Boy have I been there, preparing sermons for over 26 years I can empathize with the struggle of coming up with fresh and relevant ideas for sermons. Understanding that the majority of the 52 sermons a year will be given by me was daunting.
Tell me if this sounds familiar, you are sitting at a desk or a table realizing you are going to be preaching again soon, and then anxiety sets in because you don’t have any idea what you are going to preach on. Then the questions begin to flow in your mind: What am I going to preach on? What have I preached on? What are people dealing with that I should address? What sermon idea will everyone relate to in their daily lives?
This is something that all pastors struggle with since the beginning of pastors. At times our sermon idea well runs dry, and we don’t know where to find any ideas.
The goal of this post is to answer one question which will answer the other questions previously stated, where can you find sermon ideas?
Honestly, there are so many places where you can find sermon ideas, but I am only going to name a few. These places are broken up into two categories: Offline Ideas and Online Ideas.
Finding Offline Ideas
Reading the Bible is one of the best ways to get sermon ideas. During your facetime with God keep a journal so that you can record what God is teaching you. Those truths can become the topic of your next sermon or sermon series. As you are reading the Bible write down words, phrases, and themes that are repeated over and over again. Go back to your journal when preparing for your next sermon.
Books are a great resource for sermon ideas. Once again while you are reading keep a notebook with you so when you come across something that can be used in a sermon write it down. Make sure you include the title, the author, the page number, and the topic. When contemplating about what to preach on pull out that notebook to reference the various things you found in books.
A topic rich resource for sermon ideas are articles found in magazines, newspapers, or any other printed material. When you find a good illustration as you are reading just tear the article out to be filed. Create a filing system where you can find topic resources. As you find articles write on the top of the page the topic and then place it in a filing system under that same topic. The next time you are looking for ideas go to that filing system, look up that file, and read through the articles for sermon ideas.
Final offline resource that provides an abundance of topic possibilities is culture. Some of the best topics can be found in a song, a movie, or a tv show. As you are watching a movie or tv show, or as you are listening to music write down the thoughts that come to mind in a notebook. Record the name of the show, the episode, and the theme, or record the name of the song, the artist, and the theme. You can use these listings as possible sermon ideas for your next sermon or sermon series.
Those were a few of the places where you can find sermon ideas offline, but now we will turn our attention to various places we can find sermon ideas online.
Finding Online Ideas
Youtube is an amazing place to find sermon ideas since it is filled with sermons. As you listen to sermons write down the topics that other pastors are preaching on. Don’t copy their message but use a scripture, a point, or an illustration as the starting point for your own sermon preparation. Sometimes a sermon idea is inspired by the smallest thing in another pastor’s sermon.
Podcasts are another great online resource to jump start sermon ideas. Podcasts go in depth on topics, so you can find a lot of information on any topic. As you listen write down the podcast name, podcast date, where you listened, and the topic so you can reference back when preparing a sermon.
Social media is becoming one of the best places to find sermon ideas. As you scroll through posts and comments there is a vast presence of ideas, topics, and illustrations that will be a foundation for your sermon. Social media provides an awesome opportunity to know how people are thinking on a certain topic.
I listed only a few places online where you can find sermon ideas. The internet has an inexhaustible pool of ideas that can be used to develop your next sermon.
Conclusion
So going back to the original question stated at the beginning of this post, where can you find sermon ideas? Everywhere.
By developing a process to record ideas as you are having your facetime with God, reading books, reading articles, watching shows or movies, listening to music, watching Youtube, listening to podcasts, or scrolling through social media you will have a place to go reference when the sermon idea well runs dry.
This process in time will provide you with numerous ideas for sermons. So begin collecting today for your sermon tomorrow.