6. Write your Introduction for each message.
Now, with the whole series in mind, write your Introduction, one sermon at a time. Each Introduction should contain some information, even if only a sentence, that connects it to the series as a whole. If you do this right, and you say something like, “In this series we are learning about how to control anger,” you might hook someone who needs help in this area to come back for the whole series. The idea is to build interest in the topic and get them coming back for more.
7. Now, finish writing each individual message.
Go back to Sermon #1 and start writing. You already have a title, outline, Scripture text, illustrations and Introduction. All of the main parts of the message are already put together. Now begin to fill in the information that will explain each point, tie each point in the outline to the next, and to the sermon, and to the series as a whole. You will be amazed how easy this part will be. I have found that having all the hard part done first removes any writer’s block I experienced prior to using this method. Write Sermon #2 and following the same way.
8. Write your Conclusion.
You can either write your Conclusion as a part of writing the individual message (above), or save it until everything else is done and then write all your Conclusions at once. Whichever way works best for you is the way that you should do it. Like the Introduction, try to tie the message to the series as a whole in the Conclusion.
That’s it! While this process is probably somewhat foreign to most of you, it really isn’t all that different from normal sermon preparation. I guarantee you that once you get the hang of this you will not go back to the old way of doing things.
Think of these benefits:
1) Tremendous time saver (without sacrificing quality)
2) Advanced preparation (have your sermons done a month or more in advance)
3) Consistency (your congregation will receive a steady diet)
I’d like to encourage you to try this method and then get back to me and let me know how it worked out for you.
