Write it in your own voice

By now you have a text, a center, your study, and an outline. The writing is where it becomes a sermon. Whether you preach from a full manuscript or a single page of notes, this lesson helps you get it written without losing your voice or losing your Saturday.

Write it fast, then fix it

The biggest writing mistake pastors make is editing while they write. You type one sentence, rewrite it three times, then stop to look up a better word. An hour later you have two paragraphs. Separate the two jobs. First, write the whole thing straight through without stopping. Then go back and make it better.

Your first draft will be rough. That is the point. A rough, finished draft can be improved. A perfect half draft cannot be preached.

Manuscript or notes, pick what you actually preach from

There is no holy format. Some pastors need every word written out. Others preach best from a half page of bullet points. Write in whatever form you will actually use in the pulpit. If you preach from notes, still write out three things word for word: your first two sentences, your transitions, and your close. Those are the places where preachers most often ramble.

Sound like you

It is easy to borrow a voice. You listen to a great preacher on your commute, and by Thursday your sermon sounds like theirs. The problem is that their voice took them years to build, and your people did not come to hear them. They came to hear their pastor.

• Write the way you talk. If you would never say a word out loud, do not write it.
• Use stories from your own life and your own town when you can.
• Read a paragraph out loud. If it feels like a costume, rewrite it plainly.
• Keep sentences short where the idea is important. Let the big truths breathe.

Edit with three questions

When the draft is done, read it once with these questions and nothing else. Does every part serve the center sentence? Is there anything here I would struggle to explain to a new believer? Where will people lose me? Cut or fix what those questions reveal, and then stop. Endless polishing rarely makes a sermon better. It usually makes it longer.

Read it out loud once

Before Sunday, read the whole sermon out loud one time, all the way through. You will hear things your eyes missed: sentences that are too long, points that repeat, spots where you stumble. Mark the two or three worst ones, fix them, and you are done. Reading it once aloud does more for delivery than reading it silently five times.