Lydia Lee, winner of Preach magazine’s Sermon of the Year 2018 and a part-time preacher in her local church, shares the impact of studying theology on her faith and preaching outlook. (Part two of four.)
One of the perks of living at LST is that you’re never short of someone to have a deep theological discussion with (although there are limits to what I’m prepared to discuss over breakfast). The other day I was comparing sermon preparation with a good friend of mine and, interestingly enough, we both seem to approach it in a similar way. No sermon is complete without a good analogy, so I shall explain my sermon writing process by comparing it to cooking.
There is stage one, which my friend referred to as the marinating process. This is where you mull over the passage, reading it several times and in different translations (and if you’re as clever as my friend is, you may even read the original text!); listening to the Holy Spirit and just trying to absorb the Word. At this point, I usually write down any key ideas that come to mind. After marinating the passage it’s time to get out the commentaries and see what other people have to say about it. I’d liken this to reading a few recipe books to see if there is any useful advice on the dish you are preparing. Then you start writing. It’s at this moment that I feel my sermon writing is most like cooking – it gets a bit messy, a bit haphazard and sometimes a bit stressful! But slowly it starts to come together and some kind of order assembles itself amid the chaos. Once you’ve drafted it, give the talk some space – take it out of the oven and allow it to rest. When you come back to rehearse it, you can see if anything needs to be added, taken out or reworded. Finally, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be to serve it up to your congregation.
