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.