The conclusion of my sermon preparation always found a desk piled with books and disarrayed sheets of notes and clippings. Attempting to organize the disorder, I would review the basic contents. Once while doing so, I discovered a scrawled thought that was exciting and pertinent. In order to document it, I searched for the source and only after an extended period abandoned the effort.
Continuing my prayers in the following weeks, I gradually became aware of the recurrence of more and more thoughts that came from “nowhere.” They were always the best ideas—a concise statement of the principles I had been agonizing to express; a life application that would bring me, the preacher, on my knees before God; a sentence that would summarize the total effort and give me a handle with which to work.
Then I began to understand! God was answering my prayer, not in an experience of flashing lights or tingling sensations, but in the routine course of sermon preparation. My hand was writing what His Spirit was impressing on my mind as I studied the Scripture. He was quietly guiding my thoughts. When Sundays came I was ready to preach with a new confidence.
Peter speaks about this secret in his first letter when he states in I Peter 4:10-11:
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
The very words—or, in some versions, “oracles”—were to be God’s, not other men’s thoughts, as good as they might be.
Gradually, that massive section of my library, the sermon books and commentaries, began to decrease as unworthy volumes were discarded. And, only a few came to replace them.
Now I spend the greatest part of sermon preparation time with my Bible, a textual commentary to insure accuracy, and in prayer. I feel very confident that I am a person who is speaking God’s words, and since the message is first vital to me, it is very likely it will be to my congregation as well.
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No matter what type of Sunday sermon you need to create, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
