Sermon Preparation Resources
Practical guides for pastors on weekly sermon prep, exegesis, and preaching with confidence.
Sermon Illustrations You Can Verify Before You Preach Them
Sermon illustrations do more damage than any other part of a sermon when they turn out to be false. Four documented accounts, each with a link to the source so you can check it yourself before it goes anywhere near a pulpit.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Plan a Sermon Series That Holds Together for Months
How to plan a sermon series is a different job from writing any one sermon, and it is the planning most pastors skip. Here is how to map a series that keeps its shape from the first week to the last.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Study the Bible for a Sermon Before You Write a Word
How to study the Bible for a sermon is the step most preachers rush, and it is the one that decides whether the message has anything to say. Here is an unhurried way to get inside a passage before you outline a thing.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Reuse Old Sermons Without the Congregation Noticing
You can preach an old sermon again, and most great preachers did. The trick is re-preaching it so it lands like it is alive, not like a rerun. Here is how to refresh an old sermon so it breathes.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Find Sermon Illustrations Without Recycling the Same Five
Every preacher has a drawer of go-to stories, and the congregation has been through that drawer too. Here is how to find fresh, honest illustrations that serve the text instead of upstaging it.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Preach Without Notes (Without Losing Your Place)
Preaching without notes is not a memory trick. It is knowing the shape of your sermon so well you could walk it in the dark. Here is how to get there without white-knuckling it.
Read article →Sermon PreparationWhat Happens After the Sermon Ends: Your Options for the Invitation
The sermon is finished. Now what? Altar call, silent reflection, a response song, a straight dismissal - the options are wider than most preachers were taught, and the choice matters more than the wording.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to End a Sermon Without Fizzling Out
Plenty of good sermons die in the last two minutes. The teaching was solid, then the landing turned into three false endings and a mumbled prayer. Here is how to finish strong.
Read article →Sermon PreparationIt's Saturday Night and the Sermon Isn't Done
Every preacher has been here. The week got away from you, it is late, and Sunday does not move. Here is how to salvage a real sermon when you are out of runway.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Write a Sermon Introduction That Doesn't Lose the Room
You have about thirty seconds before people decide whether to listen or start planning lunch. Here is how to open a sermon so they lean in instead.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Prepare a Sermon: A Simple Weekly System for Busy Pastors
Most pastors spend 10 to 20 hours preparing a single sermon. Here is a repeatable system that cuts that time in half without cutting corners on the text.
Read article →AI Tools for PastorsAI Sermon Preparation: What It Can Do, What It Cannot, and How to Use It Right
AI sermon preparation, assessed honestly: which tools actually help, how to use ChatGPT or Claude on a passage, where they fall short, and why you must check every quotation they hand you.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow Long Should a Sermon Be?
The honest answer nobody wants: as long as it needs to be, and not a minute longer. Here is the real range by tradition, and how to know when yours has run past its point.
Read article →Sermon PreparationHow to Write a Sermon Outline That Actually Preaches
A sermon outline is not a summary of what you will say. It is the skeleton that keeps the whole thing standing up. Here is a simple, repeatable way to build one.
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