People occasionally ask about my routine for preparing to preach. After years of trying to perfect my routine, I’ve learned that I prefer to study early, often as early as 5:00am. Anytime I’m working on sermon content, I always make sure I have all the essentials within reach to minimize distraction and keep me in the zone.
Below, Pastor Craig walks through the four phases of his sermon prep process.
My first phase of sermon prep includes gathering and researching. I try to learn way more about a text or topic than I will ever share. Once I’ve gathered information, I produce an outline. I always highlight material in yellow that I want to emphasize and highlight material in green that I’m not sure I will want to keep or delete. View the structure of my notes for our Habits series on Open Network.
Once that outline is built with foundational spiritual principles, I shift to what I call the “YOU” phase. During this time, I will spend a couple hours pretending like I’m talking to YOU — the attender. I try to ask myself when an attender might respond with, “Who cares?”, “So what”, or “But, not in my case!”
During this phase, my focus isn’t on WHAT I say as much as HOW someone will hear the content. As pastors, we know there’s a difference. We know that “knowledge” alone rarely moves people to action. More often, emotion is what moves people to action. My goal is to help you feel an emotional connection with truth. We can help pull out that emotion in the stories we tell, how soft or loud our voice is, and by well-timed pauses.
More often, emotion is what moves people to action. My goal is to help you feel an emotional connection with truth.
Pastor Craig Groeschel
Then I move into the feedback phase. This is when I talk through the message with other people in our office to get feedback before I preach. I also seek feedback right after I preach. During this phase, it’s important for me to seek balanced feedback from different viewpoints. My experience is from the perspective of a 50-year-old caucasian male who’s been a Christian for decades. I need the perspective of other genders, ages, life-stages, pasts, etc. to make sure my message is relevant to many.
You may be asking, “Does your staff really give you hard, helpful feedback?” The answer is yes. They give that feedback because I expect that feedback from them and create an environment for them to feel comfortable giving that feedback.
Then in the final phase, I work on finishing touches and editing for overall flow and interest. This part of the process is usually wrapped up by Wednesday at noon. I don’t touch the message again until Saturday.
Saturday afternoon consists of two hours of praying and loading the message deep into my heart. Then it’s time to preach God’s Word like it’s the most important thing that I will ever do. And I trust God to do what only HE can do in the hearts of people.
Find Free Sermon Resources on Open Network
When you’ve built the perfect sermon, head to Open Network to find creative elements to add to it. And for those weeks when creating your own sermon won’t fit, check out the large collection of free messages from churches around the world.
Browse Free Message Resources →What’s one thing you can do this week?
- Download Craig’s preaching outline from Open Network and use it as a starting point for your next message.
- Try the “YOU” phase in your next sermon prep — spend one hour asking “Who cares?” and “So what?” about every point you plan to make.
- Identify one person on your team who can give you honest, hard feedback on your messages before Sunday.
- Browse the free message library on Open Network and find a series for a Sunday when you need a break from the pulpit.
With a few of these tips, we hope your preparation process becomes a bit more streamlined and fruitful. Let’s reach people together.
Browse free sermon resources at open.life.church →
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