Sermon Prep, BibleDesignBlog Style

I'm back. Sorry it's been so long. I've had two books come out this year (in fact, one of them doesn't actually come out until next week, but it's on the shelves now). In addition, life has taken an unexpected turn. For the first time in a long time, I've found myself in the pulpit. For the past five weeks, I've filled in at church, and it has been quite a learning experience. Awe inspiring, if you want to know the truth. Unlike many of you, this is not something I trained for. I'm fascinated, though, at how quickly a preparation process has emerged. 

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS
When I'm writing fiction, it seems like I'm always reinventing the wheel. Instead of developing a work flow and sticking with it, I change my methods every time, tinkering here, rearranging there. Surprisingly, when it comes to preparing sermons, I seem to follow a similar pattern. Beginning here, with my trusty Rhodia notebook. 

 

I'm a relative latecomer to the Rhodia bandwagon. The first one I tried had the staples up top, and I absolutely hated that. So I gave up on them for awhile. What changed my mind was realizing that the spiral topped version pictured above fit nicely into the same pocket of my briefcase that the Pitt Minion rides in. I forget it's even there until I need to write something down. 

Most of my notebook needs these days are filled by my Filofax, which lets me remove and re-arrange pages. But for brainstorming, outlining, and anything creative, I've been using the Rhodia for a couple of months. The notes from my just-completed novel are in there, and so are the ones for my as-yet-unwritten one. When I suddenly needed to write down some sermon ideas, there it was.

 

I may jot a few things down in advance, but typically the thing that drives me to paper is realizing I have the form down. In other words, as long as my sermon is just a text, just some exegesis and resulting observations, I leave it in the ether to rattle around. When the connections come to me, that's when I grab my pen and start writing. So the outline above looks a little more polished than the first draft it really is. 

   

AN OUTLINE EMERGES
Some people can work from handwritten notes. (Some work with no notes at all!) I take the process another step, developing the ideas further. I write them up as if they were going to be a chapter in a book rather than spoken word. This is where I figure out the transitions and make sure the thought process is going to be understandable to the average listener. 

Compared to a nicely designed page, my sermon outlines are a little busy and frenetic looking. Things are underlined that shouldn't be. Text size varies, sometimes wildly. Occasionally I use different colors. Those of you who know my antipathy toward red letter editions will be amused to discover that I often use red text to differentiate passages of Scripture. (Not just the words of Christ, though.)

 

The outline above is from last Sunday, a sermon titled "Thy Will Be Done." The question I was pursuing there was whether it's possible to feel more than resignation when you run up against the will of God. 

A funny thing happens to me when I stand up in front of a congregation. I lose the ability to read. Not literally ... but it certainly gets a lot harder. When I need to read a text aloud, no problem. It's when I'm not supposed to be reading that I have trouble. For the life of me, I can't glance down unobtrusively and make it look like I'm speaking off the top of my head. That's a great skill to have for anyone who speaks in public. If, like me, you don't possess it, there's no use trying to fake it. That's why I don't pay too much attention to my outline.

A BIBLE FOR THE PULPIT
It's there as a safety net, of course, and to keep my quotations handy. But by the time I get to the point of speaking, the outline has already served its purpose. I'm free to rely on it or not.

 

I spend a lot of time at Bible Design Blog theorizing about the Platonic ideal of a "Reading Bible." There are a number of shadows of this ideal on the market -- editions that get one or two of its essential features right -- but nothing I know of that achieves them all. Part of the reason is that two other ideals -- the Do-Everything Bible and the Teaching Bible -- get in the way. Designers rarely get the luxury of focusing on one intended use. Instead, they have to anticipate every possible application, the assumption being that the Platonic consumer only wants to make a single purchase. 

My recent experience in the pulpit has given me fresh insight into the Teaching Bible. In the past, I've been a strong advocate for using wide margin editions in this application. After all, there's room for your notes. When I taught line-by-line Bible studies, I found this immensely useful. True to that experience, I've been using a Cambridge ESV wide margin over the past few weeks.

I find I don't make much use of the margins. The main text gets underlined, as do all the secondary texts I plan to refer to. I often make marginal notes next to the passages -- not so much explaining as summarizing them. This way, I can glance down and get the gist of the passage. Here's an example from last week. I cited Proverbs 16.33 -- "The lot is cast into the lap, / but its every decision is from the Lord" -- so the verse gets underlined. In the margin, I added this explanation: "God sovereign over the operations of chance." More like the headings you'd find in an older Bible than explanatory notes.

   

When there's a serious length of text to interact with, I find myself copying and pasting. I insert the passage into my outline, adjusting the formatting as needed to guide my memory. (And to think I hated diagramming sentences in Dr. Clark's grammar class twenty years ago.) This gives me complete control over type size, formatting, etc., and in the age of Internet-based texts and word processing, it is extremely simple. 

 

In the sermon above, I wanted to work my way through Ephesians 1.16-23, so that when I arrived at the poetic turn at the passage's conclusion, it would have full impact. Could I have made the necessary notations in my wide margin? Probably so. But I'm thinking a wide margin's ideal use (at least for me) is probably study, not speaking. This is something I am still thinking through, though.

I've taught from larger and smaller formats, and personally prefer the big boys. The size and heft feels right. So does the increased type size. But then I'm not usually working from such a thorough outline. I suspect I could just as easily use something compact like the Allan's PSR in the pulpit. However, I'm a creature of habit. I suspect the wide margin is around to stay.

YOUR TURN TO SHARE
Now I imagine a lot of you are chuckling at my wide-eyed wonder. This is well-worn territory for pastors, after all. As I think about my own process, I wonder how other people do it. I'd love to hear more about how your sermons develop.

And if you're curious how well all this translates, you can even listen in on the result. I've delivered five sermons so far, and they're all on the Living Water PCA podcast, which is available through iTunes. There's even an RSS feed. Remember: be gentle with me.

Comments

[Jerry]

Where are the Rhodia Yoga shots?

[Cris D.]

Mark:
Interesting to read your process for sermon prep. Similar to my own. I did the M.Div. from WTS, but did not go into the pastorate. I've done/still do preaching occasionally over the years. Although I love using Bibleworks and having Scripture available in digital forms, when it comes to sermons I always fall back to pen and paper. Once an outline is achieved it may stay analog (paper) all the way; or it might get typed up via WordPerfect.

It does take practice to be able to look down/consult notes and not lose too much eye-contact or falter in delivery/speaking. I see that in rookie preachers. One way to help with that is be familiar with your outline and what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Blessings in your service,

-=Cris=-

[Jason]

I just bought two of the spiral top Rhodia pads for myself after seeing them in one of your earlier posts. I like the fact that they have high quality paper and a durable cover as I can be hard on notebooks. The top spiral is great for me as well being that I am left-handed.

[Jason]

Cris,

I have noticed this as well in those who are just beginning (mostly missionaries from my point of view) and this is one of my greatest fears when it comes to public speaking. I hated speech class in college but found that by the end I got much better. While I have taught in front of large groups, I still find myself looking at my notes and doing so very obviously. I know all the material that is in the notes/outline and beyond it but when I get in front of large groups of people that nervousness arises and I find myself drawing a blank every now and then. Good pointers but sometimes knowing everything that is there cannot help if the confidence to speak is not there. : )

[Joe]

Thanks for sharing your studies with us, Mark.

It's interesting that you selected the Cambridge WM this time around. I have yet to hold one in my hand and actually read from it, but it seems that the font is a bit small for a bible that size. I am hesitant to spend the money on a Cambridge WM and be disappointed with it. That's just me.

[Mission Lawrence - Radical Christians Wanted]

I find my actual practice far from ideal. Instead of a Rhodia, I use a moleskine pocket journal with flexible cover for those notes and ideas... not all or mostly sermon related. When it comes to actually writing, I go straight to the word processor though I will often refer to my journal's notes.

Recently I've switched entirely to the updated HCSB (2009 version) whose bibles are just coming out. I have a copy of the simulated leather Minister's Bible... beautiful layout. I'd prefer leather, but it was free! Wonderful black letter text layout though I'd prefer it be somewhat larger print, especially in the pulpit. I generally prefer a large print there.

I wish I had a "system"... I'm a tentmaking pastor and don't have the study time I would like...

[Tom Laciano]

When I have prepared lessons I tend to use an electronic version as it helps me copy content, notes, and links to multiple resources in an effort to reduce for presentation.
I use http://www.e-sword.net. I would encourage making a donation sufficient to get a CD given the expanse of resources. From there you can consider purchasing additional resources you prefer.

Anyway, hope this helps if you didn't know about it.

Tom

[Gerald Bastin]

I start out with pen and paper. Scribble out the thoughts, illustration ideas, just whatever might make into a sermon. Finally filter the scribbles and type up my outline/ notes. I use a regular 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper in landscape format folded in half so that it will tuck neatly away in my Bible (TNIV Reference Edition). I have to do this since I don't use a pulpit of any kind, there isn't anywhere to put anything. In fact I hold my Bible the whole time I preach, which makes for great Bible shaking and finger pointing opportunities! I also have found that if I have more then two half sheets of notes, I need to do some serious editing, just too much.

Truth is the longer I preach, the less notes I use. Now they are mainly a backup if I lose my train of thought or want to read a direct quote from someone. Many is the sermon where I don't ever reference my notes at all. A far cry from the three ring binder I used to carry up to the pulpit.

[Jason]

Tom,

I used to use e-sword a lot when I had PCs. Now that I have switched over to Mac they do not support this platform. Now I use QuickVerse which is very similar, however it costs more. Both are excellent products though.

[Ralph Abernethy]

Good to have you back, Mark. I've missed your posts.

[David Ferguson]

Interesting to read how you put sermons together, especially since it seems that you don't teach very often or that it is new to you. I hope that I understood that correctly?

I am not a pastor, nor do I have any training. I've spoken at our church about once a year over the last 6-7 years. The first time I did it was because I felt a burden to share and felt as though it was a step of faith that I needed to take. Thankfully our pastor allowed me to step up and share one Sunday. After that I filled in occasionally for the pastors when they are on vacation or all away at conferences.

The first couple of times I did it, it was a pretty terrifying experience. I can only imagine what I looked and sounded like. I pretty much had to pretend that I was not frightened in order to get past the stage fright. Thankfully I had some slides and movie clips the first couple of times.

For my message notes, I pretty much used my written journals or my PDA (now Blackberry) to type in quick notes and thoughts. Then I would sit down at the computer later and start typing. If I got about 5-6 pages of notes and coherent thoughts typed in, then I would start going back and refining the notes and expanding my thoughts directly into the Word Document. Very iterative process. Thought the overall direction of the message didn't change as long as I had a decent idea of where I was headed. I never did get into hard-written notes and outlines. Did all my thinking on the computer screen if that makes sense.

My messages were pretty much topical in nature, meaning I did not go verse by verse through a section of scripture. I appreciate that type of message and would love to be able to teach that way, but now that I've actually had to sit down and put a message together a few times, I can start to get a glimpse of just how .... intense ..... an experience it would be to develop a verse-by-verse sermon.

As it was, the first couple of times I spoke I spent 30ish hours over the course of a couple of weeks in evenings and weekends putting the message together. Actually, I pretty much typed it out word for word and then developed a separate set of speaking notes that hit the highlights. So I had two separate documents at the end. Then, due to our service style, I also had a power point presentation which was yet another simplification of the outline.

Once I had the message typed out, I would rehearse it numerous times. I aimed to have it ready a week ahead of time so that I could practice a lot. I made many, many changes based on the rehearsals. Reading the message outloud at first and then trying to hit all the points with only the outline. I never got to the point where I didn't need notes. Maybe if I gave the same message about 10 times, I would get there. Or if I spoke a lot more often.

I think that the rehearsal read through is my favorite parts of the sermon creation process. The anxiety of hoping that you will have something to say has been somewhat alleviated because I have a functioning draft in hand. Plus, as I rehearse, I sometimes feel very close to God and very excited about the message that I am building. Then also, very practical edits to the text come to mind as I listen to the flow of the message. Missing pieces, dangling paragraphs, better (funnier) ways to say something. I can also make notes regarding verbal emphasis. I need to make sure that I am making a message that is meant to be heard and not necessarily read.

The last couple of times that I've spoken, I've streamlined my process a bit. I aim for no more than a 30 minute speaking time. I have about 5-6 pages message. I still go through the multiple rehearsal stage, but only about two days ahead of time. My total prep time is now in the 12-15 hour range. We've pretty much stopped using power point at church to track along with sermons, so I don't spend time making power point presentations anymore. I insert scripture that I want to read directly into the text so that I am not flipping back and forth between my bible and my speaking notes.

Yes, sorry, I don't use my bible at the podium. Hope that doesn't get me banned from this blog? ;)

That said, I think that if I spoke more often and became more comfortable speaking with minimal notes, then I would switch to reading from my Bible.

In recent years, my level of stress and nervousness has drastically diminished. Thank God! I remind myself that I am speaking for the sake of the Lord and the gospel. I remind myself that I am serving Christ and not men. And I commit myself and the message to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I also remind myself that I am giving our pastor a much needed break when I speak and that I doing him an act of love and service.

Makes a big difference in my nervousness. Oh yes, and I allow myself the use of pretty detailed speaking notes. I know that is not the best practice and my goal would be to eliminate those notes if I spoke more often. So I relax, use my notes, and make sure that get eye contact, walk away from the podium and my notes on occasion and try to insert humor at a few spots to keep the message interesting.

Thanks for allowing me to share. This has been fun.

[Wilson Hines]

I must say that I have never heard of the Rhodia Notepad, but they sure look nice!

I use a standard "Steno Pad" for brainstorming and outlines. It is the perfect size and I like the light green paper.

I'm not too much of a stickler on the brand, because quite frankly when I need a new pack (usually buy'em in packs of six or something like that) I go to WalMart or Staples and you know how that is, they change brands like the wind.

Wilson Hines
wilsonhines@gmail.com
twitter.com/wilsonhines

[Tim Sheets]

Would be curious to hear about what Bible you other preachers use to preach from?

[Tim Sheets]

Posted on my prep and it didn't show up. I'll try again. Here's my sermon prep in a nutshell:

- Prayer and reading of passage. Maybe read passage several times through in different translations.
- Begin outlining passage. Noting key phrases and words. Consult dictionaries and commentaries if necessary.
- Underline and highlight in bible. Make notes if space. Using a Allan's PSR right now to preach from. Seems to be working well. Might consider a bigger font in future.
- Get out of office and go to some place different to make sermon outline. I use the classic yellow notepad to scribble my notes down. I love doing this at my local coffee shop.
- Take my notes and make a manuscript. Read it out loud from pulpit and add additional changes if needed. Add notes or additional illustrations to manuscript and if time permits re-type it and add in changes. If no time, keep first manuscript with addtional notes.
- Work on memorizing my introduction leading up to the scripture reading. This way I can smoothy begin sermon without looking at notes.
- Prepare Powerpoint. I keep mine really simple (5-6 slides). I love just putting the scripture references because it forces people to open up their own bible and read it. I may also have the main points and a quote or two mixed in.

That's how I do it.

[Roger Scully]

Wilson,
I used to use a wide margin edition for preaching/teaching, but when my eyes began to be a problem I started thinking I might need to make a change; but I stuck with the wide margin for quite some time. However, I began to note that when I was fulfilling speaking appoiintments for other churches, other than my home church, that my wide margin actually did not fit in some of the modern style pulpits. So, for preaching/teaching I began to use a giant print edition, which I can easily read, and decided it better to just commit to memory anything that I might place in my wide margin. I have also noticed that many of my colleagues use giant print editions for preaching.

[Roger Scully]

My apology, Wilson, I meant my comment to address Tim.

[Kurt]

Most of my sermons develop this way: I choose a text to begin the sermon with and figure out what my main idea or theme is. I then develop the main points that relate to that idea. I try to come up with this basic structure as quickly as possible and write that down, then I move on to fleshing it out with supporting ideas, illustrations, applications, etc. I spend a lot of time thinking about the sermon before committing words to paper. When I'm ready to write the sermon, I'll go to the computer and write it out. I like to do it this way because I can easily edit and rearrange material. I don't preach from a full manuscript. I prefer a simple outline containing the main thoughts that I want to present. This helps me to maintain good eye contact with the audience.

[Alan]

I preach from an ESV Single Column Reference in black calfskin. I find that having the text arranged by verse rather than paragraph a plus from the pulpit. I write all of my sermons directly into Powerpoint, which I know isn't very romantic.

[Bro Pete]

I find that when I sit down to write, I can't think. When I stand to preach I can't read. When I search my notes to find the end of an illustration it's all jumbled. When I recite from memory (even simple short verses) I can't think of the first words or the last line that everyone knows. But my wife tells me that when I don't look at my notes and don't try to be entertaining with illustrations and speak from the heart and admit that I need to find and read from scripture (even the easy verses) that I preach much better.

One thing that I've learned and blame the experience on you Mark. I ordered an ESV1 directly from Scotland. It arrived on a Wednesday. I was so excited to have and use my brand new Bible. I stuffed my notes as a bookmark at the main text and headed off to church. When I began to preach and looked down at my Bible; nothing looked right, the text wasn't the font I was accustomed to, the verses weren't in the right place on the page, even the red letters weren't there to help as landmarks. Red-faced, I introduced RL Allan's fine binding to to the Wednesday night prayer meeting. Since then I always study and prepare my sermons from my preaching Bible.

Mark, as an aside I would hope that you can use your influence to encourage Broadman Holman to publish a wide-margin, fine leather HCSB without all the "minister's helps" in the back. I find that this translation lends itself very well to reading scripture out loud. It seems that it is just as accurate without sounding as stiff as the ESV

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1020694270]

I have taught numerous times but I have "sermonated" only a few times. In the past, I have worked on a sermon just as I would a research paper but this last time (June 20) I followed the guidance of John Fallahee's CDs, "Teaching and Preaching with Logos Bible Software." I think it worked very well but I must admit I did sneak in some paper and ink work too!

[Peter]

Love all of your works...nice insight.
Greets from Germany

[Rod Summers]

I find that I need to use the same Bible in the pulpit or for teaching that I use for study and preparation. For teaching I prefer the WMs. For sermons I prefer something that is "quickly" legible like a larger single column (Cambridge NIVish). Having said that I start a new class this Sunday on Hebrews and the iPad is going to get a run with the ESV HD app just to see how it compares with the WM.

[J.W. Montgomery]

For the pulpit, I use the large print ESV. It is conducive for finding one's place in the text quickly, and there are no layout-clogging cross-references (which I like in the study, but don't find helpful in the pulpit).

[J Caldwell]

I preach from an ESV WM, single column. I move a lot in the pulpit and the verse format allows me to find the passage quickly.

For textual Bible classes (one Sunday morning we are going through Revelation) I use the margins. As I study I write in passages that are not included in the references, I may make notes about the original language (if it illuminates the verse), or paraphrase.

For topical classes and sermons I use a typical 8 1/2 X 11, half inch margins, 12 point font, 1.5x spaced. Again, due to my movement this allows me to pick up more quickly.

As for sermon prep...I use a yellow 8 1/2 by 5 inch notepad with a perforated top. I do a lot of jotting and arrows and underlining, so I go through a lot of pages. When I am done with making notes and studying, I type it up. When I create my PowerPoint, it serves as a outline refresher.

[Chris Bloom]

Forgive my ignorance, but I have to ask: what exactly makes a Rhodia so good? It looks like an ordinary steno pad to my untrained eye. Enlighten me, please!

I did enjoy the article; I'm scheduled to preach my first sermon next Sunday, so I'm looking for all the help I can get. My emergency plan is to hook the mike up to my mp3 player so I can lip-sync to Voddie Baucham, which, for a wormy little white guy like me, would be quite a neat trick. ;)

[Eric Kieb]

I'd be interested to know what fonts you use in your outlines, they look crisp and clear....

[Francis]

I think the biggest difference in sermon prep from one person to the next will often have nothing to do with sermon prep at all, but instead be related to how that individual processes and remembers information. Once that is identified, I’ve noticed that prep style and teaching style often tends to follow semi-predictable patterns.

For myself, I am a detail oriented big picture man, if that makes any sense :).
In order for me to remember any details at all, I have to really really really know and understand the big picture. If I “get” the big picture down solid, the details become easy. “Study” becomes a critical stage of sermon prep for me, because even though I haven’t even started organizing the sermon (for all intents it looks like I’m just doing a word study), I’m absorbing the big picture, and from there everything else flows easily!

I find for my style I can break it down into a series of steps:

1) Choose a topic.
This might end up being something I read recently and thought was cool, or it could be something that’s been on my heart lately. Primarily, I’m waiting for the “ah hah!” moment that tells me THIS is the message that God wants delivered. Sometimes it comes quite quickly, and other times he makes me wait :), but my structure is not so rigid that I have to have my topic by a certain time, I just wait for the right topic and have faith that if I’m teaching what God wants, the rest will fall into place.

2) Research and read.
This is by far, the most important element of my prep. This is a 50/50 split between reading and copying down what I read and think into a giant MS Word document. I’m strictly digital at this stage, I just never learned to handwrite all that fast, but I can type very quickly. For general bulk reading, I’ll use my WM study bible. For research oriented study that has me jumping around a lot, I use Bibleworks. It’s expensive, but I find it to be an indispensible tool for me. Mostly I’m just copying verses into giant bulleted lists in Word, creating sub bullets with notes about the verses, and trying to keep things somewhat arranged by general sub topic and context. Nothing is really laid out at this point, it just looks like I’ve been doing some private study :).

3) Narrow down.
Now I’ve got pages upon pages of loose thoughts and scribbles. I’ll go back over it and cull some out. By this time after all the reading, it’s become pretty clear to me what doesn’t fit with what I THINK I’m going to deliver. Funny thing is, what I think I’m going to deliver doesn’t always match up to what God wants taught :). So for many of the things I’m culling out, I just send it to the end of the document rather than hitting delete. This gives me my complete research notes in hand and ready to go (on the last few pages), even if I figure out as I’m walking up to the podium that I need to take the sermon in a little different direction than originally planned. Also, I’m TERRIBLE at remembering where most scripture is, even if I recently read it! So having the extra verses on hand during a teaching is often the only way I would be able to find my back there if I decided to include one them in the sermon.

4) Format.
Pretty self explanatory. Once I’ve got the material ready to go, I’ll format it for the teaching. I tend to insert any and all verses I plan to read into the typewritten notes. Usually Arial or Times, depending on my mood that day. Average font size of 14pt. Sometimes smaller if it’s a point I think I might skip. Bigger if it’s a point I don’t want to forget to mention. Various mixes of bold and underlining to make sure the notes get the message across to me.

5) Deliver.
This portion of my style is very flexible and changes to meet the needs of that particular day. Before going out there, I talk to God and say “alright God, use me to get said what you want said!”. I never really know what is going to happen when I start talking, because sometimes God nudges me in a different direction and I just have to go with it. My notes are purely there to keep me on track, making sure I hit the highlights. Remember that context is big for me, so all I really need at this point is a half sentence reminder of the sub topic, and I’ll do my own talking without the notes for a few minutes. If I find myself drawing a blank, I can fall back on reading that point out of the notes, but usually I just talk and check the notes regularly to make sure I’m hitting all the important bits. If I find myself abandoning the original direction, I’ve still got the other research notes in the back few pages that I can use. From a reading standpoint, I’ll mix it up. I carry my bible with me to the podium. Sometimes I read from the bible, sometimes I read from my notes. Usually it depends on much time I want to eat up with that reading, how much time I have, and how much time I want to give them to stew on what is being said in that moment. Sometimes there’s no podium, and I’ll condense my notes further and insert them into my bible (8.5x11 folded in half does the trick).

I do have one hard and fast rule – I always carry typewritten or handwritten notes – no PDA/iPad/iPhone netbook preaching. Quite simply, technology fails at very inopportune moments, and I don’t want one of those moments to be while I’m up on the podium! Otherwise, organizing my notes in an iPad or tablet PC would be wonderful!

[Wilson Hines]

Mark,
I want to thank you for introducing me to Rhodia. I've totally converted to Rhodia for everything from note taking in class, a no.13 w/ leatherette for random thinking (mini-journaling), 2010-2011 Academic Calendar, the A5 (6X9) for French class, and the A4 Webbie, which I haven't quite found a use for yet.

So, thank you.