Stuck on Your Sermon? 3 Ways to Move Forward

You've got a sermon to write, and it's not coming easy.

The ideas and concepts are swirling around in your head, but they just won't come together. You've got the beginning and the end, but everything in the middle feels like it's missing some crucial piece of information that will tie everything together.

In short, you might be stuck with your sermon.

Well, you can do a few things to jump-start your sermon writing process and get back on track—or even take your sermon to a whole new level!

Just keep reading, and we’ll share our three favorite techniques for getting those ideas flowing again and helping you move forward with your sermon.

1. Clarify your theme

If you're having trouble coming up with ideas for a sermon, try starting with the theme of your message. What central idea ties all of these stories and illustrations together? Then, you can use this main idea as a jumping-off point by exploring it further through scripture or other related resources. 

If you're not sure what the theme is yet, take some time to meditate on it. Write down what comes to mind when you think about the theme. Then write down other related ideas and any questions that come up as you contemplate what you need to include in your message.

Come up with some basic points that support your theme. These points should help illustrate why this particular theme fits all the other parts of God's word and will hopefully lead people to a deeper understanding of His truth. Finally, you can get inspiration from Scripture passages and your stories from personal experience.

Once you've established your theme, it should be much easier to develop ideas for illustrations and stories that help get that point across.

If you want to learn more about sermon ideas or themes, check out Sermon Series Ideas To Boost Church Engagement & Community Outreach. We'll show you how to use different sermon series ideas to help your church engage with the community and grow.

2. Create a list of questions 

Once you have an idea of what you want to talk about, create a list of questions to help you explore each part of your message. These questions should be open-ended and thought-provoking so that they encourage people to dig deeper into their understanding of the topic at hand.

Questions can help get your mind thinking about the topic in new ways. You can even use questions to craft the outline for your sermon or as the supporting details for the main idea. 

Try to develop questions related to your sermon's theme. Then, figure out which ones are most important and relevant to your audience. You may want to cut some questions that don't work, so you'll have 3-5 questions left as a guide for structuring your sermon. 

Doing this will help you focus on what's most essential for your sermon, and this will ensure that you're hitting all the key points throughout your message.

3. Create an outline 

Now that you have all these pieces in place, it's time to put them into an actual outline format. This will help guarantee that all the details fit together well and that there aren't any gaps or inconsistencies.

Start by writing down all of your points in order. These should be the main points in your sermon, not just a list of random ideas. Then, write down some sub-points under each one of those major points. 

Here are some tips on how to write a sermon outline:

-Make sure you have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Avoid confusing your listeners by stringing point after point together without any kind of natural flow.

-Use numbered lists. If there are multiple points to make on a topic, try breaking them up into different points and numbering each one accordingly so that the flow of your message is easy to follow.

-Include relevant scriptures at least once within each point. This will help tie everything together nicely at the end when you're pulling everything together into one cohesive message.

If you've made it through the sermon-making process, you're probably ready to start thinking about how to review your sermons.

Check out our four-series blog on how to review your sermons. This blog series covers everything you need to know, from how to get started to best practices.

The Bottomline

When you're writing a sermon, it's easy to get caught up in all the ways you can make it better, more polished, and more perfect. But what matters most is that you preach the Word in a loving, thoughtful, and edifying manner that glorifies God.

Following the tips above will surely help, but above all else, let the Holy Spirit guide you as you prepare your sermon.

You can check out Tithe.ly blogs for more practical resources to help you prepare for your sermons and church services.