I recently got to participate in a workshop on preaching for church planters in training. I was one of three people contributing. The other two guys have been preaching much longer than I have, and one of them has a PhD in preaching. Needless to say, I learned much more than I contributed. Nonetheless, writing some things down forced me to name things I think are important for every preacher. Here’s what I shared.
First of all, there are basic preaching principles that you should already know. I am talking about things required of good preaching – preaching the text (exegetically), preaching to the heart, engaging culture, preaching the gospel in every sermon, and clear application. Keller’s book Preaching does a wonderful job with all these and more.
But there are also other things I’ve learned over the years regarding preaching that I’d encourage every preacher to embrace. Here they are.
1. The Vibe of the Text is the Vibe of the Sermon
If the passage is a lament, don’t preach it like a pep talk. If it’s a warning, don’t soften it into encouragement. If it’s narrative, embrace the story. If it’s instructive, teach. This sounds obvious until you catch yourself defaulting to the same emotional register every single week, no matter what the text is actually doing. Let the passage set the tone. Don’t impose your own.
Coaching question: Think back over your last few sermons, were you preaching the tone of the text, or your own default tone?
2. Work Hard
There’s no substitute for time in the text. This means time spent in prayer, study, lingering, questioning the text. When that time is done, there is more time spent outlining, writing, and editing. Preaching takes work. Luther said it better than I ever could:
Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They rely on these and other good books to get a sermon out of them. They do not pray; they do not study; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture… Therefore the call is: Watch, study, attend to reading. In truth, you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well.
My friend Dusty Thompson put it in a way I haven’t been able to shake ever since I first heard him say it: “Most churches will not outgrow the quality of its preaching.” Sit with that for a second. Good preaching is both grit and grace. Work hard at it for the good of the people and the glory of God.
Coaching question: Where in your weekly prep are you tempted to shortcut the hard work of study and prayer?
3. Expect the Word to Work
Eugene Peterson said the pastor’s primary job is the work of word and prayer. I try to preach like I believe that. Not hoping my delivery lands, not leaning on a clever illustration to carry the moment (don’t hear me saying illustrations aren’t important). Instead, I want to actually expect God to do something with his own word that I can’t do with my own effort.
Coaching question: Are you preaching like you actually expect God to work through the text, or are you just giving sermons and going home?
4. Be Yourself
Don’t preach like someone else. It’s tempting to borrow a voice you admire. I see this all the time – parrot preachers. I was guilty of this early on. Mimicking the cadence, the humor, the intensity of preachers I admired. But the voice in the pulpit has to be yours, or the congregation will feel the disconnect.
Coaching question: Whose voice are you unconsciously imitating, and what would it look like to preach in your own instead?
5. Protect One Day a Week, Ruthlessly
Sermon prep will get crowded out by everything else in pastoral ministry unless you defend it on the calendar like you’d defend anything else that matters. One full day. Ruthlessly guarded. Not “whatever’s left over.” For me, this is Tuesdays. I leave the house and I don’t go into the church office. Why? Because both at home and at the church office I get distracted by needs and impromptu visitors. So, I go to the public library. I get there as soon as they open, and I stay there until I have an outline. On good days, I leave with a rough draft. I made this change about a year ago and I cannot stress what a positive it’s been in all facets.
Coaching question: Do you have a protected day for sermon prep on your calendar right now? If not, what’s stopping you?
6. Do Less, Better
Fewer points, developed well, will always beat a sermon that tries to say everything the text could possibly say. Say less. Say it well. In the early years I would preach 45-minute sermons. Don’t do that. Today I aim to preach 35-minute sermons. To be honest, my best sermons are 30-32 minutes. Cut the complexity and aim for clarity from start to finish. Yancy Arrington’s book Preaching that Moves People is worth every penny just for his “get down the mountain” metaphor.
Coaching question: What would you have to cut from your next sermon to let the one main idea actually land?
How I Plan Sermon Series
I think about the whole year, not just the next Sunday. Map out a 6-12 month preaching calendar for your church. Here is how I do it.
- Pick a theme for the year. Something that gives the congregation a throughline across multiple series, not just a string of disconnected topics. For example: in 2025 our church’s theme was “Life with God”. Everything in my sermon calendar was aimed in that direction – including both topical series and book studies.
- Consider your church’s rhythms. Advent, Lent, Easter, Summer. This can help you organize your calendar and sermon series length.
- Alternate Old and New Testament throughout the year. Ensure your people aren’t only ever hearing from one part of the story, and keep stretching yourself to preach parts of the Bible you might not otherwise. One of my favorite series I’ve ever preached was in Jeremiah. I would have never chosen that if I wasn’t forcing myself to develop an Old Testament series. We took 10 weeks and moved thematically through the book.
- Run one equipping or training series a year — something aimed at building a skill or a habit, not just teaching a passage. Last year we did a series called Making Space: Cultivating a Life with God. It was a time for us to equip the church in spiritual disciplines. We’ve also done this on evangelism, stewardship, and lament.
None of this is complicated. It’s mostly a matter of deciding on it in advance and holding to it, which is harder than it sounds once the calendar actually fills up.
Coaching question: If you mapped out your preaching calendar a year at a time instead of series by series, what would you want your church to have heard by the end of it?
If you’re a pastor or planter wrestling with any of this, I’d love to talk it through. One of my favorite things to do is talk preaching and help others — reach out here.
