Like most of you, I am always asking fellow preachers about how they prepare a message. That means that over my fifteen years of preaching, I have tried many different ways to prepare. I constantly would hear how someone prepared and I would immediately try it. Lots of trial and error ensued. Probably more error than I would care to admit. Ultimately I have found a way that works for me. Don't miss that either—God's Word, mediated by the Spirit, through a preacher, happens in deeply personal ways. Each one of us is unique, although united in Christ. What works for one of us might not work for another. So as I share what works for me, I don't mean to sound like it is the only way. It is just the way that helps me get prepared week in and week out to enter the pulpit.

Begin with Jesus

First and foremost, preaching begins with Jesus. He is the living Word. So we must focus on the Bible and prayer. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his classic book, Preachers and Preaching, said you need to prepare the preacher before you prepare the message to preach. So our daily rhythms of Bible reading and prayer are absolutely essential to our ability to proclaim the truths of God in the pulpit. We can never lead people where we haven't gone. We need to be driven to the text by the Spirit and be continually prayerful.

Brain dump

Once a text is determined, and I personally preach almost exclusively expositional series through books of the Bible (verse by verse, line by line), I open up a new document on my computer and begin. I always begin by reading the entire passage that I will be preaching over and over again—usually ten to fifteen times. As I read, I am jotting down notes. With each successive reading, more and more information finds its way into the document. I usually find myself outlining the text, focusing on emerging themes, adding relevant Scriptures, and often asking lots and lots of questions of the text.

I call my reading the text many times and making notes my "brain dump." Everything, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, makes it into that document. I allow my thoughts, concerns, and imagination to run wild without any judgment. After many read-throughs and copious note taking, even on an area of Scripture that I already feel comfortable with, I find that the text is getting in me and I am getting into the text.

Crafting the message

At that point, I begin crafting the message. After allowing the text to permeate my heart and mind, I decide how I want to get at the content by breaking the whole down into more manageable sections. Each section is usually given a heading that will come up on the screens for people to remember. I want people to remember the points so I purposely make them simple, profound, and memorable. I think of these points as take-aways for people to bring to the Lord in prayer and reflection after they have left the church. It's kind of like leftovers from a restaurant that they get to enjoy again later at home.

Cutting room floor

As the outline takes shape, I find myself starting to filter through all the information to make things more focused. One of the hardest parts of sermon preparation involves deciding all the things that you are not going to say. It's hard because all of it is important, extraordinarily important. But no sermon ever says everything that can and should be said. Every pastor leaves great sermonic material on the cutting room floor. I have found that since Jesus is the head of the church, the Lord knows who will hear the message and what they need to hear. So I try to allow the Lord room to guide the process of knowing what to keep and what to leave behind.

I begin to thin out my document to only the necessary material. I try to grapple with the text through finding answers to the many questions that I had in my initial read-throughs. I also often do word studies and cross-references on important areas of focus in the message. It is always better to have too much information that you must thin out, than scrambling to find information when it is lacking.

Commentaries

Once this is completed, I usually read through at least three commentaries. I often chose commentaries that come from different approaches—devotional vs. technical—and from different theological positions. I know that might sound weird, but I utilize commentaries to help nuance what would naturally happen for me in my own thoughts. I want information that I don't agree with as part of the process to make me think outside my own head. I also believe that this helps me continue to grow in my understanding of the Lord and his Word.

Application

I then focus on personal application. As a pastor, I want people to see how Jesus and the text impact them at street level, where they live every day. So I make sure I include sections of application. I often prepare these sections not in my office or study, but in a local coffee shop. The change of location will often lead to a change in perspective. In my study, books surround me. In a coffee shop, people surround me. I want to think about this text for all different types of people. The coffee shop vibe reminds me that, Lord willing, there will be unbelievers hearing the message as well. If you preach and include those who are yet to be saved in the message, many times, those folks will find a home with you. I search for areas in my message to apologetically address an unbeliever's struggles with Jesus and the Bible. I try to be very intentional to know how I want to approach these areas and speak to them.

Transitions

Finally, I work though any sticky transitions within the message. I want the message to flow comfortably, logically, and enjoyably. Oftentimes, just writing a few sentences to help me know how to move from one point or topic to the next does the trick. This may seem like a subtlety or maybe inconsequential, but people will appreciate the extra work that helps to make things flow and more understandable.

Final read by Thursday

I then do one final read through of my notes and the text to make sure everything is clear and comprehensible. I try and complete this process by Thursday, so then I can pray myself hot until it's time to preach on Sunday. I make a rule that I am not allowed to make any changes to my notes after Thursday. Why? Because I have made the mistake too many times of doing last minute changes only to realize that I was just in my head with the spiritual warfare, and I ruined the message. So I make a PDF of the notes on Thursday and roll with that. Then once, I reach the pulpit, I let myself go and let the Word of God flow!

Daniel Fusco is the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, WA.