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Author: Marcus Lindley
It sat on my desk staring at me for the longest time.
My sermon notes.
Full of keen insight, masterful bible exegesis, and even a riveting story or two. Hours of work and soul searching poured into six or seven pages. It was ready to keep the audience in wonder for a full forty minutes
But the notes weren't even mine.
I had just purchased a sermon subscription from one of the popular sites on the net. My time had run out and it was my last resource. I squirmed in my chair as I poured over the notes - someone else's notes - trying to get them in my head. Since I had very little time to "glean" from these notes, I thought I'd try to modify the sermon "on the fly"... but I felt badly about doing things that way.
I ended up preaching the sermon as it was anyway, but I felt all wrong afterward. These were certainly good notes. But it just wasn't me. In fact, it felt like I was someone else preaching in a manner and style totally foreign to myself.
I had cheated. God, His people... and myself. I never wanted to feel like that again.
Preparing sermons on a weekly basis is serious business, certainly not something to take for granted. This early experience of mine taught me that there really are no short cuts to spiritual authority, or a powerful preaching ministry. I've taken the liberty to outline some ways to make sure that the above experience of mine doesn't happen to you.
Make Your First Stop the Right Stop
"Where you end up has everything to do with where you start."
It's a nice sounding maxim, but it also summarizes the preaching ministry.
No one would ever say that they want to compromise their ( Next Page )
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