How To Review Your Sermon Blog

Today I want to give you the best ministry advice I have to offer, reviewing your sermon. Reviewing your sermon affirms what is working, tweaks what is broken and ultimately makes the sermon more engaging. Obviously, a sermon review applies to preachers. But it also applies to additional people.

A sermon review affects and benefits everyone in the church. It benefits the guests because they have a better experience. It also benefits the volunteers and staff because it provides respite, spiritual refreshment and encouragement during the weekend. And a weekend that embodies those characteristics helps everyone avoid burnout. Whether you’re a preacher or not, I strongly encourage you to keep reading. 

I’ve worked in single site and multisite churches for over 20 years. I’ve seen a lot of things succeed and a lot fail. One of the things that I’ve seen work with wild success is the sermon review. That is why I consider it the best advice I have to offer to people in ministry. Now this concept isn’t new, but I’ve seen it incredibly refined at Liquid Church. Pastor Tim Lucas at Liquid has been doing this for over a decade. I don’t take any credit in coming up with this great idea. I’m just here to communicate it to you.

In this 4 part blog series I’ll describe the what, why, and how to conduct a sermon review. Over the years I’ve heard a lot of reasons why a preacher shouldn’t or couldn’t do a sermon review. And some of those reasons I’ve uttered or grumbled myself.

At the end of this blog, I’ll present some of those counter arguments and debunk them. Make sure to read all the way through. Also, if you’re looking for someone to coach you through implementing a review then visit benstapley.com/coach to schedule a free consultation. I would love to help you win. Now let’s jump in and talk about what a sermon review is.

What

Review On Thursday ‍

The best day to review is Thursday. It is late enough in the week that you should be able to get all the assets - your manuscripts, slides, videos and props ready to practice with. It is also not so late in the week, like a Friday or Saturday, that you don’t have time to make needed corrections. Now your Thursdays might be swamped and you’re thinking it's not going to happen.

I understand that. So let me say this. Thursday is a great day. But Wednesday or Friday are still good days. So don’t let a particular day hold you back. A good day is better than no day. Now if you can’t do Wednesday, Thursday or Fridays, let me ask you this, who is leading your church? It is probably you. So lead. Make the needed change in your schedule and the work week of your organization and review your message.

Review With Everything

Try to practice with as much as possible. Your manuscript - what you will say. Your slides and videos - what you will show. Your props - what you will hold. Your blocking - where you will move. Your tech - how it all works. Practice with it all. This allows you to identify any gaps in content. If I told a personal story about playing football in high school, maybe we should have a picture of that. If I showed a testimony video that ends with ten seconds of black, maybe we should edit that out. If I lead people through communion at the end, maybe we should have the elements on stage as I do that. Practice with everything because it will identify any gaps in content.

Feedback On Everything

You want to hear feedback from a panel on every aspect of the message. Every aspect. Here are some of the questions you should be asking. Was that cultural reference a little dated? Was that joke a little sexist? Was that illustration a little played out. Was that political reference a little divisive? Was that application a little weak? Was that theology a little heretical? Was that message a little long?

You want to make sure the feedback is as exhaustive as possible. This will ensure your sermon is as great as possible. A great sermon review includes a panel during the week providing feedback on everything. I also alluded as to why you should do a sermon review - to make it great. Let’s examine a number of other reasons why you should implement this practice in your church.

We will cover the why in part two of this series…