I’m doing a couple of breakout sessions at Velocity today on how to write a Bible-based, Gospel-focused sermon. In addition to describing our process, I’m going to walk through these five principles:
1. Start with the Bible. Sermon preparation must begin with God’s Word and what God is saying to you. Don’t start with a YouTube video or a cool series graphic that someone put on the Internet.
2. Look for a driving idea. Sermons should have one driving point, not be all over the place. Try summarizing your sermon on twitter – that’s your main idea.
3. Create a carefully worded principle or come up with a dominant illustration. Agonize over the word choice or tell your story masterfully. Good sermons have at least one of these; great ones have both.
4. End with a clear action step. In the book of Acts, Peter called people to repent. I believe the most effective sermons call people to do something immediately.
5. Finish early. Proverbs 3:9 says that we should honor the Lord with our first fruits, and I believe this applies to preachers. Finish your sermon early in the week, because it’s your most important task. Repeated Saturday night specials blamed on the Holy Spirit don’t honor God.
