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How to Make a Preaching Calendar
What you believe will be revealed by what you do. So, my question is this: do you plan and prepare for preaching in a way that demonstrates you are truly convicted of preaching’s centrality?

Central to the gathering of God’s people is the preaching of God’s Word. Every pastor I know would heartily affirm that statement. However, belief drives action. What you believe will be revealed by what you do. So, my question is this: do you plan and prepare for preaching in a way that demonstrates you are truly convicted of preaching’s centrality? Often the gap that exists between belief and action is a lack of instruction. Sometimes, we just need to know how to practically live out the implications of our beliefs. Here are a few suggested ways to plan and prepare as if preaching is critical to the gathering and the good of God’s people.
The Principle: Planning is Prioritizing the Good of God’s People
Without a plan, you will not serve God’s people well. So, create a preaching calendar that answers the following questions:
1. What are the rhythms of our church?
Depending upon your location, attendance will ebb and flow at different points in the year. For instance, in my setting (about two hours from the coast), our people participate less in the height of summer than in the winter months, whereas pastor friends who serve in a beach setting find their participation growing during the summer months. Pay attention to when your people will be most engaged as targeted moments on the calendar for starting a new series in a book of the Bible or a series meant to address specific needs of the congregation. Speaking of needs…
2. What are the needs of the congregation?
It is mission-critical that pastors spend enough time with the sheep so that they know how they need to be fed. Being aware of what is taking place in the everyday lives of the flock will not change the exposition of a passage, but it will impact application and annual planning. For annual planning, if the congregation has been suffering then it could be wise to spend time in Job or Habakkuk. If there is a lack of clarity on the person and work of Christ, then prioritizing a series in one of the Gospels would be important. Do you know the congregation well enough that it will shape your planning and preaching?
3. When are we most likely to engage the lost, unchurched, and de-churched around us?
Every church has specific Sundays where they will likely see a notable increase in people who are not faithful followers of Christ. You should know what those days are and plan accordingly. If you know that the first Sunday of September will be filled with people who are not part of a local church, then that is NOT the Sunday to plan a sermon working through the Levitical laws regarding priestly garments and hygiene. That IS a Sunday to ensure the passage being preached has a clear gospel invitation and call to follow Christ.
4. How can I outline a long series that promotes multiple on-ramps for new people?
I am in favor of preaching through books of the Bible and doing so over the better part of a year at a time. However, if we are encouraging our congregation to invite their lost friends and neighbors on a regular basis, it is far easier for them to invite them when a new section is starting within a series than simply, “Hey, we are on sermon 37 of 52 in the Book of Genesis. Want to go to church with me?” A better approach would be to take a book like Genesis and divide it into sections where it makes more sense to invite people at the start of a new section. Here would be a sample outline of Genesis: Chapters 1-11, “Beginnings”; Chapters 12-36, “Peaks & Valleys”; Chapters 37-50, “The Son Who Saves.”
5. Who else should the congregation hear from?
I believe that there should be a central voice in the preaching ministry of the local church. Still, a central voice is not the same thing as a solo voice. As you create an annual plan, there should be a specific number of Sundays (this varies by church and context) where the congregation hears from someone other than you. If you have multiple preachers on your team, then this is an easy task to accomplish. If you are the only preacher on your team, outside voices may be required to fill the pulpit. If the latter, then plan well in advance with specific dates and passages in mind. Give an invitation 6 to 12 months in advance.
6. What resources should I provide with each series?
We practice sermon-based small groups. Therefore, every sermon and every series has a natural resource attached to it. However, there are other ways that we seek to supplement the preaching of a book with resources for the congregation. If you are preaching a series in the Gospel of John, it could be helpful to provide a weekly reading outline for the book, along with cross-references to other passages in the Bible that John is referencing. This reading plan could be on a printed bookmark or hosted on a website landing page. Speaking of landing pages, for a longer series it is helpful to create a place on your website that houses not only a reading/study outline but also links to recommended commentaries and books that accompany your series (you’d be surprised at how many people will buy them). Additionally, we have found it immensely helpful to either produce study booklets with pages for note-taking or to offer CSB Scripture Notebooks as we make our way through a series.
A Final Question: What About Flexibility and the Holy Spirit?
A caveat to all this planning is to be committed while also being flexible. To be clear, flexibility is NOT changing the plan every few weeks. Flexibility is a willingness to pivot when the change is clearly warranted (e.g., if tragedy strikes your city, you may need to take a few Sundays to focus on passages that speak to what people are experiencing). What I have found over the years is that as I bathe the planning in prayer and the seeking of counsel, I must pivot less and less. Instead, the planned passage for any given week is often exactly what needs to be expounded based on our people, our community, and our context. In short, if you believe that God is sovereign and His Spirit is at work in His people, then you should equally believe that His Spirit can guide you in a way that a plan written 12 months in advance could be exactly what the Lord knows the people will need a year into the future. In fact, seeing that exact thing take place repeatedly has built my faith in ways that few other things have.