#1
Time Management & Balance
Having a preaching plan gives you the ability to more effectively manage your sermon preparation time. In the same way that a man building a tower sits down to estimate the cost before beginning to build (Luke 14:28), a pastor with a preaching plan is able to consider the time and resources needed to prepare for each sermon.
Knowing how much preparation time you need will allow you to have a better ministry-life balance. With a plan in place, you’ll know in advance which weeks will require more preparation and time. You’ll be able to plan out your schedule so you don’t have to work overtime, scrambling to prepare the upcoming weekend’s message. We’ll be talking more about this in an upcoming episode about secrets pastors use for Ministry-Life Balance.
#2
Team Synergy & Effectiveness
A preaching plan puts your entire team on the same page, working toward the same goals. Without advance notice, your team can’t plan worship sets and other service elements that coordinate with the sermon topic.
Giving your team only a couple days’ notice of the topic won’t allow them to excel in creativity, planning, and coordination. Preaching calendars will increase your team’s synergy, especially as team members work together to create a cohesive service plan around each scheduled preaching topic.
#3
Prayer, Research, & Meditation
Without a preaching plan, you have less time to pray over, research, and meditate on each of your preaching topics. Having less time to prepare means your message will have less depth, fullness, and intentionality. Planning doesn’t mean you’re putting the Holy Spirit in a box – it means you’re giving yourself more time to seek His direction and study His Word about your preaching topic.
You’ll be preaching to an audience of many different life stages, personalities, and demographics each weekend. Planning in advance gives you time to consider how to make the topic understandable and impactful to each of those people listening. Creating a preaching plan gives you the opportunity to take your presentation to the next level.
#4
Guest Speakers
Inviting Guest speakers to preach at your church provides a fresh perspective to your congregation, gives you a week off to rest and grow, and brings new insight to your service. But without a preaching plan, it’s much harder to bring guest speakers into your preaching rotation.
Once you determine your preaching plan and calendar, you can give guest speakers much more advanced notice on their topic. The longer they have to work on their sermons, the more depth, clarity, and insight they’ll be able to bring (just like we mentioned in the point above). It will help lower both your stress levels and theirs.
#5
Roadmap & Direction
Having a preaching plan will give your ministry teams a roadmap and clear direction for the year. Your ministry teams will be able to plan events to coordinate with your sermon topics, your creative team will be able to plan stage designs and worship sets to go along with your sermons, and your staff team will be aligned on a clear ministry path forward.
If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s hard to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. When you use a preaching calendar and have a clear plan ahead of you, you and your team can work together to make coordinated, cohesive progress forward. Your team and congregation will both experience the benefits.
