by Randy Harp
I try to live by this simple principle: begin with the end in mind. I am sure it has something to do with my engineering background. As a senior pastor, I applied this in sermon planning. Sometime around November or December I would begin praying and preparing for the coming year. My goal was to have a clear preaching direction for all 52 weeks of the year. I understand everyone is not naturally wired to do something like this, and there are some who might even argue against it, but for me it was one of the most important things I did. The principle from Proverbs 24:27 of planning and preparing before you build your house is true in the long-term spiritual development of your church.
There are many reasons for planning an annual preaching calendar. Allow me to share three, with a key word being balance. The first is, it helps provide balanced content. In his farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27, Paul declared he did not shrink from sharing the whole counsel of God. We can all be found guilty of speaking on topics that are more personal, passages that are more familiar, or genres we find more comfortable. When you take time to plan your messages in advance, it allows you to balance time spent in the Old Testament and New Testament. It allows you to see all the different topics or themes that are being covered. It helps you see how to balance book studies, biographic studies, and topical studies.
A long-term preaching calendar also helps you balance the types of messages you preach. In John 1:39 Jesus said to “come and see” but in Matthew 16:24 he basically said “go and die.” Both types of messages need to be preached today, but in a balanced effort. This is how a church can balance both depth and breadth. The author of Hebrews uses the illustration of milk and meat to differentiate between types of teaching. Peter challenged his listeners to grow both in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). As you are planning, some messages should be more evangelistic, some should be more growth oriented, and some should be both.
Having a balanced tone in your messages can also be accomplished with an annual preaching calendar. Paul, in speaking to the Corinthian church, said those with the gift of preaching should strengthen, encourage, and comfort their people. Each of these require different tones and should be balanced throughout the year in your preaching.
So how does one develop an annual preaching calendar? The first and most important element is prayer. We must remember we are only under-shepherds to our congregations. When we pray we are seeking God’s perspective and His direction for our churches. Some may say it is not spiritual to plan so far out, but it is no more spiritual to plan at the last moment. A second element is to seek input from others. Even though you are the primary voice speaking to your church, you are not the only person of influence. It is not only good leadership to seek counsel from others, it is also wise for sermon planning. One criticism of the American church is that we are answering questions people are not asking. This can be addressed by seeking input from others.
Once you complete your annual calendar, your work is not done. It is only beginning. You must still do the hard work of sermon study. When it comes to preparing your annual preaching calendar, trust God to use your planning to strengthen your preaching, nurture your congregation, and honor the Scriptures.
Five tips on planning your preaching calendar:
Write it down. Until you write something down it is only an idea. Use technology to help gather and compile resources. Create a folder in Evernote or Dropbox that allows you to store information and edit from multiple platforms. Share what you write down with your team.
Know your church’s calendar. When are your scheduled “Big Days?” When are national holidays? When are special events such as mission conferences, youth camps, VBS, etc.
Know the seasons of your church. As Solomon points out, there is a season for everything and that includes your church. There are times of the year where visitors are more likely to attend. There are times when your members are more likely to miss. It is important to know these seasons.
Allow time to rest. This can be done by creating buffer weeks in between lengthy series or by being strategic when you invite others to preach. Make sure to include personal vacation time in your planning.
If you can’t plan an entire year, start with three months. If this is something new, don’t overwhelm yourself. Start small and after three months continue for another three months.
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5)