3 Reasons To Write Out Your Sermon

In his classic treatise De Oratore (On The Orator), Cicero argues that the best master of the speaker is his pen (though today we might say his keyboard!).

Whether you carry notes into the pulpit or preach from nothing but an open Bible, consider three benefits of writing out a full sermon manuscript before preaching your message:

1) Clarity

Expanding upon William Boyd Carpenter’s lectures on preaching at Cambridge (1894), W.H. Griffith Thomas offers a popular framework for sermon preparation:

“We must think ourselves empty, read ourselves full, write ourselves clear, and pray ourselves keen.” ¹

Note that third element: We must write ourselves clear.

Writing clarifies the thoughts and feelings we experience in our study and helps shape those thoughts and feelings in the most logical manner. If we omit this step, we may create unintended confusion as we endeavor to explain, illustrate, or apply our message.

Alistair Begg agrees: “We may believe that we have a grasp of the text, only to stand up and discover that somewhere between our thinking and our speaking, things have gone badly awry. The missing link can usually be traced back to the absence of putting our thoughts down clearly.” ²

2) Accessibility

Like audio & video sermons on a church’s website, uploaded manuscripts give people access to biblical content worldwide.

A love for the gospel motivates preachers to make their sermons accessible to members of their congregations and to those whose internet searches bring them to their content.

What preacher has not been helped by the sermons of others? When Susie Spurgeon looked upon her late husband Charles’ collection of printed sermons, she recalled the great Puritan Thomas Goodwin’s words:

“Sermons preached are, for the most part, as showers of rain that water for the instant…but printed sermons are as snow that lies long on the earth; they are longer-lived, they preach when the author cannot, and–what is more–when he is not.” ³

This takes us to the third reason for writing out our sermons:

3) Posterity

Benjamin Franklin wisely advised, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.” ⁴

Writing out our sermons extends the life of our messages. Even after we die, our messages live via the internet and published works.

Think about it this way: if the average sermon contains 2,500 words and the average book about 66,000 words (roughly 250 printed pages), the preacher who writes out a full manuscript will generate enough content to produce anywhere from 2 to 4 books a year. What a lasting influence upon the Kingdom!

Preachers, what other reasons would you give for writing out your sermon?

1. W.H. Griffith, The Work Of The Ministry (London: Hodder And Stoughton, 1910), 209-212
2. Alistair Begg, Preaching For God’s Glory (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 53.
3. As cited by Mrs. C.H. Spurgeon in Ten Years Of My Life In The Service Of The Book Fund (London: Alabaster, Passmore, and Sons, 1886), 206.
4. Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1738