"Somebody pays the price for the sermon. The preacher will pay the price of advanced planning or the people will pay the price of wasted time."
1. Stress and anxiety are significantly reduced and you become a better teacher
2. It becomes possible to integrate other areas of your church in with the weekend services when you know what you're preaching on in advance (i.e. preach on the value of small groups prior to growth group sign ups, preach on water baptism prior to scheduled water baptisms, preaching on serving prior to a ministry fair, etc.)
3. You can be more creative with worship and promotion when you know which message series is coming months in advance. Your dance team, drama team and/or worship team can't coordinate complimentary elements to the worship service the night before.
4. Planning in advance helps you to balance your preaching calendar around the five purposes of the church (evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship, and ministry). Unless you have an intentional plan to balance your preaching calendar, you'll lean towards the purpose you are most passionate about and place a greater emphasis on that purpose to the neglect of the other purposes.
5. Many churches no longer have a Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night service. Many churches now only have Sunday morning service and then the midweek growth group. Since you're only preaching a maximum of fifty two sermons a year, you have to be strategic with what you preach. This requires advanced planning.
Planning and the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit can direct your preaching calendar just as clearly a year in advance as He can the day before. Saying you don't want to plan in advance because that takes the Holy Spirit out of the equation is often an excuse for laziness. Planning in advance gives the Holy Spirit a greater opportunity to work in your preparation than if you wait till the last minute. Planning in advance is preparing in faith.
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