowing or making note of that knowing that when I finally do get into text that's something I'm gonna have to look at that's something I'm gonna have to deal with dealing with it oh right you just identified I'm just a Democrat so what so what sure you expressed your goal for the end of that first day what's your goal for that sort of Tuesday just to see what the various translations are saying about that text begin to look at some of the original languages so that I have some type of familiarity with the text beyond just you know reading in the translation I'm going to preach from you perhaps but if there is any kind of variance or discrepancies in the text you know I want to know that I want to know those you know on Tuesday okay so my work weeks a little bit different so I'm Monday through Friday and I take a Saturday Sunday kind of weekend I don't I don't count Sunday as a work day and and yeah I don't I don't come to the text until Thursday so I block out Thursday and Friday as sermon prep days and Thursday being the first day of sermon prep it's really broken up in the two halves for me so that morning I'm just reading the texts kind of what you guys are describing just trying to grow in familiarity with the text noting sort of textual issues reading in the different translations and just rereading and rereading and we reading the text and beginning to not only note sort of textural issues but also beginning to think about sort of exegetically how to outline the text and then Thursday afternoon for me my goal is is to finish at least with a thorough exegetical outline and and probably three four five six possible homiletically outlines how how would I preach this so if I can in on that first day having read the text into my heart and head right and at least an exegetical outline sort of culminated in a in a sort of main point of one pregnant sentence this is what this text is about then I feel like I'm in good shape to begin Friday morning crafting or that crafting the sermon itself so Friday morning when you begin to actually begin craft discernment yeah so that's day two for me so like day two for me would be like Wednesday but see your your first day is a little more intense than our mmm so my first day is just a little kind of ramping up I got it ramped up to Thursday and Friday okay which become more intense and good because I could I think I find that I studied better when the pressure is on mmm and so I kind of give myself Thursday and Friday so you know Sunday's coming what's right get busy if I start too soon and you know I might get comfortable you know the slothful mm-hmm and but Thursday and Friday and I know the pressures on because I want to finish my fries it's interesting and that's why I normally don't start reading the text earlier in the week because is it's it's not that I feel like I'm gonna get slothful it is I feel like my heart gets dull and I get too familiar with the text and and so the text feels more alive I feel more receptive to the text on a Thursday and and having those two intense days or so sort of why or the day in that way that's what makes it's good because yeah I mean you just get a lot done right in a smaller window of time but you're getting done on Thursday morning takes me Tuesday party day Wednesday and Thursday to get to mmm all right and so and that's been that's good because people do have different makeup so you know you read different books right just the way you ought to do it pop up a pop right got really this way you know you're an infidel this is coming because I did it the day I think we all have the same thing in my same goal you know but we're getting added it a little differently and different times and in that way we our processes are to serve us rather not serving our process right so that we're not slaves to some book that said this is how you must do it even though there's some things that you actually have to get done getting the same things done that's just that the timeframe in a method we're getting but we all get into the same conclusion and we all are basically using she was saying me as the methods and maybe another what's right so so what is so that's sort of day one you guys are sort of percolating up to that what's the sort of second stage or second day look like for you guys what are you doing it's it's my second day is our to four you know it's yes it really is yes but yes it's getting to the you know the exegetical outline that sort of thing getting you know maybe a word studies that's appropriate for that text at time and it's called we're gonna depend on if I'm starting a new book or if I'm if I'm part the way through a book already it's a lot of the background stuff it's already already completed and so yeah it's just kidding yeah that pregnant statement that's in that text and and all those kind of things and working out that and working on those discrepancies and and and doing a hard work of again cross referencing and kind of things you do to get at those discrepancies and making decisions about which way you're going to go with right with the text yeah yeah that's basically what it is for me like on Wednesday began to outline the text you know putting together an exegetical outlet okay what is what is this text saying and then after figuring out what the text is saying they're not what do I want to highlight what are the themes and the sex that I want to highlight so by by Wednesday but the end of Wednesday I have what I want to preach from that okay okay now in terms of the main points points okay the main points that I want to bring out in that text and the themes that I want to focus on I know that by Wednesday Lord willing hmm and then Thursday begins to really again put some meat on so you're writing on Thursday I'm writing on Thursday and Friday you you guys ever feel like in the beginning of your study process and preparation process you ever had a problem of writing a sermon too soon that's just me I would I would err on writing too late if I if I can write if if I'm if it's a text that I that I'm going to next I mean if it's a good flow I mean it's like this next piece of flow is really good to what was said earlier that I preached a week before then I will get to my writing a lot sooner and that for me is that's a comfortable place to be that means I do I in my head I do know the text I I've already worked out the kinks in terms of the discrepancies comes Annette maybe in a previous study I had to look at later on later on in that text for that if I get to writing too soon as always a good thing for me okay yeah I can always come back and trim and say I didn't want to say that if I'm writing I know where I want to go with that text that's one thing I guess that's what I'm asking if you ever find yourself feeling like you've go in a particular way with the text before you actually know what the Texas right so sometimes I feel like I sit down and I go ooh you know and like three points fall out and and and I have to sort of push that back to day two because I want to make sure I understand what the author is saying but not just sort of coming to us at just this will preach this way and that's easy to do because the more familiar you are with the Bible you know you you listen to the sermons you reading about sermons and things so once you come to a text you read for me what you think you already know mm-hmm way you want to go with that and how you want that set to come across and so you can easily begin to skip steps you know and jump to a two or three and without really having done the initial legwork that you usually do you know you know that that that does happen no pictures especially when you preaching through familiar tags right yeah but I think what I try to do I think Alex Trebek's at this one time that you come to the Bible as an agnostic like you like you don't know anything about it you can't know anything about it that makes you work harder at knowing it as opposed to coming to it like a like someone who's already really really familiar I already know everything and that's a difficult thing sometimes too if you've been preaching a long time and you've heard a bunch of messages yeah that's probably one of the in the familiar text is a hard thing for me to say you know what okay I know what I I've heard this breach before I know what it says I know what it's about okay how's this how's this ministering to my heart God what are you saying to me out of this text you know how you know and that kind of lays who was it was it Owen I don't know one of them Oh old fellas I said that the the Word of God can't flow watson-watt is not does not bow from us powerfully until it's within us yeah and that's that's what I especially when you're in books that you've got you've heard preached before I happen to be in finishing up second Timothy so I've heard the pastors preach too long a lot for a long time and I have to work at that and that's rich because there are not discovered I'm hi-c cheating but it's just some things you just haven't seen before because you're going with what everybody else has said about the text and those in those days on those weeks the commentaries just stay up in a bundle bookshelf yeah so so we won't come to commentaries because I'm interested to see how you guys use that but in terms of writing any any particular approaches you guys adopt in your own you we're now you've outlined the text you've got the main thought you you've thought through how do you want to preach it so you've got a homiletically plan in mind is it what's writing look like for you and and what and what's the product I mean writing a full manuscript or outline what are you doing there I'm writing I'm writing up when I'm putting together a an outline and it's a beefed-up outline okay I'm like a manual and if you want to call it that but and writing for me is trying to establish the flow from the introduction the first point second point third point four point however many points and to the conclusion and so I'm writing trying to disturb which establish how do all of these fit together mm-hmm what is the flow that I'm trying to identify because I'm not trying to just make points in isolation all right you know but I want them to to flow I think it's easy to create points in isolation real test and I think the real quality in sermon prep it's getting those points to work together to flow in and with one of them so so when you're writing you're flowing from beginning in introduction to the conclusion right and you're working on flow I heard the brothers say one time when he's preaching we're talking about we're in a conversation about do you announce your outline and he was arguing he didn't like to do that because he'd worked as a guy who laid carpet and he described it as hiding the scenes and laying carpet he has it he knows what it is but he doesn't announce it or necessarily telecom is that you or is that part what you mean by flow or would you say yeah I'd want some creases to be seen well you know I used to I used to not announce my you know my outline or points in the beginning until I you know had a conversation with an old sage named Michael leach you know Mike Mike made the point that it's always good to give some people wrote maps of where you going hmm you know the more that you can give them so they can anticipate where you're going it's helpful good and then I found that you know when he said that I thought you know that's probably true and so now actually announce where I'm going you just you know so I tell I tell the people you know yeah we got such a search points we're gonna cover such and such material you know and then let's go get it but I can I can sympathize with that well of you I used to paste Adam say so what about you sir sometimes something sometime sometime we do sometime I don't it just depends on the text I used to think when I was first being trained to preach and train to prepare you know you have the three points you know it was like a speech right introduction your three points of your conclusion make sure you making good transitions and all of that and I have found that that's a pretty good theory it doesn't always work with the text and I was balled out one time for not having three points three points I have a three points yeah Wow that's God's ball doubt about that well we debate it anyway about and and his position was you got to have three points yeah now I'm like well you know what it's really gonna depend on that text and so right if that text lends itself in my own mind and heart an announcement of my points before that work sometimes good in the sermon time that doesn't work so good in this sermon and sometimes I and this one could be crazy all right I could y'all can go ahead and smash me on this sometimes I think a text is so clear and what it is saying and that I would rather the people pick it up as I'm preaching hmm so if when I so when I'm moving when I'm moving to the next point I've done my first point i'll announce that i'm going to the next point sometimes it seems to me that a certain passage of scripture and those points are so clear in that text that they could almost read it themselves right there and so i like on those occasions just to just to flow with it i I I'm finding I'm finding more and more that these that yeah there are certain things that just must be done certain preparation and in paren and preaching proclaiming a message there are some do's and some don'ts some things that are absolutely necessary that you ought to be doing in summer preparation like you said earlier though and finding that thing it's not it flows herbs and flows and what and how you do then how you get to that and it might not look the same even though you ought to have a plan of how you all work it out but sometimes it just doesn't look the same way on that point speed I love the little anecdote distilled about Gardner Taylor he's doing a Q&A and something somebody asked him how many points should be in a sermon and you know and that kind of slow stately way he said at least one you know I almost always I think when I'm writing the sermon and I got my homiletically outline for me and it depends on the type the kind of scripture you're preaching on sure yeah but for me I'm tend to think of my sermon points as building blocks some way in some way logically advance in an argument and so I tend to announce the points mm-hmm ahead of time and through the sermon in order to believe hopefully bring people along with me in the argument of the CERN chair and in that way but that you know as you say there's no there's no there's no a matter of Bible how you do those well the other night when you preach other night and when you preach the you you seven points he said there's seven there are seven observations I would make right and so what happens is that the three point people go oh I'll be here all day in seven you got seven points right and it's amazing because when you have we had read the text together and when you said there are seven observations that I want to point out and you said they all begin with s anyone could look at that and know exactly what you were going how do you want to run that maybe not anyone but I'm like yeah Wow they're right there because it was right so clear and you just expounded them that's all and that's kind of the that's kind of what I like the text to do they said that the best preaching is that's done I'm a who but they said that the best preaching is when people look at that text and I say yeah Ted is what it say right right and yet we are often preaching to people who don't know their Bibles right who as I forget the author said now why Johnny can't preach who don't know how to read text sure right and so yeah Gordon and and so I think we want to be careful to be mindful of those folks who are new to this whole experience and new to the Christian message new to Christian text and help those who are yeah so any any final thoughts in terms of you know sermon preparation we're on day 2 we're writing things of that sort when do you come into commentary yeah that's what I was about to say commentaries are extremely helpful and I get into the commentaries once I have come to some conclusion or what I want say what I have what I believe that the Lord is leading me to highlight and bring from that day I get into the commentary for the purpose two purposes one to make sure I was right yeah I don't want to reinvent anything I want to be novel this one right true was probably not new and what encouragement it is to having prepared a message and then go and lift and Calvin Calvin said of saying anything yeah you know and so that's one reason I get the commentaries out just to make sure to check myself right and make sure that I haven't going out and left filled with something another reason for the commentaries is that I may have missed something and I will find nuggets in the commentary that will make me go back and say I need to add that sure and if I add that to my sermon that Sparks and me maybe further ideas mm-hmm I mean I need to add not so to beef up my outline of beef up my write my sermon that I've already what the gap no competition rules to reason and what what day what day is that that's now that's usually on Friday that's your finish up date that's my finished up day that's the last thing you did the last thing that's not the last thing I do and then go in and make highlights and things like that change add some stuff in yeah I've been doing my final draft solar summer today I'm much the same way I you probably doing this too I go to commentaries one is sort of exegetical commentaries it goes did I get the text right right Oh am I having some argument with the rest of the common folks think here's why I land and why but the other reason I also go to a homiletically I go to commentary sermons oh yeah collections of sermons sure that's the last thing I read usually on a Saturday night if I read one and I'm reading voice I'm reading start I'm reading guys on that same text who is so much clearer than I am it's so much more useful night as for my own soul yeah it's the last thing I do for my own soul what's the instead of reading I listen sister I listen to sermons okay yeah yeah fine line and I don't listen to people preaching oh known and unknown to me yeah see the cards not being fair cuz I've been with him one time he's working off some stuff Carter can listen as weird as he's reading you can live I said my heart how do you do that how does that work I can't do that okay and so yeah but yeah so sermon preparation a glorious tool a real privilege it's a lot of work you don't wanna skip any steps you wanna be a to the task but we all are different and so you got to find something that that works or anything in that one hey man thank you for joining us on the porch come sit again do it

Channel: The Front Porch

Views: 25,852

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Keywords: Sermon, Preaching, Preparation, Prep, Front Porch

Id: IdfubXUp-IY

Length: 26min 4sec (1564 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 15 2014