Sermon Prep
Mar 28, 2007 Print This Post
.:mood:. Whelmed
.:itunes:. Nightswimming by R.E.M.
So I’m sitting in a coffee shop, working on my message for this weekend and my brain was fried. So, I decided to troll blogs for awhile. I came across this quote by Carnivorous Caribou:
While working on the next post in the series I was digging through a text. As I sunk my teeth into it, I realized it was not at all making the point I was trying to make. That caused me to pull back, reassess and jump right back in.
However, when I reexamined things, I realized the text was making a whole greater point than I was ever going to make. Therefore, it may take a day or two, but the rest of the series is going to go in a bit different route.
He was talking about his blog, but it made me think of my message prep. I have read a couple books on preaching over the last year and I have been thinking about my style / preparation methods / etc a lot. Just recently, I finished “The Big Idea: Focus the Message-multiply the Impact” by Dave Ferguson and his team. This is a church that really lives out what they believe. They have a singular approach to ministry and they do it well. (BTW, you can catch a podcast interview of Dave by clicking here). I wouldn’t always do it the way they do, but that doesn’t matter. They are inspiring in what they do.
One thing keeps ringing in my head, though: they start preparing each message 9 weeks or so in advance.
Wow.
Steve gets his done a few weeks in advance.
I’m working on mine for this weekend right now.
I have tried and tried to get on my messages sooner, but I can’t seem to do it.
I have gotten better at knowing the general flow in advance. In fact, I generally know what I am doing for every series this year. But when it gets to preparing the individual messages, it is always the week I am preaching them.
Not sure if it’s a lack of disciple, but I get really bored if I write them too far in advance and I don’t get rocking without the pressure of the deadline looming.
And then there is the above quote. That happens nearly every single week. I get moving on the prep and at some point, there is an AHA moment, when I throw out everything I have been working on or I significantly rework it. Sometimes at the last minute this happens and it stresses me out.
Again, I should try to get to these faster.
Or at least, I should get to this week’s message now instead of blogging.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Work on a message 9 weeks in advance? Are you crazy? I’m seriously a week-to-week kind of guy. I’m with you on the aha moment. It’s probably my ADD but I just am not that global of a thinker when it comes to my preaching.
March 29th, 2007 at 7:40 am
Noel, it sounds like you’re frustrated and getting down on yourself because, perhaps, certain people you respect and admire have a different way (a better way for you? maybe, maybe not) of doing things.
You have a gift for teaching and communication — this is obvious to nearly all who see and hear you. You listen for what God wants you to say and are passionate in your conveyance of it. You are keen to interpret scripture plainly and deliver God’s word in a way that is refreshing and has impact. As a result, God is using you to change lives. The effort, frustration, et cetera, of the process doesn’t show.
God made us all different from each other for good reasons, and comparing our ways of doing things to the ways of others has limited value. I’ve learned much from others who are not just like me; but, in the end, I’m not going to change the fundamental way God made me to be.
Inflexible deadlines can be the best thing for creative individuals, to whom time-management means something different than it does to others.
I, too, thrive under pressure, and some would label me a procrastinator. Yes, of course, I need to plan ahead and break apart a project into manageable tasks. However, I wouldn’t produce what I do without the creative juices getting squeezed out at the end, even if it requires a few all-nighters.
Key, I think, is to make accommodations for the process and to make sure others aren’t adversely impacted by it. It would be easy for me to be inconsiderate of others if I am not being attentive. On a practical level, those planning other elements of a service need to be aware of the general topic and main point(s) of a teaching at certain stages in advance in order for them to do their job well.
In any case, I hope and pray God keeps you and your fellow pastors doing what he made all of you to do, in your own styles, for some time to come.
March 29th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Doug-
Thanks so much for the encouraging response. It was super honoring.
My main wrestling point has been what you refered to in the end. I have to make sure I get stuff to the creative teams in enough time for them to plan.
We have recently started a creative team meeting each month which has helped a lot with this.