An interesting peek into pastors: A look at their sermon notes

Thanks for posting this! It was indeed insightful. Interesting how different Dever/Driscoll/Keller are in their approaches to preaching and sermon notes.

The thought struck me, maybe we ought to do that here - compare notes of recent sermons just to encourage one another in prep, etc. Or maybe that is a silly idea. At any rate, here is mine from last week's sermon. I take a full manuscript into the pulpit, and use it as a sort of outline for what I want to say. I don't read it word for word, but basically say what I have written (I read the manuscript many, many times before preaching). I have gone to this style from outline preaching because 1) it forces me to do all the work and thinking and avoid cutting corners and 'winging it' and 2) it helps me say all that I wanted to and not forget as much.

 

I am somewhat old fashioned. Introduction, point one, point two, point three and conclusion. I also like alliteration. It helps to remember and keep me in order. I only take the outline into pulpit, but also type out quotes to read.

Sermon text...Deut 32:7

"Remember he days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

3 kinds of memory: sensory (fleeting awareness)
Short term -working.
Long term -storehouse.

1. Remember and forget not...Deut 9:7
2. Remember the many generations.Deut 32:7
3. Remember me..Judges 16:28

These were my sermon notes of an actual sermon I preached to veterans. This is all I took into the pulpit along with my Bible.

Each of the point are obviously explained and illustrated. For example, I started this sermon with a poem..Jenny Kissed Me, and then talked about my first kiss,memory. You get the idea.

Never liked lengthy notes; most preaching was off the cuff, so to speak.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I don't have to compare others, my own are crazy different. Sometimes a few scibles on the margin, some a foral outline, some written out, some just scripture reference, and sometimes nothing.

 

Pretty cool, thanks for linking. I loved the contrast of sticky notes to full length manuscripts, some of them very long.

 

I generally print things out Saturday night but decided to wait 'till Sunday morning this past week.... bad choice.... printer went down

I hastily wrote out my notes... got most of it too.

My notes are word-for-word so when I get distracted I can always go back to where I left off and still get the points.

Rob

 

I save my manuscripts under the text they cover. I keep a file for every book of the Bible that I have preached on, so looking back is pretty easy.