# How do you decide what to preach/teach?



## ColdSilverMoon (Jan 10, 2009)

For the pastors out there, or for those who teach regularly, how do you decide your topic/passage of Scripture? Is it based on the needs of your congregation? Issues in the Christian community? Issues in society? Or is it based on prayer and meditation?

Also, how far in advance do you plan your sermons?

I have no reason in particular for asking - just curious....


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## Guido's Brother (Jan 10, 2009)

In our church, we have two services. We also have two pastors. So, we switch every three months -- so, I do the morning services for three months, and then the afternoon services for three months. If I'm doing afternoons, the preaching material is predetermined because we preach the Heidelberg Catechism in the afternoon services. So, we just follow the Lord's Days sequentially in order. 

If I'm doing mornings, then I have a free choice of text. In the last couple of years, I've been doing a series on Mark and a series on the Psalms. In Mark, I just go systematically through the book, and wherever we happen to be is what I preach on. With the Psalms, however, I do give some attention to the particular needs of the congregation. We are a psalm-singing church, but there are always a lot of questions about the psalms we sing, so I try to answer those in my sermons. I end up dealing with a lot of the difficult psalms.


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## Ivan (Jan 10, 2009)

ColdSilverMoon said:


> Is it based on the needs of your congregation? Issues in the Christian community? Issues in society? Or is it based on prayer and meditation?



Yes!



> Also, how far in advance do you plan your sermons?



Depends...generally I preach through a book of the Bible, so it depends on the length of the book. I think three months is the farthest I've planned ahead with a few exceptions.


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## Zeno333 (Jan 10, 2009)

Was not the Heidelberg Catechism written with partly the intent for a weekly guide for preaching?? Some churches use it for that, but I think it is in the very small minority...pity since it can be used for that so well I feel.


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## fredtgreco (Jan 10, 2009)

I preach almost entirely through books of the Bible. Here is a post in which I describe in some detail how I plan, and why I plan, along with a preaching schedule (by book) through 2012.

http://www.puritanboard.com/f23/choosing-bible-texts-sermons-29468/#post358606


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jan 10, 2009)

Thanks for this Fred (and thanks CSM for the thread) . As I sit down and think about what to "start" with and how to proceed into preaching regularly this kind of stuff is immanently helpful. I myself am like Fred, I am a planner and am looking at putting together a "preaching schedule" for the next year. 

Any advice Rev. Greco? (or others)???


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## Guido's Brother (Jan 10, 2009)

Zeno333 said:


> Was not the Heidelberg Catechism written with partly the intent for a weekly guide for preaching?? Some churches use it for that, but I think it is in the very small minority...pity since it can be used for that so well I feel.



Very soon after it was written it was divided up into 52 Lord's Days with the idea that one Lord's Day would be treated each Sunday.


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## Poimen (Jan 11, 2009)

Like Wes (Bredenhof) I typically preach on the Heidelberg Catechism in the afternoon (though now we are going though the Canons of Dordrecht). 

With respect to the morning service I usually preach through books of the Bible. I happened to choose Luke because I find our people (i.e. broadly speaking) are not very familiar with the gospels. 

I don't usually pick books or texts based on the needs of the congregation or community but I do find that the application comes naturally in the time and place that it is needed (i.e. not forced but through God's providence). In a sense any text can be preached in such a way to speak to God's people without forcing it to say something it was not intended to say. 

I don't really plan my preaching in advance beyond knowing what I will follow with after the series is over. But since I go from Old Testament to New Testament (series) this makes my choice somewhat narrower than just a random selection of one book or another.


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## Southern Presbyterian (Jan 11, 2009)

Like Pastor Fred, our Pastor has his preaching scheduled through about 2013, or so. We are currently hearing him preach through the Gospel of John, Sunday AM, and the book of Genesis, Sunday PM. There have been occasional breaks in this, like his most recent mini-series giving a response to the Newsweek article about the Bible and homosexual marriage. As for me, being intermittent pulpit supply (only preaching when the Pastor is away) I like the structure that preaching through a particular book provides. I don't have to decide what to preach if asked at the last minute, and I usually have at least one sermon prepared (in my head, at least) as an emergency fill-in. It took me 2 1/2 hears to get through Galatians in this manner. I'm now working my way through Malachi.


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## TomVols (Mar 7, 2009)

I try to have a skeleton of a yearly outline, and have a detailed quarterly plan at the least. I consider the context of the church, our people, and the larger context when seeking God's leadership on the plan. I'm always in a series of some sort....for the most part.


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## Marrow Man (Mar 7, 2009)

I was actually going to post a separate thread this morning along these lines, but it seems more appropriate to place it here.

I generally preach through a book of the Bible. I am currently preaching through 1 Samuel, but I am finishing chapter 7 tomorrow, which is a good "stopping point" (the ark has been returned, Samuel is now judge, the people repent, etc.). I would like to take a break and return later, so I have contemplated preaching on a "great chapter" from the NT. Like Daniel above, I believe our people need to hear more from the gospels, so that is where I have been looking.

A fellow PBer Amber (RescuedByLove) commented to me a couple of weeks ago that she attended a church service with her grandparents (out of respect for them) to welcome a new pastor. The minister (it was a PC(USA) church) chose the opening verses of John 6 as his text, which was basically 7 keys to effective leadership. She was appalled -- in her words, "no cross!" And I am tired of seeing Scripture abused like this, so I am going to spend several weeks preaching through John 6.

I am thinking of entitling the series something like this: "The Misunderstood Gospel: The World's Jesus v. the Real Jesus." Ah, I'm not married to that, and it vaguely smacks of the whole historical quest for Jesus garbage. Any suggestions or recommendations? I am not trying to hijack the thread!


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## Marno (Mar 8, 2009)

I prefer an exegetical series through a book, both as a preacher and as a listener/worshiper. The schedule should be loose enough, In my humble opinion, for "topicals" and "occasionals", if and when the minister deems them fit.


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## charliejunfan (Mar 8, 2009)

I am not an elder, but whenever I teach or preach, I find it most edifying, foundational and Christian to have Christ and Redemption as the focal point. Everything fits together and flows well when it is united in Christ and His church.


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## Dearly Bought (Mar 8, 2009)

I don't want to create too many different lines of questioning, but I've got one more to add:

To what extent is the rest of your consistory/session involved in planning the sermon schedule?


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## Jon 316 (Mar 8, 2009)

I generally think and pray through several options until I get the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.


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## JonathanHunt (Mar 8, 2009)

To a certain extent it is what I impose on myself:

We have two services on Sunday, in the morning I preach an evangelistic message and/or basic doctrine with application to seekers and new believers. I have done some short series also, like the ten commandments, but mostly they will be stand-alone messages. I have done a lot of miracles and parables too. 

In the evening I do expository preaching and since Jan 2007 I have done Genesis, I am up to Galatians 5 now, and next I plan to do the Psalms of Ascent, followed by the gospel of Mark.

Of course, preaching expositorily is not the 'decider' of what you preach and teach because you CANNOT preach and teach everything in every verse even if the text is preordained - you still have to decide WHAT to bring out and what to leave alone, otherwise you would be preaching 3 hour sermons!

In conclusion I would also say that I genuinely seek to be open to the work of the Spirit in my 'decisions' and that I do have texts that are laid heavily on my heart from time to time. If they are evangelistic, I will let them fly in the morning. If they are more of application to believers, I have no hesitation in interrupting my expository series. I have found that there is nothing more refreshing than taking a break in the middle of the exposition of a book for a few messages from elsewhere. I did it with Genesis for a month and it helped me to go back into the book with fresh vigour and determination. I recommend it!


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