Sermon Poll

I have been out of town the past few days and so missed this post when it came out.


I use a fairly complete outline with full sentences when I preach. With a computer it has made shaping the sentence structure and detail a lot easier. It also makes it easier to re-preach a message if needed without being back to square one. I limit my notes to three half pages in a 10 point font. That keeps my message length within a 30 minute time period, though I may go over 5 occasionally.

 

I use an abbreviated outline which consists of my key main thoughts which are written out in full. I want to state those points exactly. Under each point I will type out any grammatical or exegetical arguments to be made. I put those down in detail so as to be accurate. I also put down memory keys for illustrations. The material I take into the pulpit is usually 2-21/2 pages. What is on paper is for keying my memory and is far from a complete manuscript.

My sermons are usually 30-35 minutes in length.

 

I preached on Saturday night and the pastor told me I had 20 mins. How can a man do justice to 1 Peter 1:3-5 in just 20 minutes. It went 35 to 40 mins. And God used that message to tell me a thing or 3. Am I the only one who needs the message I preach (probably) more than the congregation I preach it to?

 

I don't know how many times in my short tenure as pastor at CPBC that I have been convicted by the message God brings out. (That's why I started that post on fasting in the general forum.)