Advice For Writing A Successful Sermon Series

Sermon series are common in churches today, but I don’t have to tell you that. Many churches operate based on a series model when it comes to their content planning strategy, but what does it look like to plan and write a successful sermon series? I have good news! That’s exactly the question we’re going to answer today. Consider these five pieces of advice when you’re writing your next sermon series.  

There are two different routes you can take when it comes to planning a sermon series. You can either preach through a passage of Scripture and allow the verses to help determine your topic each week, or you can preach on a topic like marriage, money, waiting, etc., and pull a different passage of Scripture each week based on your key point for each message. Making this distinction at the front end of your sermon planning will make the writing process much easier.  

Come up with an inviting and interest-piquing title.

Once you decide on doing a topical series or a Scripture-passage-based series, your next step is to come up with a title. Your best bet when deciding on a title is to come up with something that will pique the interest of your audience. In other words, if you’re preaching on the fruit of the Spirit, don’t just call the series “Fruit of the Spirit.” Try to come up with something creative (ask for help if you need it) so that your audience will be more intrigued to tune in.

Don’t spend too much time on review each week.

One mistake I see pastors make all the time is that once they get one or two weeks into a series, they spend too much time reviewing content from past messages in the series. Give your audience a one to two-sentence summary of each message if you need to for context, but don’t go into too much depth where half your sermon time is spent on reviewing. If you record your sermons, point your congregation to your website and encourage them to catch up online if they missed a previous message.  

Try to keep the series between 4-6 weeks long if possible.

By keeping your sermon series to 4-6 weeks in length, you’re giving yourself enough time to dive deeply into a topic without your congregation growing tired or bored with hearing about the same topic for too long. Preaching over 4 to 6 weeks makes the content easier to digest, which makes the ability to memorize the sermon points easier. 

Have one key takeaway to leave with your congregation at the end of every message.

At the end of each message in the series, have one key takeaway statement for your congregation. Make sure the statement is short, to the point, and memorable, and also make sure to repeat it quite a few times. If you need help coming up with this statement, ask yourself this question, “If my audience only remembered one thing from my sermon, what would I want them to remember?” The answer to that question is your bottom line.