35 Preaching Tips
If you are preaching on Sunday, start working with the text on Monday. Don't wait until the weekend to write your sermon!
Congregations love it when you say something true about the community in your sermon.
Take one day off work a week. (Saturday is this day for me.)
Don't staple your manuscript.
If you are preaching in a church for the first time, ask them what kind of microphone they use.
Working Preacher has a lot of great commentaries and resources.
If public speaking scares you, find one person in the congregation who is really listening to you and focus on them.
Write out the text in different translations and pay attention to the translators' word choices.
Pause and breathe. Write "pause" and "breathe" in your sermon notes.
You have the authority to preach. Your authority comes from God and from the people who invited you to preach.
Preaching begins in the body, so take care of yours.
After spending time with the text, let it marinate. Go for a walk, listen to music, take a nap. That's all part of the process.
Vanderbilt has the Revised Common Lectionary and resources for preaching using the RCL online.
Follow a weekly rhythm for sermon prep. Know what you plan to do each day and do it.
After writing a draft of your sermon, review your transitions. How does one idea flow into the next?
Schedule time to rest after you preach.
Take a deep breath before you preach. It will calm you and signal to the congregation that you are about to begin.
It's okay to point out inconsistencies in the Bible. You can argue against the text in your sermon.
One of the benefits of preaching from a lectionary is the community of others preaching the same text, in commentaries and online.
Find a ritual to center yourself each day before you start working on your sermon. My practice is to spend time in silence using the Insight Timer app.
Make a list of your own questions about the text before going to commentaries. Then the commentaries will answer your questions instead of telling you what to focus on.
It’s okay to change the words you preach in the moment. A sermon is a living, breathing experience.
Don't try to be someone else when you preach. The church needs YOUR voice.
Many sermons focus on teaching or persuading, but there are many other approaches. Consider crafting a sermon that laments, rejoices, or takes the form of a prayer.
Think about the most memorable sermons you have heard. What made them stand out?
Hold the community that will hear your sermon in prayer. What is God saying to this community this week?
Remember that you are part of the community that will hear your sermon. What message do you need to hear?
Take a deep breath and let it out. Then another one.
Talk to others about the text throughout the week. This will help you clarify your thoughts and show you aspects of the text you might otherwise miss.
Consider your social location and the impact it has on your preaching. How you see the world depends so much on your race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and where you are from.
Format your sermon notes so they are easy to read, with a large font (at least 14pt), scripture in italics, and points you want to emphasize in bold.
Don't tell jokes at the expense of your family in your sermon. It's not worth it.
Think about how you want the congregation to feel by the end of your sermon. How does your sermon evoke that emotion?
"Say one thing. Say one true thing. Say one true thing about God. Say one true thing about God and sit down." Ted Smith
Share the message you want to preach, not the one you think you should.
If you want more preaching suggestions like these, check out my online class, Preaching with Confidence!