Simple Preaching Tips - Preparation Part II

Yesterday I posted a preaching tips blog about sermon prep, and the response from both my regular readers was so underwhelming, that i decided to stick with the same topic another day...

When I talk about preparation, I'm talking about 2 things:

1. Preparing Myself.
It is not enough to prepare a great sermon to preach, and not prepare the preacher. We prepare ourselves to preach by walking with God. It is not enough to have a good sermon, but not be a good Christian. Self preparation is about heart, attitude and relationship with God. This is the hardest and most painful part of sermon prep. Now for the easy part...

2. Preparing My Sermon.
A little info about our church - Victory Metro Manila - might help you understand my preparation context: 
- 25 year old church in huge metro area (14 million)
- multi-site with 14 Metro Manila venues
- multi-service with 64 weekend services on Fri, Sat and Sun
- multi-generational - equal number of kids, teens, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's...
- multi-language with weekly sermons in English, Tagalog and Taglish (English-Tagalog blend)
- discipleship-based church with 3500 small group leaders scattered all over the metro
- over 50 different live preachers per month (no video preachers)
- multi-generational preachers with preachers in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's
- all 64 services feature the same sermon
- our kid's church preachers preach a kid-friendly version of the same sermon with the same big idea
- our sermon prep team meets quarterly to write and edit sermons
- every preacher has the freedom and responsibility to develop and communicate the big idea any way that makes sense to his/her particular congregation
- while all 64 venues present the same big idea, all 64 will are different - depending on the audience, the preacher's gifting, style and personality
- all this requires massive preparation and coordination
- this is constantly in a state of evolution

Some of my really spiritual (mystic, charismatic, "spirit-led") friends are bothered that we plan in advance. They say that it will not be "fresh" or that it will not be the timely word of the Lord.

But doesn't the Holy Spirit know what the church will need to hear a year in advance, or does He only figure it out Saturday night? If the Holy Spirit actually does know what is needed in advance, can't He let us know in advance, or does He have to wait until the last minute?

Why do we equate lack of planning and last minute with being led by the Spirit?

 

Comments

[edgar dicimulacion]

gud day Ptr. Steve Murrel!

hi im edgar dicimulacion, currently im the president of a campus ministry also known as the Steward Group in University of Rizal System-Morong. i've read one of your book titled "one 2 one" and were planning to use it as a guide in the ministry the Lord has given to us. i hope and pray that if you have some extra time you could visit us in our school and also pray for us that the Lord will use us mightily for the glory of His name.

God bless you Ptr. Murrel!

[Adam Mabry]

Thanks P. Steve. What a great point about HS speaking to us in advance. Love that.

[Brent]

Because it allows us an excuse to procrastinate and then credit (blame) God for the last minute stuff we come up with while forgetting that planning and hard work are vital ingredients to getting anything done well more often than not. Just ask Noah and Nehemiah (the guys in the Bible), I am sure they would agree.

[Serge Solomons]

Ps. Steve, Serge Solomons (His People, Namibia, Africa)

1) Your comments on "Preparing the Preacher" is helpful. I recently descovered that it is more important to sort out my own motivations, attitudes and focus before the Lord. This minimizes sharing out of my hurts, frustrations and selfish desires.
2) Besides leadership development, why else do you not use video screening? Surely it could be a great tactic at the start of a church plant to alleviate the pressure and assist the church planting team to gain "momentum" as they prepare to go "live"
3) I agree with your comments regarding preparation for sermons. However, one can still remain flexible and fit in a "on-the-spur-of-the-moment/ fresh Spirit-inspired" message at the and of the series before launching into a new series, we also use it as a "Testimony Sunday" in our context.
3) The Metro Manila church context is impressive, balanced and great to learn from. Thank you.

[Gene]

I agree with the thought that "the Holy Spirit knows what we need in advance", and i agree with the model that we as a human being and a christian should follow our God who planned how to save humanity through Jesus Christ.