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# The Sermon Preparation Wall
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/20111011the-sermon-preparation-wall-html/
- Published: 2011-10-11T09:00:14.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:29:47.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, preaching, #DashHouseCom, #wp

![1000w-64](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1000w-64.jpg)

The more I preach, the more I realize how much I need a sermon preparation wall. Here’s how it works.

Every Monday, I sit down and begin the sermon preparation process all over again. Even on Monday I can feel the pressure of the coming Sunday breathing down my neck. I get into the text and I’m immediately tempted to think of how I can preach that text in just six days.

And that’s just the problem.

I’ve become convinced that before I can work on how to preach the text, I need to make sure I understand the text. That means that I’ve erected a wall in my mind. Here’s how it works for me.

### Monday and Tuesday (The Textual Side)

- read and re-read the text
- meditate on the text
- ask questions of the text
- work on understanding authorial intent
- come up with exegetical idea and supporting ideas in the text
- consult commentaries
- begin to apply the text to my own life

This is where I build my imaginary wall. I’m not allowed to cross it until I’ve completed the work listed above. Once I have, I then begin to think of how I’m going to preach the text. Here’s what it looks like on the other side of the wall.

### Wednesday and Thursday (The Homiletical Side)

- work on homiletical idea and general outline
- decide on the sermon form
- develop the sermon
- prepare to preach the sermon

If I move right from the text to homiletics, I short-circuit the process. I don’t have a message to preach until I’ve spent some time respecting the text, allowing it to speak. Until the text wrestles me to the ground on Monday and Tuesday, I have no way to communicate that text faithfully to the congregation so it can wrestle them to the ground as well.

One of the best pieces of advice I would give to any preacher is to erect a wall in the process of sermon preparation. Spend some time in the text without worrying how you’re going to preach it. That comes later. By doing this, you’ll have a much better message to preach when that part of the preparation process comes.

![The Sermon Preparation Wall](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/v7/dashhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1000w-64.jpg)