How To Prepare Sermons That Work: I often find that sermons that work are sermons that have well structured sermon outlines. That is, the sermon outline has a clearly defined main preaching point with sub-points and incidental points.

How To Prepare Sermons That Work

Let me also add that preachers usually learn how to prepare sermons in seminary but it’s not until preachers begin to preach week in and week out that they begin to define and understand the techniques behind sermon outlining.

1. Sermons That Work Have Effective Outlines

Sermons that work are sermons that have simple but effective outlines.

For example, you may choose to preach through the book of Romans. In Romans 1:1-7, you may discover that the main preaching point is: Sharing Jesus Christ With Great Enthusiasm. Your sermon outline may look something like this:

There are three WAYS to share Jesus Christ with great enthusiasm. They are:

1. We need to have the right heart (Romans 1:1)
2. We need to have the right goal (Romans 1:2-4)
3. We need to have the right challenge (Romans 1:5-7)

You can check out this sermon by clicking on preaching sermons that work from Romans 1.

For example, you may choose to preach a topical sermon on the “Wonders of Eternal Heaven” from Revelation 21:1-7. After a time of study, you craft a sermon around the main preaching point of “The Wonders of Eternal Heaven.”

There are three WONDERS of Eternal Heaven To Cause Us To Think About Our Eternal Destiny. They are:

1. Heaven is a real place
• Jesus describes heaven as a real place (John 14:1-3)
• John depicts heaven as a real place (Revelation 21:1-21)
2. Heaven is a populated place
• God is there (Revelation 21:3)
• Jesus is there (Revelation 21:6)
• Believers are there (Revelation 21:7)
3. Heaven is a personal place (Revelation 22:4)

A. The Main Preaching Point

The sermon outline must have a main preaching point, which is often called the topic of the sermon, the big idea of the sermon or the subject of the sermon.

If you are preaching an expository sermon from a passage of Scripture, you develop the main preaching point from the text of Scripture. For example, when I crafted the sermon outline above, I believed that the main preaching point “Sharing Christ With Great Enthusiasm” would best help me expand and explain the content of Romans 1:1-7.

If you are preaching a topical sermon, you craft the main preaching point from a biblical principle or truth. For example, you may want to share a sermon on the topic of heaven. You may craft the main preaching point around the topic of “The Wonders of Eternal Heaven” from Revelation 21:1-7.

Every sermon should have a main preaching point, topic, big idea or subject. This will help your audience follow what you want to convey to them.

If you asked the audience, what did the minister preach on this morning or afternoon or night? They should be able to give you a quick response. My minister preached on the subject of sharing Christ with enthusiasm and he explained how we can do that. My minister preached on the wonders of eternal heaven to make us think about our eternal destiny.

B. The Sub-points

The sub-points expand and explain the main preaching point. I can remember Haddon Robinson challenging us as students to ask two questions of our sermon outline: what are you preaching about (main preaching point) and what are you going to say about what you are preaching (sub-points). It is really that simple.

The sub-points expand and explain the main preaching point. Let me say it again: sermons that work have simple but effective sermon outlines.

In the two example sermons above, the sermon outline is simple but effective. When I listen to people speak, I have discovered that the best speakers have a simple but effective outline even if those speakers are not preachers.

C. The Incidental Points

If you have incidental points, usually they expand and explain the sub-points. In the sermon outline above, I had three incidental points attached to the sub-point: “Heaven is a populated place.” As you can see, these three incidental points simply expanded and explained the sub-point.

2. Sermons That Work Have a Natural Flow

If you construct a sermon outline this way, you will have cohesion and sequence, your sermon will be easy to preach and it will have a natural flow to it.

When I preached the sermon from Romans 1:1-7, I introduced the sermon with a story that highlighted the main preaching point – Sharing Jesus Christ With Great Enthusiasm. Then I just preached the three sub-points.

The first way we can share Jesus Christ with great enthusiasm involves having the right heart. Then I expanded and explained this first point.

The second way we can share Jesus Christ with great enthusiasm involves having the right goal. Then I expanded and explained this second point.

The third way we can share Jesus Christ with great enthusiasm involves having the right challenge. Again, I expanded and explained this point.

I concluded the sermon by reiterating the main preaching point and sub-points and by challenging the people of God to put this into practice.

When I preached the sermon from Revelation 21:1-21, I introduced the sermon with a story that highlighted our need to think about our eternal destiny in light of the wonders of eternal heaven and of course this brought the audience to the subject of the message. Once I did this, I simply preached each sub-point and incidental point.

The first wonder of eternal heaven is that it is a real place. Jesus described a real place and so did John (expand and explain).

The second wonder of eternal heaven is that it is a populated place. God is there, Jesus is there and believers are there (expand and explain).

The third wonder of eternal heaven is that it is a personal place. We will see Jesus face to face (expand and explain).

I concluded the sermon by reiterating the main preaching point and sub-points in order to challenge the audience to think about their eternal destiny and called them to take action.

Sermons that work have a natural flow to them. They start with the main preaching point followed by sub-points and incidental points.

After nearly three decades in the ministry, I have found that people appreciate simple but effective sermon outlines.

3. Sermons That Work Have Heart

I write full manuscript sermons but I format them in point form. I do not preach the sermon word for word from a manuscript. The sermon manuscript is the road map for the message.

The sermon manuscript has an introduction, the sermon outline with content, illustrations and applications and a conclusion.

The reason I write the sermon manuscript in point form is so that I can preach the manuscript using my own words. I encourage all my students to develop the confidence to preach the sermon manuscript in your own words. When you do this, you bring heart to the message because the audience can see you in the message not a bunch of word read from a piece of paper.

The other benefits are: the Holy Spirit can lead you to add content to the message or subtract content from the message and you nurture a freedom to speak with heart. If you are new to preaching, it is worth while developing your confidence to preach your sermon manuscript with your own words.

Resources For How To Prepare Sermons That Work

How To Preach A Sermon 1 – This is a sermon from Ephesians 4:25-32.

How To Preach A Sermon 2 – This is a sermon from Ephesians 3:14-21.

How To Preach A Sermon From Timothy – This is sermon is from 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Sermons That Work From Colossians – This sermon is from Colossians 1:15-20.

Hermeneutics is a set of principles that is used to determine the meaning of the biblical text under investigation. Understanding hermeneutics is paramount in developing a consistency in the interpretation of Scripture.

Homiletics is the art of preaching. It involves how to prepare and deliver a sermon.

Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell (Check it out at Amazon Books)

How To Preach Without Notes by Charles W. Koller (Check it out at Amazon Books)

How To Prepare Bible Messages by James Braga (Check it out at Amazon Books)