Preaching Nuts & Bolts: Conquer Sermon Prep, Save Time, and Write Better Messages

Preaching is hard work.When I first felt called to ministry, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.I had never preached a sermon in my life.I never had a mentor walk me through the process.In fact, I was scared to death of public speaking.So I argued with God.I begged Him to let me do anything but preach.The thought of having to preach in front of a crowd every single week terrified me.But God didn’t relent.I went to a Bible college.I thought, “Surely, Bible college will teach me how to preach!”I applied myself.I graduated with honors with a ministry degree.But sadly, I was only forced to preach two times in the entire four years I was there.Since I was scared, I didn’t go out of my way to seek preaching opportunities like I should have.Suddenly, I found myself in my first job as a youth pastor.I immediately had to preach at least once a week.PANIC!Bible college did not prepare me for this.What should I do?My first attempts at sermons (if you could even call it that) were horrendous.I stood in front of my notes, shaking while reading the message word for word.This is not what I got into ministry to do!I needed to get better.So I hit the books.I read every book on preaching I could get my hands on.The books were alright but mostly theoretical.So I asked a lot of pastors a lot of questions and started listening to as many good preachers as I could find.Finally, I started getting some practical advice.Slowly, I began to get better with each message.This little book is the kind of resource I wish I had way back when I felt the call to ministry.There were good books on preaching, but most lacked the practical tips I needed.I knew why I preached and what to preach.What I didn’t know was how to