Written by Jud Lake
Renowned expository homiletician, Haddon Robinson, describes sermon preparation as a “dynamic process” that involves “insight, imagination, and spiritual sensitivity–none of which comes from merely following directions.” Nevertheless, “an awareness of how others approach the task produces confidence and contributes to a more efficient use of time and energy.”1 With this homiletical wisdom in mind, I propose the following seventeen-stage approach for preparing expository sermons. While seasoned expositors may merge and mix some of the stages, each one is a vital ingredient to the process. The first ten stages focus on exegetical analysis, the last seven focus on homiletical synthesis. The entire process should take between 12 to 20 hours a week, depending on the expositor’s experience.