17 Jun Preaching at the Steering Wheel

At Mainstreet, when I prepared my sermons, I would frequently hit a road block, unable to get my ideas to gel. That was always frustrating. So I would go visit people in the hospital, and in between hospitals, I would preach at the steering wheel. Lo and behold, it sounded pretty good! I’d stop and jot down some ideas, and things came together.

I prepared a lot of sermons that way. I would get excited about something, pound the steering wheel, and feel like I wanted to kick the tires. People in other cars probably thought I was nuts.

I still find myself doing that. An idea will pop into my head while I’m driving, and I’ll start talking about it out loud. I can think better when I’m talking than when I’m writing. 

Some preachers manuscript their sermons. I don’t. Many times I’d write my sermon outline on a note-card, with several words on it.

As a pastor, I was always well-prepared. I studied hard, going back to the Greek and Hebrew to research the original meaning of words, and reading as many commentaries as I could find about a Scripture passage. But I had a hard time putting everything I learned into a 30-minute package, and would go into the pulpit and basically speak without notes.

I’ve been criticized for that.  But I tell people, “I’m not giving a speech. I’m preaching.”