Preaching with Notes

Hi Jim,

There is a huge spectrum of opinions on whether preachers should use notes, no notes, manuscripts, or whatever. You use manuscripts, I've read homiletics books on how to preach with no notes at all. I've heard good sermons where the preacher used a manuscript and I've heard bad sermons where the preacher used very few notes.

I teach homiletics here at Greyfriars' Hall and what I tell my students is to experiment with all the different ways of doing it. I tell them to do the experimenting in small group situations rather than in the sermon on Sunday, if at all possible. Of course in the pulpit is where the real rubber meets the road, but it is good to work on the changes in a safer environment before springing it on your congregation, if you can.

One thing I would suggest is to read books on how to formulate a sermon for preaching. John Broadus has a very elementary book on creating the sermon. John MacArthur’s introduction to preaching suggests several ways of doing it. Though it is important to point out that he has moved past what he says in his book and says so in the book.

The way I suggest for you to move from manuscript to outline is, since you listen to Doug's sermons, download the sermon notes from our web site and read them as Doug goes through the sermon. He uses the same notes in the pulpit that we have on line and you can see how he reads and interjects other stuff at the same time. You will see that his sermon notes are actually not an outline, but not really manuscript either. He has learned to do this very well and the style has served him well over the years so that he is able to turn his notes into books and if he wants to teach the same topic in the future there is enough information in the notes for him to use them again without having to restudy the whole issue.

The problem that most new preachers have is that when they go from manuscript to more of an outline they lose their place as soon as they look up to talk. Sometimes they say something at the front of the sermon they had planned to say at the end. Sometimes they completely forget to say things they wanted to say. But God is in charge and he rules the man and the sermon and when it is all over you have to give it all to God and ask him to bless your labors.

The problem with manuscripts is usually that they cause the sermon to be very wooden and tight. The congregation gets the sense that they don't really need to be there at all. The preacher is just talking to his notes and there is no personal interaction between him and his flock

Some pitfalls to watch out for would be: (1) First the temptation to chase rabbits all over the field. Sometimes you will say something that catches your imagination, but wasn't part of your original intention. You have to make the immediate decision as to whether this new topic is helpful to the situation or not helpful. The problem is that sometimes these are the kinds of things the Holy Spirit gives you in the middle of the sermon that need to be said, sometimes not. (2) The second thing to watch out for is that you don't want to illustrate illustrations. In Doug's style of notes the main point is in the notes. He often stops reading to elaborate on a point and sometimes this involves an illustration. But sometimes a guy can get caught up in the illustration and he will say something that is difficult and he thinks that point needs to be illustrated and so off he goes illustrating illustrations. (3) The advantage of less notes is that you can be personal with your people, that is a good thing, the down side, however, is that sometimes guys have a tendency to become flippant and too informal. We need to remember that we are representing God and speaking for the Lord Jesus. So there needs to be a measure of, what Lewis called, solempne in our bearing and presence in the pulpit. There needs to be a joyful seriousness; a solemn cheer; a simple but deep elegance.

I hope this helps,