In my last post, I offered seven reasons why manuscripting your message makes for better sermons. In this post, I want to offer some suggestions on How to Write Your Sermon Manuscript.
After studying the passage to discover the Big Idea and craft a sermon outline, how should a preacher approach writing the manuscript? Here are seven practices I’ve found helpful in writing a sermon manuscript.
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment as you begin to write
Sometimes when it’s time to write, we don’t feel like writing. We’re lifeless or lethargic. We’re distracted with other cares and responsibilities. So it’s always good to being with prayer for the Holy Spirit’s help. The Spirit animates our bodies for God’s purposes (Rom 8:9-11). Ask the Lord for His Spirit’s empowerment to think clearly and to write in a convincing and captivating way.
Don’t assume you must write your sermon introduction first
Your sermon intro can be written first, later, or even last in the writing process. Sometimes, you will have a great idea on how to start your message. If you do, begin writing the introduction first. Other times, you won’t have a clear idea how to begin. Don’t get bogged down here. Just move to writing the body (main points) of the message. You can come back to the introduction later. Often, knowing how your sermon ends will give you a better idea of where it should begin.
Anchor each of your main points in the specifics in the passage
Since our authority as preachers lies in the Scriptures (not ourselves), the first thing you will generally do for each main point is to show how it comes out of the passage. After stating (and restating) your main point, anchor it in the text you are preaching. Explain how you got that main point from the passage itself. Don’t assume your listeners will see the connection between your main point and the passage. Show them.
For each main point, determine what needs to be explained, defended, illustrated, or applied.
One of the big challenges you face as a preacher is what should be included and what should be left out. You won’t be able to exhaustively explain every aspect of the text, so you must be selective. I’ve found it helpful to ask, “For this main point, what needs to be explained, defended, illustrated, or applied?” Are there difficult concepts that must be defined or defended? Are there dense ideas that need to be illustrated to be understood or embraced? Are there applicational implications that should be spelled out at this point of the message? (Remember: if you always save your application to the end of the sermon, you’ll just teach people when to duck.)
It’s helpful to remember, that for each point, you will be doing a combination of explaining, defending, illustrating, and applying (usually in this order!). You will need to prayerfully ask the Lord, “What do my hearers need at this point of the sermon?”
Write like you talk; no sermonic term papers!
A sermon manuscript is not a sermonic term paper. So write in a more conversational style. Use shorter sentences. Even sentence fragments are fine; that’s the way we talk. Aim for “conversational eloquence”—a conversational tone with splashes of well-chosen words and phrases. In short, write like you talk when you are talking at your best.
Remember to write out your transitions and illustrations in full
Make sure to write out your transitions between main points as this helps you move more seamlessly between them. Also, write out your illustrations in full; this will help you see how much of your manuscript real estate your illustrations are taking up. Writing out your illustrations will also help you focus on telling the essential parts of the story in a compact, colourful, and captivating way.
Write. Take a break. Edit.
Write with the expectation that you will edit what you have written. The earlier in the week you can finish a draft of your manuscript, the better. This gives you time to revisit your manuscript and make changes. Knowing you will be editing your manuscript keeps you from being paralyzed by a desire for perfection as you write the first draft. Someone has said, “There is no such thing good writing, just good editing.”
Next time, in the final post in this mini-series on manuscripting, I’ll talk about how to get free from your manuscript when you are preaching your sermon.
Rick and Linda Reed 