One of the best things you can do to improve your preaching is simply to write everyday.
This post is a little different from other posts that I’ve been writing about sermon preparation. It’s less about the process of preparing a sermon, and more about just getting better at preparing sermons. I know that probably makes very little sense, so I’ll try to explain.
If the only time you write anything is when you sit down to prepare a sermon, the writing process itself can easily get in the way of the sermon. You might get hung up on words, or on phrasing, or on typing. These things certainly have their place in sermon preparation, but they shouldn’t get in the way.
So to help them get out of the way, writing itself shouldn’t be a struggle. And the way to make writing not a struggle is to make writing easy. And the way to make writing easy is to write. A lot.
I try to write something everyday. I write a blog post, especially on my church’s website, or I write an outline for a sermon, or even just a few social media posts that I put a bit of thought into. The only way to get better at something is to practice, practice, practice.
I’m definitely not a great writer. I mean, if I were, I would have finished writing those 3 books that I started but set aside because I didn’t know where to go with them. But I do know this: the fact that I started writing 3 books has helped me to become a better preacher.
I know this isn’t the most spiritual tip regarding sermon preparation, and it takes quite a bit of dedication to pull it off, but I do think it has improved my sermons many times over, and I think it can do the same for you.