SERMON CLASS

So, you want to write better sermons? Here are some resources that I’ve put together for my teaching team here at Substance. Feel free to load some of these handouts into your favorite AI chat-bot to help you brainstorm your next message! And be sure to check back for more videos, books, and helpful resources as I am continually adding more:

• • • • • • How to Write a Topical Sermon 2025—step by step: 10 Steps To a Well Written Sermon
          • Books that have Impacted the Way I Preach and Write: Preaching Book List
          • Storytelling 101: Top Mistakes Preachers Make when Telling Stories: Storytelling 101-TopMistakesPreachersMake
          • A Simple Formula For Small Sermons and Devotionals: AndyStanley-ME-We-GOD-You-WE
          • Humor in Church – How to write and tell jokes in the pulpit without offending people! [coming soon]
          • The Art of a Sermon Hook – Why People Tune Out Your Message
          • My Preaching Practicum for Substance Leaders Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!

How to Write a Topical Sermon—Step by Step:

Like a chef must grocery shop for ingredients, a preacher must search for sermon elements. However, this process changes based on the type of sermon you seek to build: Expository (Line-by-line out of Scripture) vs. Topical (what the Bible holistically teaches on a given subject). When preaching to broad audiences, Jesus generally spoke topically using practical metaphors and parables. I.e., He preached topically. Yet, in the synagogue, when speaking exclusively to believers, he preached expository.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both sermon types. But generally speaking, expository messages are exceedingly more difficult to do well. I encourage pastors to log a few hundred topical messages first while they learn the fundamentals of storytelling, humor, anecdotes, and audience engagement. After all, without these additional skills, most expository messages turn into boring Bible commentaries that are difficult to connect with everyday life.

Thus, here we will focus on brainstorming for TOPICAL sermons. And in future posts, I’ll unpack the art of Expository preaching and how to sneak the Gospel into anything.

(1). I start with an idea, story, insight, scripture, or spiritual problem I want to solve.

I often start writing messages with a specific topic in mind, like Baptism, Fasting, or Easter. Or I start with a spiritual problem I’m trying to solve in people’s lives. Then, similar to a Chef who wants to cook a certain recipe, it’s necessary to check the cupboard to see if I have all the ingredients necessary to whip up a sermon on that topic. If it’s on a “passion topics” I always have fresh ingredients. But, other times, I need to go to the “grocery store.” Thus, after I have a topic, problem or focus…

(2). Find books, blogs, and sermons on the topic.

It’s not uncommon for me to read an entire book in preparation for a sermon. Thankfully, Chatbots can be a helpful resource here. Most of them have already ingested a few of the top selling books on your subject. I often take multiple digital books and load them into NotebookLM (a Gemini Chat bot) that can read entire digital books and quote them—without making things up.

(Side note: I often take my digital books & convert them to a different format (like a pdf) using a free ebook reader Calibre. This allows me to upload it so I can “have conversations with the author.” Of course, when using other people’s content, be sure to cite it and give credit.)

You can also find video sermons on Youtube and copy the transcript (turn on captions, click “show transcript” in the description, and toggle off “time-stamps” to see the word-for-word transcript. This enables you to upload a text document to a chatbot as another content source.) It’s very rare that I rip off other peoples sermons or books nowadays as I have so much original content. So, I often upload dozens of my own blogs and sermons to NotebookLM, which helps me to extract old content that I still feel has a fresh anointing on it.

And after consuming a few sermons and blogs…

(3). Start compiling scriptures, stories, insights and helpful illustrations.

It’s not uncommon for me to acquire seven to ten pages worth of ideas in a word processor. Once you have a half dozen of each of the above categories, ask friends to give you feedback on which are most helpful, insightful, practical, and worthy of using. Make a bullet pointed list of your favorite “sermon elements”—like a potential recipe or shopping list.

Unfortunately, many teachers stop brainstorming here and thus create a “Book Report Sermon”—a boring message that simply recaps the information they found. However, great messages require a few more brainstorming steps.

(4). Dig deeper using brainstorm exercises like “Why to a Factor of Three” or “Identify the Root”

In chapter three of my book Pharisectomy, I wrote:

“In Romans 1:5-6, the Apostle Paul explains that we have a unique message – a message that sets us apart from other preachers who peddle oppressive religion:   “Through [Christ] and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” Notice that Paul’s Gospel isn’t an “obedience that comes from obligation, shame, or fear.”  Certainly these three tools can be a powerful form of motivation…But Paul intentionally distanced himself from these inferior motivators because he knew they ultimately lead to failure.  To put this another way: Christians aren’t called to proclaim truth.  We’re called to inspire faith in the truth – out of which obedience naturally flows.” 

But to accomplish this, we must be great at helping people understand “the why behind the what.” I.e., Don’t tell people what to do: For e.g., “We should be praying more…reading our Bibles more… giving more… loving our neighbors more…” Instead, “Why don’t I have the motivation to do these things in ever increasing fashion? Why don’t I believe the Bible when it says, Fill-in-the-blank?” People ultimately want to figure out: What are the subconscious beliefs that sabotage their motivation for these things?

            So, to dig deeper, I often use little brainstorm exercises. And the first one is an exercise I call: “Why to a Factor of Three.” For example, one time I was writing a sermon on prayer, and in my brainstorm, I posed the question, “Why don’t I pray more?” And after jotting down one or two answers, I ask “WHY” about each answer two more times.

1. Why don’t I pray more? Because prayer feels boring to me.
2. Why do I think prayer is boring? Because I’m not sure God is listening, or that prayer works.
3. Why don’t I think God is listening or that prayer works? Because, that one time I prayed for my grandma to get healed and it didn’t happen. And she died. I experienced unanswered prayer. And it made me wonder if God’s Word was true. 

In other words, simply ask a why question three times in a row. And in doing so, you start to peel back the emotional layers of an issue to reveal the underlying issues and beliefs that sabotage a person.

But, And you can do the same with a possible solution:

1. Why does reading the Bible increase hunger for prayer? Because “faith comes by hearing the word.” 
2. Why does faith come by hearing the word? Because the Bible is filled with promises and miracle stories that invite us to trust God.
3. How do I get more word and why don’t it get it? By devotions, sermons, and fellowship with other people who are filled with God’s word. And I probably don’t get it because of work, sports, and kids-activities tend to crowd it out of my life.

In fact, I have a more intense version of this called: Family Tree of Why_Brainstorm Exercize where I do this process three layers deep—resulting in 27 layers of lies, fears, pitfalls, or mistakes that people can make in relationship to this question.

As an alternative brainstorm, I employ an exercise called “IDENTIFY THE ROOT”

This is simply taking a problem and asking a series of additional questions about it. For example, when it comes to tithing or financial generosity…

• • • What’s the lie that we believe (the idea that’s contrary to God’s nature, God’s plan, and God’s power) that causes people to struggle with this problem? Where does a person lack faith in God? What does God offer that we aren’t aware of, or receiving?
    • What’s the fear, insecurity, or wound in our souls that cause us to doubt God’s power? (past & present)
    • What’s the tactical reason we do something? What is this sin my answer to? Sin in an inferior substitute for something God offers. But what is the Bible’s alternative path that we are missing?
    • What’s the underlying root of “unbelief” a.k.a., the deeper reason we give into this issue? We may think we use cigarettes because we’re addicted to nicotine; but, a deeper issue is that we lack peace, purpose, or simply have too many friends who think they can’t live without cigarettes.
    • What miracles has God done in the people of scripture which, if repeated, would change our struggle here?

After doing these exercises, you will mine out extra gold for your brainstorm. Add them to a list of your favorite sermon elements.

(5). Come up with a thesis or theme that ties your favorite sermon elements together:

As you look at your updated brainstorm list of favorite stories, scriptures and insights, then ask questions like:  What’s a cohesive story or theme that is weaved through many of my favorite elements? What’s the bigger problem that these insights could solve? What’s the most counter-intuitive insight you’ve uncovered? (This last question often leads to the “hook” in the beginning of my message that leads to my thesis). And after writing down your possible thesis, start to reorganize your content around this idea. Avoid creating a numbered outline as you might move elements around, splitting up scriptures and insights with possible stories.

For example, on Sept. 10^th 2017, I wrote a sermon called “The Communing of Saints” (Part 5 in the series, This I Believe). After brainstorming scriptures, stories, anecdotes about the benefits of prioritizing church & fellowship, I wanted to argue that God has blessings that are exclusively reserved for believers who prioritize fellowship.

And my “logical outline” looked like this:

Sample Proposed Outline: “The Communing of Saints”

• • • Explain this series is about the Apostles Creed; yet warn parents: I will be talking about sex (the Birds and the Bees) so if you’ve kept your young kids in the service today, be aware.
      • Hook Question: Many of you are wondering: How is sex connected to the Apostles Creed (Create curiosity)
    • Begin with Sex Study: Who are the most sexually satisfied people in America? Consistent church attendees! oChristians who miss a lot of church are ironically the least satisfied. But why?
      • Create a sense of mystery, curiosity, and tension that results from not understanding why.
    • Psm 92:13 might provide an answer: “PLANTED in the house of the Lord, you will flourish.” What if God had a special blessing that was only reserved for church attendees?
    • The Wild Research on Church Attendance: 7 Statistical Benefits that Church Attendees Experience.
      • Share them & say: With benefits like these, why would anyone want to miss church?
      • This may explain why inconsistent church attendees have low sexual satisfaction: They are friends with people who are having the best yet they aren’t! Thus, the contrast messes with them.
    • WHY do so many people find themselves in a situation where they skip church?  [Note: Create a tension in people’s souls that can be resolved with the following scripture]
    • Jesus said: Mark 4:18 ““the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the [promises of God] making it unfruitful.”
      • Explain how the above mentioned things could crowd church out of our lives.
    • Share the story of how young C. Bunting died on me while I was preaching… how awful it was.
      • Explain how the Lord spoke Psalm 112:7 into my heart.
      • We prayed, and he came back to life. (Show his picture) & that young man almost skipped church that morning, and if he did, he would have died.  Church attendance literally saved his life.
    • Ecclesiastes 4:10 says: “But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” That’s why the Apostle’s Creed says: “I believe in the Holy catholic Church [the universal church], the communion of saints”
      • “God gives special power to his church… when saints commune together!”
      • What if your connection to God’s church was less than it needs to be? What could you do to strengthen it?
    • Everyone has a different step they could take: For some it’s Newcomers Dinner, or Growth track. o Still others need to join a small group or ministry team.
      • Still others did all of these at one time; but, you need to reinvest and reassess every two years.

The goal of the outline is to integrate all of my ideas into a cohesive argument. I’m asking the question: Do I have a good balance of scriptures, stories, insights, and application points? Much like a good recipe depends on the right amounts of the right ingredients, a good sermon needs to be palatable to my jury box—comprised of believers and non-believers, young and old. And if I like what I see I will begin writing my first draft.

Quite often, as I’m writing, I realize: I am way more passionate about point number 2 than number 1. Or, I suddenly realize… I hate point number 3 altogether—or, it’s simply too complicated to incorporate for this message. Then, I often come back to this outline to take in the “big picture” again. I ask myself: what content would be easiest to delete without destabilizing either, (a). My overall argument, or (b). the Overall balance of ingredients. I.e., Can I afford to delete stories or humor in an already “intense message”? Is it “too salty?” (i.e, too many Bible verses or insight?) Or, do I waste too much time sharing entertaining stories that are unnecessary? In other words, the logical outline helps me look at the totality of the message on a single page.

Yet, there are still two more elements that are worth brainstorming:

(6). Determine: What is my “ask” this week? How am I moving my people to action and commitment?

The ultimate goal of preaching isn’t merely to give people random Bible insights. Rather, it’s to invite them to take a higher level of commitment, also called, “the Ask.” I often teach my pastors that most people aren’t taught into maturity but rather invited into maturity by someone around them. Thus, if I teach on fasting, the small group leaders in our church generally will seize the opportunity to invite other people to fast alongside them. So, the Ask usually has two components to it:

(A). What type of Atomic Habit can I invite my people into this week?

(B). How can my ministry team leaders and small group leaders reinforce this invite in the coming week?

Ideally, my ask will have an “Atomic Habit” – a small incremental step towards a bigger habit. For example, if the goal is to read the Bible every day, I might suggest: “Read for 2 minutes a day, for 2 months.” You need to establish a habit before you improve it! If the goal is to increase Christian friendships, I might suggest: “Come to church and be friendly in the foyer—15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes late.” Or “Join a social ministry that causes you to meet a few more people even if it’s temporary and not your passion.”

This atomic habit is even better if it has a “Where and When” attached to it like: “I will read my Bible in bed, every night before I fall asleep, for 2 minutes, over 2 months.” This increases the likelihood of a person following through by 55%! (It’s called an implementation intent). And the last step in my brainstorming process…

(7). Comedic Exploitation: What portions of this message might lend themselves to entertaining stories or humor bits:

Remember, everyone has a limited attention span. Good content doesn’t mean that people will stay engaged.  Thus, we need to break up our content with stories, humor, and other elements that continue to capture their imagination while we feed them divine insights. It’s the proverbial “spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.”

For example, there are many amazing movies that can engage us for up to two hours! Humans have the capacity to listen or watch for exceedingly long periods of time if we are strategically giving them mental breaks and surprises. Humor and storytelling are some of the easiest ways to accomplish this.

So, I often read through my notes and ask: Where in this message would there be comedic elements I could naturally exploit? For example, if I was talking about angels, I might humorously explore the idea: “Where did we get the idea that angels look like naked babies with wings?” And, what if it was true? Or, if I’m talking about the disciples being impatient, I might say: “Come on! We’ve all been impatient, haven’t we?” I might add a last minute story where I was comedically impatient. Or, I might comedically explore: Remember what you did when the person ahead of you at the stoplight was looking at their phone when the light turned green?”

There are times when I’m preaching on a difficult topic and I’m desperate for anything to lighten the mood. Yet, sometimes, it’s difficult to imagine how a person might insert humor without being inappropriate. So, in these circumstances, I often mull over a few of the following joke formulas:

Comedic Conjectures about Bible Texts: 

Are there any Bible stories in your brainstorm. If so, are there any naturally comedic aspects of the story that you can exploit? The goal is to absurdly meditate on the possibilities of a certain Bible story…without being sacrilegious of course. The idea is to take a story and imagine humorous aspects of the story. I.e., You look for circumstantial humor in the event. For example, simply take any story and dwell on small details. Imagine the story going in a crazy direction. Certainly, you don’t want anyone to feel like you are stepping over the line or misinterpreting a sacred passage. But wherever there are strange details, I often ask: “how might a person misunderstand this, or mess it up?” Or, “how might I have messed it up if I was in this situation?” Then I publicly ponder this scenario for a brief moment to get a laugh or two. Or, I might purposefully “misinterpret” a scripture like: “Now, you may be wondering… If fasting is abstaining from things, can I fast doing the dishes?” And simply take it to an absurd degree.

Purposeful Misinterpretation of Scripture:

As you read a scripture, purposefully change it to something that is obviously absurd. I will often read a famous Bible verse that my audience has almost entirely memorized, and then twist it in an incorrect way, like Matthew 28:19, the “Great Commission” says: “Therefore, go into all the world and make people feel guilty.” Or something that is the direct opposite of God’s point. Now obviously, you need to make sure people understand you are being sarcastic—lest your humor backfires.

Fake Hebrew or Greek Words:

“When the bible says, ‘Wives submit to your husbands, the Greek word for submit literally means, to give your husband the tv remote! …but if I said that to my wife, she’d say back: “Well then, you better learn the Greek word for sofa because, that’s where you’re sleeping tonight!”

Self-Deprecating Stories that Illustrate your Principle:

Perhaps comedically retell an example when you screwed up something, or experienced an unfortunate event— like running out of gas. Then use it as a metaphor for “filling up with God’s word.” It needn’t be long or self-indulgent. The goal is to give people a commercial break or an empathetic laugh while tying it to your theme. Over time, you can add hyperbole and exaggerated emotions to increase absurdity and relatability. 

Poke Fun of Stereotypes, Traditions, or Socially Awkward things. Naturally, as you brainstorm such things, always get a second opinion so as to avoid offending people. And always do it in a way that is fun-loving, inclusive, and appropriate towards the audience.  

Usually, when I read my sermon brainstorm, I can immediately see areas where I might break it up with humor or storytelling.

(8). Finish your first draft:  

If you’ve brainstormed well, you already have entire pages of content that simply needs to be copied and pasted together. In your first draft, you’re essentially writing segways, transitions, intro hooks and outro-asks.

It’s common for my first draft to be ten minutes too long, which leads to the next step.

(9). Get Feedback from other people (or A.I. chatbots) about the following things:

            Is anything simply wrong or confusing:  Wrong scripture references, stats, or citations?

            Is anything harsh or triggering? Can I make a point without making an enemy?

            What parts of my content don’t do anything for you (i.e., not insightful enough).

            What parts of my content are simply redundant?

            If a skeptical believer or non-believer heard this message, how might they push back on me?       

            Is there a simpler, more elegant way of saying the same thing?

A lot of times, I will realize that I can tell a story with far less details. Perhaps I can summarize part of a Bible story? Perhaps I can delete that one unnecessary scripture insight? Perhaps I can rephrase a statement so that it comes off less snarky—it uplifts instead of oppresses. If you are preaching on a topic that has differing theological opinions or controversy, perhaps find a way to validate opposing worldviews and/or present your opinions with greater humility. And the ultimate goal here is this: You want your sermon to influence people not antagonize them. The goal is to win them, not shock them or roast them.

(10). Lock in your final written draft and convert it to an abbreviated outline –

When people read a transcript word for word, the majority of speakers commit two of the most common speaking mistakes: (1) They fail to engage the audience with eye-contact; (2) They speak with an unnatural “reading inflection” — usually a higher monotone voice. And (3). They are significantly less likely to add humor, clarity, and adapt to the audience. The reason is simple: When we read, we are not using the same creative parts of our brains. We lose our ability to sing our words with a normal inflection. And worse, we stop emoting naturally —like a bad actor. One of the easiest ways to solve this is to turn your notes into a bullet pointed outline and abbreviate them. Create your own short-hand or simply use cue words that trigger your next segment. Here’s an example of what my notes look like, and why:

(Click on Image to improve Resolution)

You may notice that I have dozens of abbreviated words and ##hashtagged words:

People = Ppl 

Because  = B/c; 

Christian = Xian; 

Matthew  = Mt.; 

The hashtags are simply search tools. I’m always borrowing content from previous messages. And these double hashtags make it easier for my computer search to find: “When was the last time I talked about that one ##story ##scripture ##oneliner ##Stat etc. from previous messages.”

These abbreviations create shorter sentences (left to right) which allows my eyes to scan them faster. I also use Times New Roman (and other narrow width fonts) to enable my eyes to ingest a full sentence faster.

I often use different fonts and colors to turn my manuscript into a sort of visual map—so I can quickly see page 2 is different than page 3 (if I accidently scroll up or down). I use asterisks & hyphens instead of official bullet points because a lot of word processors add unnecessary spaces before and after bullet points. And the more my words are spread out (and the more pages I have), the more likely I am to lose my place. And, it also takes longer to re-locate myself. But the main idea is this: This formatting enables me to increases my eye contact with the audience. And eye contact isn’t merely about “connecting with the audience.”

            The more I’m watching people (or the camera), the better because: (A). At a video campus (or Youtube channel), a lack of eye-contact becomes even more pronounced. If I’m preaching at a 45 degree angle to the camera (or looking down at a manuscript) it feels like 90 degrees on a 2 dimensional screen. I can literally see when my audience is confused and needs a follow up explanation. I can see when they are loving the content and extend the moment with a follow up joke. And just as important, I can quickly relocate myself in my notes with minimal eye-scanning as it eliminates a lot of the horizontal axis of my notes. Each line is tabbed inward to intuitively show me that it’s a subservient thought, not a new one.

I also use a lot of arrows in my notes to cut sentences down to word cues.

E.g.,   Arrows  >  cut sentences  >  cues

This forces my brain to think creatively by filling in words. This naturally causes me to talk with more realistic intonations and “emphasize the right words in each sentence” better. And you don’t need to employ all of these things. But at the very least, create some sort of outline that’s easy to scan. Because, as you do this, you’ll discover that it causes you to “semi-memorize” your notes, as your brain tends to remember spatial-oriented layouts, shapes and formats more than words. So, beyond increasing eye-contact, longer camera stare-downs, a better ability to find yourself quickly, it enables you to instantly know when you’re shifting topics without requiring your brain to read a single word. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I also have an entire process for Expository Messages as well. So keep in mind, this is simply one approach. But I hope you see: Writing a message is a lot of work! And it also requires other people looking at it. If I’m ever writing a message and I feel nervous about it, there’s usually a reason: (A). Perhaps I’m “reacting to a situation” – writing a sermon on a topic that I shouldn’t be, yet. (B). Perhaps deep down, I know that I’m oppressing people with truth rather than uplifting them. (C). Perhaps deep down, I know that I haven’t processed the theological issues enough. Or I haven’t presented the content with enough humility. Remember, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:17-18.  And quite often, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us that our wisdom comes from the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and evil, yet it’s still not life-giving. So, never be afraid to shelf a sermon until a later time. I realize that, on a Saturday night, this can be a real pain. But it’s better to choose humility than humiliation. And we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3).

So don’t write sermons in a hurry. Rather bathe them in prayer until you know: “God is on this.”