6 Tips to Internalize the Sermon

One of my biggest fears in preaching is standing before the people on a Sunday morning and not knowing what I am going to say. I have been preaching on a weekly basis for 16 years. I am guesstimating that I have preached anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 sermons. I still get horrified that I am going to forget my next point, go blank on a line I want to communicate, or freeze on the sermon entirely. It hasn’t happened yet.…but I fear it could at any time on any Sunday morning.

I also am adamant about eye contact. I want to look the congregation in the eyes when I preach. Unless I am reading the passage of Scripture or quoting someone else’s words, I want to be able to see the people under the sound of my voice. I don’t like it when a preacher doesn’t look at me, and I don’t like it when I am not looking at “my people.” This means I don’t ever, EVER want to read my sermon. It may work for some preachers, but not this one.

So if I don’t like to read my sermons and I am scared to death of forgetting something in my sermon, I better know it…cold. Every week I better know precisely what I am going to talk about for 25-35 minutes while being able to look the congregation in the eyes 95% of the time. In other words, I better internalize the sermon.

Here are some tips for how I make it “stick” in me:

1. Read the Text on Sunday Night.

Yes, the same Sunday night you just finished preaching last week’s text. Before you turn out the light to fall asleep Sunday evening, go ahead and read—just read—the text you will be preaching the following Sunday. This will get the Scripture in your head and allow you to begin processing when you wake up on Monday morning. Even if you don’t get into your study until Wednesday or Thursday, read the text on Sunday night. You will be surprised how you will already be forming thoughts and points before you even get to the study.

2. Type Out a Full Manuscript.

Once you have hammered out your approach to the sermon, start the difficult—yet critical—task of typing out a full manuscript. By this I mean “F-U-L-L.” Every word you plan to say and how you plan to say it. This will do at least two things for you: a) it will help you process how a thought in your head may come across to an audience, and b) it will help you get the sermon inside of you. Type it out. Think it through. Use bold lettering for your points. Highlight in yellow the Scripture passages. Flesh it out on your keyboard and screen.

3. Edit the Full Manuscript.

A day or two after you have typed out the manuscript, go back through it and make edits. Some portions will need to be removed. Others added. Some points will need to be reworded. Illustrations will need to be adjusted. Applications may have changed. Take an hour or so and edit the sermon manuscript. Why? Because you want to tighten up what you plan to say, you want to flesh out more of how you plan to say it, and this allows you yet another step for the sermon to be fully internalized.

4. Read the Full Manuscript.

I usually do this on Sunday morning. On a typical week (which rarely, if ever, exists for a pastor), I finish the manuscript on Thursday, edit the manuscript on Saturday, and read it through very slowly on Sunday. Again, this is yet another key component to internalizing what I plan to say on Sunday. I am not trying to memorize the manuscript word-for-word, but I am trying to make sure I know the main ideas and a thorough knowledge of the explanations behind the ideas. If you are clear as to the primary thoughts you want to communicate to your congregation, you’re ready for the next step.

5. Talk through the Entire Sermon without Any Helps.

When I lived by the church where I pastored in Louisiana, I would walk to the building and “preach” the sermon to an empty sanctuary. For the past 12 years or so, however, I leave my computer and Bible at my desk and walk three miles. As I walk, I preach the sermon to myself. I “talk it out,” literally, to ensure the concepts fit together and are coherent.

6. Take Key Points to the Platform.

This has looked different for me over the years. For the first 14+ years of preaching, I would take the full manuscript with me to the pulpit. For 10 or so years, this meant walking to the pulpit with 5-7 sheets of paper. For the next 3-4 years, it meant taking an iPad. I would make sure my main points were in big bold lettering, and I would highlight the things I wanted to ensure were communicated. I didn’t read the sermon, but I made sure I wouldn’t EVER be stuck without knowing what I was going to say! For the last year and a half, however, I have only taken key points and ideas with me. I write them out on a sticky note and stick them in my Bible. I do this on Sunday morning, without looking at the manuscript. The first time I did this, I was horrified. It was like taking training wheels off of a bicycle. However, because I habitually do steps one through five, I have learned that I “know” what I am going to say. Now I actually prefer taking just the sticky notes and my Bible with me to the platform.

I would love to know what some of you do to internalize the sermon. What are some best practices you find helpful?