6
SERIAL
SATURDAY
Step 4: Hammering out a sermon structure
On Saturday morning, I sit down in front of the computer to
craft the sermon. As I write, I pray for the Spirit’s help. I’ve
decided the main thrust of the sermon will be 1 John 3:3, so
I start by looking for an opening illustration. I took a wrong
turning at first: I spent half an hour trying to hone something
relevant out of my recent experience of buying a car, before
reluctantly accepting I was driving down a cul-de-sac. Then a
more appropriate illustration came to mind and I was away.
The commentaries had helped me to see the progression of the
passage: from what we are now, to what we will be, to what we
can do now in the light of our hope. Bit by bit I came to see that
as ‘present identity, future destiny, present responsibility’.
I HAVE A BIG COLLECTION OF
COMMENTARIES AND FOR 1 JOHN
I SHALL READ KRUSE, MARSHALL,
STOTT, THOMPSON, SMALLEY, BROWN
AND BURGE. MY AIM IS TO GET
BEHIND THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
TO A BASIC GRASP OF THE GREEK
AND TO FAMILIARISE MYSELF WITH
THE SHAPE OF THE PASSAGE.
I preach from a full text, but once I got started the writing
flowed quite quickly. I had to take a break from the preparation
in the middle of the day, but returned to it in the late afternoon
and that was when I added the references to two bits of
encouragement and a challenge. By 5.30pm on Saturday the
sermon was written.
SATURDAY EVENING
Step 5: Praying like mad!
The burden of my praying in the next 24 hours was that God
would speak his Word to his people and that I wouldn’t get in
the way.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Step 6: Preaching the sermon
I continued to tweak phrases here and there right up to
the start of the service. I did two dry runs, preaching to the
bookshelves in my study. In the event, the sermon seemed to hit
the spot. I felt I had the attention of the congregation, and the
feedback was positive.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Step 7: Reflecting on the sermon
I try to take a few minutes while the sermon is freshly delivered,
to review it and to ask myself what I might do differently
another time. Sometimes it’s obvious that an illustration didn’t
work or that I misjudged the application. On other occasions I
feel like I’ve bored the congregation and lost people’s attention.
This time, there’s nothing so obvious.
LWPT8462 - Preach Magazine - Issue 2 v2.indd 6
You can listen to the sermon by going to
bit.ly/PW12Oct.
Pete Wilcox
Pete Wilcox has been Dean of Liverpool
since 2012. He has been in ordained
ministry for more than 25 years, serving
mostly in urban parishes in the North
East and the West Midlands. He is the
author of Living the Dream, Walking
the Walk and Talking the Talk –
popular expositions of narrative
portions of the Old Testament.
09/01/2015 14:35:56