Never let the New Wear Off 10.26.2023

    Because our job is to proclaim Scripture, we don’t actually begin with a blank sheet of paper. Except, we do. You and your people will only experience next Sunday morning one time. The Sermon you preach will be a unique event in the Salvation-History of God’s people in the town where you live and serve. Yes, we build our sermons beginning with Scripture, yet we are called to form a specific, incarnational moment from that raw material. 

    So, in those terms, yes, we begin with a blank “sheet of paper.” (It just sounds better, than “white screen of electrons.”) In fact, there are likely several blank sheets and a bunch of file-folders and other organizational detritus necessary to keep a year’s worth of preaching organized. New? Yes, in fact, a whole lot of new.

    One of the organizational strengths of the ministry is that we can keep things organized by year. So, like many of you, I began with a folder that reads 2024. Inside that folder is one folder for each separate area of ministry responsibility—Preaching, Pastoral, Planning & Leading, Professional, and Programming. Obviously, a sermon calendar is concerned with the first subfolder. In that folder, there are several subfolders, which contain sub-sub-folders—all necessary to keep a year’s worth of preaching, teaching, and writing straight. 

    When I started the process 3 weeks ago it was not only new, but it was also fresh, inviting, and yes empty. In the last several weeks I have sifted, reviewed, considered, projected, and planned the theme and central ideas to be preached in 2024 at the Grayville First Christian Church. The best way to keep fresh, the secret to never letting the new wear off, is to make sure that you have lots of new starts, lots of fresh beginnings. A new year, a new sermon calendar is that kind of opportunity. 

    Some of the work is every bit that. Work. After the exciting part of creating a theme for the year and projecting that theme textually, through scripture, and chronologically on the calendar comes the more mundane—even boring parts. Preparing to-dos in Things, my task manager. Entering the data into the Logos Sermon Editor so that an empty sermon document is created for each sermon. I cross-checked dates, sermon numbers, week numbers, and series contents to make sure that I didn’t inadvertently miss a week. That’s just for Sunday morning worship. In the next couple of days, I will consider the content for this blog in 2024. I will think about what I might/will preach in the event that I am asked to preach away from home sometime during the coming year. I will go over some basic ideas for Sunday School lessons. Finally, I will try and gauge progress on any ongoing writing projects and try and produce projected completion dates for any manuscripts in the pipeline. 

    All this work done now, in October, streamlines the process of weekly preparation. While I will have a clear idea of where I am going each week, I can begin each week by looking at the plan and prayerfully study, outline, review, write, and edit with a view to preparing a fresh, vibrant, new message for God’s people. The new never wears off when the risen Christ renews the preacher so that he can renew the people.

Renewed Focus 10.19.2023

    There is always something more to learn from scripture. The well is never capped. The supply is never exhausted. Preachers, however, need periods of renewal. This is one of the most valuable dimensions of long-term sermon planning.  Looking out over 52 weeks of the next year gives us the opportunity to approach the task of preaching with renewed focus and enthusiasm for the task of preaching. There are several reasons this is the case which I will highlight for you in this essay.

    The first reason is that beginnings are all about renewal and new opportunities. As we approach the end of the year each of us is likely completing plans that were months in the making. If we have preached through several books or sections of scripture, we have spent a great deal of time in study and we are, to be honest, getting a little tired of what we have been doing. In finishing a course of preaching many of the significant issues have already been resolved in our study. While we will continue to do the weekly heavy lifting of preparing to preach and teach each week many of us feel the need to move on to something different and to embrace a new challenge. 

    A second reason is balance. At the end of a year of preaching we not only look forward with expectation, but we also look backward to grade ourselves. This is the time to recalibrate. This is the time to think through last year’s preaching, looking with a critical eye, and determining whether things were in balance from beginning to end. To get that perspective you really need to be close to the year’s end. And since we are there, that retrospective needs to contribute to our plans for the coming year. I have mentioned this before and will again. A lifetime of preaching requires consideration of more than the previous year and the coming year. Decades of preaching will yield much fruit, but you must assess it. One of the best criteria is balance. Will people attending this Church, listening to my preaching, have a balanced diet from scripture. Will the Old Testament be preached in the light of the New, and is my hermeneutical process founded on the risen Christ. 

    The next consideration is resourcing. Roughly the first half of 2024 I will be preaching from the Gospel of Luke. I’ve preached from Luke many times. In my Bibliographical App I have dated Bibliographies for Luke, from 2013, 2016, 2020, and now, 2024. I am quite familiar with the resources I have used in the past and need to give some thought to what I will need this time around. Some resources are so foundational that they will at least need to be skimmed, for example: 

Alexander, Loveday. The Preface to Luke’s Gospel: Literary Convention and Social Context in Luke 1.1-4 and Acts 1.1. 1st pbk. version. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 78. Cambridge: New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 

By their very nature commentaries are used unevenly depending on the arc plotted through the book, yet this is the time to determine whether additional commentaries need to be added. Preaching, like any profession, can become expensive if one proceeds without some kind of control placed on acquiring tools.  This is the time for that kind of assessment. 

    A final consideration is temperament. As we grow older and more mature in the faith, we become attached to certain sections of scripture. We all have our favorites and that is fine. But preaching is not just about the wants and whims of the preacher. Our job is to read and interpret scripture at the congregational level. That requires planning and preparing. The spiritual development of God’s people must be at the forefront of our attention. The perspective we gain when we renew our focus is not for the sake of curiosity, personal indulgence, or self-satisfaction. Our renewed perspective informs each message, each series, and the entire year. Don’t be afraid of reminding your people that we have undertaken a long, sacred journey. Through years of attention to Scripture, we find strength, perspective, wisdom, and spiritual maturity. The preacher offers himself or herself as a guide. To guide our people well means that we take the task seriously and work as if lives depend on it. Because they do. In the end, only Jesus “has the words of life.”

 

New Year New Plot 10.12.2023

    I begin drafting this week’s essay on the evening of Monday, October 9. Today, Columbus Day was observed. Regardless of your stance on that bygone era as an age of exploration or an age of exploitation, there is certainly something to be learned from the human experience of the explorers, many of whom stood for the first time in a place unseen and unknown by their peers. While we would surely want to behave differently, the experience of newness is something humans experience more often than we might acknowledge. 

    Every day, despite similarities to past days, is different. We repeat experiences, yet if we are truly observant, we can find something fresh in what is otherwise old. With preaching we are doing something that we have done before. I preached yesterday and will preach on October 15. If God is willing, I will continue in such a fashion to the end of the year. I’ve done it before and will keep on doing it. 

    I have planned a year’s worth of preaching before. Many times, before. And I’m doing it again. This will require the discipline of studying the text both to reinforce what my congregation knows and to challenge them to think differently about many of the conclusions that have informed their faith. The year 2024 will be an entirely new year and one of my jobs is to examine that new year and to produce a new plot for the old, old story we find in scripture. 

    One of the ways that the preacher remains fresh, and that the congregation is refreshed is by looking at the entire process in the same way those explorers I mentioned earlier considered their preparations. We are embarking on a voyage of discovery. If we think it is just another repetitive trip into the Scriptures to find the same things we found before we could very well end up doing what Columbus and others did, calling entirely new people groups (indigenous American tribes) by old names (Indians) because we have made assumptions about the process that limit the plot of the story.  This week I want to consider some strategies for plotting out our preaching so that our approach remains fresh and inviting.  

Principles 

    There are some basic principles that we must consider when designing a preaching program for our congregations. These principles inform the selection of texts, the design of each series, and the consideration of a theme for the year.

Principle 1 The Whole Year

    The primary time unit for measuring an effective sermon calendar is the year. The other obvious units—Seasons or Months—have the liability of being so broad that you end up planning 52 weeks anyway. We have enough to do without introducing unnecessary complexity.

    A year gives us enough perspective to fit all the pieces together without getting too far down into the practical details during this part of the planning process. It provides the time to do the preliminary planning for each sermon series now while establishing parameters for introductory studies later, when necessary for each subsequent series. 

Principle 2 The Big-Picture Theme

    What we are aiming for is the big picture. A football coach begins with a basic, chronological, and thematic concept of a “game.” Four quarters. Fourth and short. Kick the PAT or go for a 2-point conversion. Keeping all those variables in mind he plots out a game plan. In devising his game plan, he tries to visualize how matters will progress through four quarters, 60 minutes, in changing circumstances. He cannot control the dizzying array of changes that will occur. His game plan is a generalized, big-picture estimate of what he envisions will happen and basic reactions to the unknown. 

    Similarly, a Sermon Calendar tries to capture what the preacher hopes will happen. There is always “situational football” that we will have to deal with. Like a coach, not knowing means that our preparation is limited to what we can control and how we intend to react in changing circumstances. If we don't attempt to define the big picture, everything we do is reacting to external stimuli.

    So, we establish a single theme to govern the year. This theme is chosen during the process of selecting texts. There will be a lot of turning back and forth in our Bibles, coordinating thematic and textual strategies, and a little bit of projecting possible outcomes. This single theme then becomes “home base” the game plan if you will for the entire year. We can then fit the constituent parts into place with an overall study plan. 

Principle 3 Series Themes

    There are a lot of factors that contribute to text selection. Your personal preaching history perceived congregational need, and historical analysis, each play a role. A game plan for the year gives us some structure for how we are going to apply the texts that we choose. That’s why theme and text selection need to be concurrent. Computer software helps to assess whether those chosen texts can be mapped onto the yearly theme. 

For me, the completed process looks something like this: 

• 2024 Theme=Certain
• Luke 1,2 (Christmas)=Certain of His Coming. 
• Luke=Certain about Jesus.
• Acts=Certain of the Church’s Gospel
• TOPICAL=Certain!
• Genesis=Certain of His Call.
• Hebrews=Certain of our Great Salvation.

Principle 4 Be Mindful of the Church Calendar

    My tribal tradition does not “follow” the traditional Church Calendar. Except, we do. We’re mostly going to preach Christmassy things during December, and we will focus on the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. There are other highlights that each of us as individuals might want to keep in mind. The day of Pentecost for example, or Reformation Sunday. And for crying out loud, don’t skip Mother’s Day!

We are embedded in a much broader Christian community. The Church spans the globe. Many Christians use the Church Calendar to order their worship and many Bible-affirming Pastors use the lectionary to structure their preaching. In fact, you might say that the entire process I am describing actually reinvents that very wheel. That may be a bit extreme. You don’t need to reinvent it, but it certainly does help if you know how to put the tire on, fill it with air, and affix it to the vehicle. 

Progress

    I’m going to try and keep this section brief. Your sermon calendar, when properly planned, should show progress. Progress is the link between good, process-driven planning and plot conception (which I will cover next.) 

    As we move our congregations through the year there needs to be a clear conception of directed movement. People need to understand that you enter the pulpit each week with goals, a destination, and an overarching purpose. 

    Each weekly sermon is like a stage in a journey. You consult the map, plan the route, factor in diversions, and rest stops, and ultimately, arrive at your destination. You cannot wait until mid-journey to decide where you are going, your route, and how you intend to measure progress. Time invested during October, or your chosen Sermon-Calendar month will be rewarded with greater clarity at each step of the journey. 

Plot

    Preaching is the pinnacle of the story-telling art. We are given time each Sunday to explain Scripture, linking our weekly text to the redeeming story of Jesus. By now, you can tell that I’m a little obsessive about the whole thing. 

    Good stories are all about the plot. Earlier we discussed the principles needed to put together a good game plan. Once you have a plan and have built progress into the year, you need to figure out what the plot will be. Where are you taking the congregation? How will you get there? What will the cumulative effect be on your people after traveling with you each week during the coming year?

    We cannot make people listen to us nor can we force them to accept the authority of Scripture. We can make it easier for them. We can write and preach dynamic, compelling sermons, and that does not happen by accident. Insufficient planning may occasionally work out. It is hardly a good foundation for a lifetime of preaching or for keeping a congregation engaged. 

    It is nearly impossible for us humans to change our personalities. We are who we have been created to be by God and have been molded by family, education, and experience. When they hired you, you are what they got. Don't try and change what you cannot change. What you can change are processes and work habits. You can improve your preaching without abandoning who you are. In the end, our task is to proclaim the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” Our joy is telling the story. How we tell it, how we prepare, how we envision the task is within our grasp.

New Horizons 10.5.2023

    The beginning of October means that it is time to prepare my sermon calendar for the coming year—2024. For some, this might seem like a daunting task. From the Advent season to the end of next November, 52 weeks of Sunday morning preaching will be planned and resourced, with introductory studies begun and trajectories established to channel next year’s work. It is a full and satisfying month. I chose October some 35 years ago to be my Sermon Calendaring month. The timing allows me to schedule preaching a Gospel from the Christmas season to Easter. This also allows an entire month from the end of the planning season to transition from this year’s studies to next year’s studies.   

    I find this process exhilarating. On October 31, 2023, I will be a month from preaching my first sermon for next year. This gives me a month for focused, introductory studies to set the stage for everything from Advent to Easter. My Gospel for 2024 is the Gospel of Luke. With the logistics behind me, I can look at the horizon and anticipate what God’s Word will be for Grayville in the coming year. 

    These yearly new horizons keep us enthusiastic and fresh in our approach to preaching. Right now, I am still working through Philippians as I focus on my sermon calendar—not multitasking, but rather quick task-switching. Each aspect of the work, whether weekly writing or long-term planning, has its own satisfaction. The former is much more streamlined because of the latter. Each relies on different tools in the toolbox. Each is satisfying in its own way, and each is essential to a lifetime of preaching. 

    Preachers are often reminded not to bore their listeners. We are reminded that variety is an important dimension of quality. Like a pitcher, we want to have a variety of “pitches” in our repertoire, shaking things up occasionally to make sure that our congregation always comes hungry for the Word. This may be overblown. If we are using proper exegetical and hermeneutical methods, the shape of the text will largely determine the shape of the sermon. The real danger is not a bored congregation, but rather a bored preacher. 

    Sermon calendar time allows for reflection and evaluation. Sermon calendar time is the opportunity to look into the future and anticipate where our congregations are going and what challenges we may face. Sermon calendar time allows us to take a long view so that we can remain appropriately focused on the details of the text week by week. Sermon calendar time reminds us that what we do is not random, off-the-cuff, or accidental. Sunday comes every week, and every sermon is an opportunity to speak authoritatively for our God. I know it’s coming. Every week. There is no good reason to not plan the process of preparation of sermons that will give honor to God and instruct His people. 

That’s all for this week. I’ve already sketched the big picture for 2024. Now it is time to get into the details.