MY ADVICE ON HOW TO PUT A SERMON TOGETHER…ML Qualls

ML Qualls

10/01/22  · MY ADVICE ON HOW TO PUT A SERMON TOGETHER…applies also to a Sunday School lesson, devotional, or speech. On the onset, I readily admit that my study habits may be a little unorthodox to some. You will have to form your own habits that work best for you. Here are 10 basic things that have helped me in getting something from the Lord and applying it to pen and paper….NOTE: This post is not to criticize other men in their style of study, but simply to give some pointers that have helped me in these 33 years of ministry. Glean from what helps you.1.JOT DOWN ANY THOUGHT THAT HAS A LITTLE “OOOMPH” TO IT WHILE YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT IT…how many times have I had a “seed thought” that I failed to write down believing I wouldn’t forget it?…only to forget it. Stop long enough to write the jest of the thought down so you can study on it later. Sometimes these thoughts don’t develope into a message, but they will at other times. Better be safe than sorry.2.INSPIRATION NEEDS INFORMATION…whether it’s a “seed thought” or an expositional pursuit, accumulate as much scripture relative to the message as possible on paper. I use only 3 books in my studying: the Bible, the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and the Smith’s Bible Dictionary. I fill my mind with scripture and then muse on it for days (sometimes longer). It’s usually in the early morning hours when my mind is uncluttered by the day that all of that information will start to bloom in my spirit.3.PRAY THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS…as you pursue the scriptures in formulating a message, it is critical that you resort often to prayer especially if you’ve hit a spiritual wall. Go to the Lord and ask for a spirit of curiosity. Return to your study with an enquisitive heart. As best as you can, empty your mind of everything you know and have ever been taught about a particular passage. This will give God a clear chalk board to write his message in your heart. As a general rule, pray before you study, while you study, and then pray over the finished sermon itself.4.”THERE IS NO NEW THING UNDER THE SUN” IS AN EXCUSE IN THE STUDY…preachers use this phrase to make the impression that everything has already been preached. In essence, we are basically just rehashing what other men have preached in days gone by…this is error. I know there are no new truths, revelations, or doctrines left undiscovered. On the other hand, there are some profound and fresh viewpoints that we can glean from the scriptures if you are willing to dig for it. Don’t box yourself in to other men’s writings and opinions.5.SPURGEON IS NOT THE BURNING BUSH…here’s where I‘m going to lose some of you. If I took the commentaries, devotionals, sermon helps, etc. from the average preacher, they couldn’t put a decent sermon together. In any given Sunday service or revival meeting, you’ll hear Spurgeon, Murray, Ironside, etc. being quoted like a machine gun. Although I am thankful for what these men penned in the past, they didn’t complete the canon of scriptures. Frankly, I have not read or even perused an inspirational book or commentary in the past 25 years. It has been my experience that the thoughts of other men make it more difficult for God to speak directly to me. Let me challenge every preacher to go an entire month without reading a single commentary, devotional, or sermon helps book in your preparation for a sermon. You might be surprised with what God will show you.6.SUPPLICATION AND STUDY ARE IDENTICAL TWINS…how you preach will mirror how much you study and pray. Anemic sermons can be camouflaged with animation in your delivery. There is no substitute for labor in the study and time with God in your prayer closet. Both are necessary to reach hearts. Intellectualized preaching reflects prayerlessness while exuberant preaching without content reflects a lack of study. Dismissing the importance of prayer in your preparation will cause you to rely too heavily on other men’s writings.7.ARGUE YOUR CASE UNTIL YOU CONVINCE THE JURY…gunning for the “amens” and vocal “at a boys” is not the goal of a sermon. Ridiculing the ungodly and insulting the carnal should not be your main objective. Providing the Biblical evidence to an unconvinced congregation is the strategy. Like a trial lawyer, you need to convince everyone beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have presented the undeniable truth. It is now their obligation to respond.8.NEVER OVERLOOK THE POWER OF EMOTIONS…if you were in the very Bible story that you’re studying, what would your emotional state be. So many lessons are overlooked when we fail to bring the characters to life that we read about. Put the hearer inside the story. As I’ve stated before, read the Bible until the Bible reads you…this will always evoke our own natural human emotions. For example, one of the most heart-wrenching verses in the entire Bible is found in Genesis 4:25. Read it with an open mind and try to grasp the emotions that Eve is expressing as Adam lets her name their third child. Up to this moment, Adam had named everything himself. You feel the emotions she’s experiencing as she is remembering Cain and Abel. The verse is actually a conversation between the first couple in the moments following Seth’s birth. Look for the emotions hidden in the black ink.9.WRITE IT AND READ IT…although many have gone to writing their sermons in their tablets and devices, I still write mine down on a single 8” x 5” index card. Each man does what he is most comfortable with so you decide for yourself. My outlines are very simple in structure and brief in each point. Usually writing one sentence that summarizes the point which I will read as I’m preaching. Simply incorporating the statement into the flow of preaching. The sentence will be carefully written in a way that will guarantee that there is no ambiguity in the point that I’m trying to convey.10.THE BATTLE IS IN YOUR STUDY…walking in to the pulpit with a message from God that you have worked so hard on only to see it fall on deaf or absent ears will be extremely taxing. You will wonder if it’s even worth it to invest your heart in a cause that so many seem to take for granted. The victory over this despair is not in the people you are trying to minister to, but it’s in the God that you are actually serving. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15). Even when it seems futile, crawl back into your study and give God your best.“THE LORD HAD VISITED HIS PEOPLE IN GIVING THEM BREAD” (RUTH 1:6) WAS THE CLARION CALL TO THE WAYWARD SAINT AND TO THE WICKED SINNER. PEOPLE NEED THAT SPIRITUAL BREAD THAT CATERS TO THEIR GREATEST NEED….A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BREAD OF LIFE. IT NEEDS TO BE FRESH, HOT, AND FULL OF ETERNAL NUTRIENTS. DON’T COME OUT OF YOUR STUDY UNTIL YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF SERMON. IN A DAY WHEN SAINTS HAVE GROWN STALE, YOUR BREAD SHOULDN’T BE. GOD SPEED.