Preach Magazine Issue 4 - Preaching in the digital age | Page 23

SERIAL

PRE-PREPARATION

THE WEEK BEFORE

This sermon on Isaiah 42:18–25 was
one of a series on Isaiah 40–66.
I decided, in consultation with
Sinclair, the other main preacher at
St Peter’s, to begin this series in the
morning services, with him going
through 1 Peter in the evenings. The
reason for choosing Isaiah was that
it is Old Testament prophecy, and
earlier recent series had been on
2 Corinthians, the Sermon on the
Mount and Psalms. We try in a year
to offer something from each of the
biblical genres of history, prophecy,
letter, gospel and poetry. Before
beginning the series I made myself
familiar with the wider context and
reading on Isaiah.

MONDAY

THE MONTH BEFORE
I plan sermon passages and titles a
month in advance. Isaiah 42:18–25
is a clear section with a clear
message and so it was quite easy to
title it ‘The Deaf and Blind Church’
although I did toy with the idea of
taking the phrase at the end of the
passage and entitling the sermon
‘Taking it to Heart’.

I begin on the Monday by piling up
my commentaries and opening up
Logos. I tend to take notes with pen and
paper on blank A4 sheets. I begin with
reading the passage and dividing it as
I see. Then I read a basic commentary
such as the New Bible Commentary.
After that I go to a technical and more
detailed commentary, involving the
original language. Then I move on to
some more general popular works
such as The Bible Speaks Today series.
Finally I turn to more classic works
such as Augustine or Matthew Henry
or particularly Calvin, who as a warm
biblical exegete is unsurpassed. I don’t
really bother with the more critical and
liberal commentaries. I am there to
exegete the Word of God, not poison it.

TUESDAY
I now type out the main points of the
sermon and what I call ‘three-quarter
notes’. I don’t write out the sermon
in full. But I do write out all quotes,
main and sub points and Scripture
texts. It is only after doing this as the
backbone of the sermon that I think
about illustrations.

SUNDAY MORNING
I prepare by prayer, Bible-reading
and reading over and thinking
about what is to be said. I go to
church early, ideally to go to the
prayer meeting, if I have no other
responsibilities.

I LOOK OVER THE PASSAGE
AND THINK ABOUT WHAT
THE MAIN THEMES ARE AND
WHAT IS INVOLVED BECAUSE I
USUALLY DRAW UP THE ORDER
OF SERVICE AT LEAST EIGHT
DAYS IN ADVANCE.

This sermon was
preached on Sunday
3 May – the Lord
blessed his word. You can hear
a recording at bit.ly/stpsmn.

WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY
TWO WEEKS BEFORE
I look over the passage and think
about what the main themes are
and what is involved because I
usually draw up the order of service
at least eight days in advance. I like
the sung praise to go along with the
main theme being looked at. I also
have to decide if I am going to split
the sermon into two (or even three)
with songs splitting it up. I do this
if there are obvious clear divisions
and different subjects to look at. In
this case there was one main theme
so I kept the sermon as one. I also
needed to prepare in prayer – not
least because the passage is not the
easiest one to understand and to
communicate.

Having done the basic work I let it
‘marinate’. In other words I pray,
think about what is to be said, look
over the notes and jot down any
changes/illustrations that I can think
of. It amazes me how so much of
what I read fits the passage we are
going to be looking at. This passage
in particular surely speaks to the
situation of the church in the UK
today. It scares me (as well as thrilling
me) that sometime, as I sit preparing,
it’s as though God is communicating
directly to our situation today. Of
course that is exactly what he is doing.
The Word of God is living and active…
it cuts to the heart of the matter. On
Friday (as I have Saturdays off) I
prepare any PowerPoint slides, and
print out my sermon.

23

David Robertson
David Robertson is a minister at
St Peters Free Church in Dundee.
He is the director of Solas
Centre for Public Christianity
(solas-cpc.org) and author
of several books including
Magnificent Obsession
and The Dawkins Letters.
He is married with three
children, and tweets as
@theweeflea.