Preacher Panics

At various times, pastors open up to me about certain “panics” they experience. For example, getting late into a given week and still not knowing what to preach about on the Sunday coming up is one matter. Another, that’s slightly different, is having decided on what the passage of the topic will be, but then having little or nothing of value to preach concerning it.

I’m one who believes the Holy Spirit will occasionally respond quickly and beautifully with a great sermon idea even when a preacher pushes the “panic button.” Then again, I have even greater confidence in the Spirit’s ability to give clear guidance during a planning session concerning the church preaching calendar held months ahead of time. If pushed to say which scenario I prefer, it would be the latter.

For me, planning well in advance tends to eliminate the last-minute panic of what to preach about. To be more specific, I would always like to know what the Sunday sermon subjects are at least two or three months out. As of today’s date, I’d want the sermon topics pretty much decided on for now through the end of June.

Knowing where everything is headed gives me a longer opportunity to gather materials, a longer opportunity for thoughts to mature, and a longer opportunity for me to hold significant conversations with others on the chosen texts or topics. And to me, these represent key factors that keep the panic attacks in check.

This doesn’t mean everything is set in stone well in advance. Changes could always be made, but there need to be compelling reasons why.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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