Saturday night is too late to begin preparing Sunday’s sermon. A pastor may occasionally face an emergency that changes his week, but last-minute preparation must not become his normal practice.
Paul told Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Accurately handling Scripture requires time. A pastor must read the passage repeatedly, understand its setting, follow the writer’s argument, compare related passages, and think carefully about how to explain it. He must also pray and examine whether the truth has first reached his own heart.
A rushed sermon often depends on familiar sayings, borrowed outlines, emotional stories, and the preacher’s first impression of the text. He may say things that sound right without noticing that the passage means something different in context.
Begin early. Read the next passage before the week becomes crowded. Write down questions. Identify words or ideas that need study. Give yourself enough time to discover that your first interpretation may have been wrong.
Study is more than sermon preparation. A pastor who studies only what he plans to preach will develop a narrow understanding of Scripture. Read whole books of the Bible. Learn doctrine. Study difficult passages before a crisis forces you to answer them. Think through death, marriage, church discipline, suffering, salvation, and false teaching before someone is sitting across the desk needing help.
Commentaries and other teachers can be useful, but they should assist your study rather than replace it. Do not repeat a statement merely because a famous preacher said it. Compare everything with the text.
There is also a danger in studying endlessly while neglecting prayer, family, and people. The purpose is not to collect information or sound intelligent. It is to know God’s Word and serve His people faithfully.
Pastor, your congregation may never see the quiet hours spent studying. Give them more than something assembled at the last minute. Do the work. Handle the Word carefully.