Skip to content
Parker Manuel

Preview prototype, still being built. “From the guide” sections are Parker’s words; everything else is an editorial draft for review, not cleared for public release. Worked examples are fictional. Preview hub

Installment 5

Big idea and outline

Say the sermon in one sentence and build clear movements that teach each point before stating it.

Editorial draft for review. “From the guide” sections are Parker's words; “Working it out,” examples and worksheets are editorial.

Guide sections: The Sermon Prep System — Step 4: Big idea; The Sermon Prep System — Step 5: Outline

Read

Read “From the guide” first, out loud if you can. Then read “Working it out.”

From the guide

Step 4: Write the big idea

If you can’t say your sermon in one sentence, it isn’t ready.

Big idea:

  • clear
  • biblical
  • memorable
  • applicable Monday

Everything serves this.

Step 5: Build the outline

Choose clear over clever.

Three movements is usually enough.

For each point include:

  • Scripture
  • Explanation
  • Illustration
  • Application

Teach through the point so when you state the point, they already feel it.

Working it out

Four tests. Check your big idea against each of Parker's four words. The fourth is the one most often missed: could someone act on this on Monday morning?

Everything serves this. Anything in the outline that does not serve the big idea comes out, however good it is.

Clear over clever. If a point needs explaining before it makes sense, rewrite it plainly. Alliteration and wordplay are fine only when they cost nothing in clarity.

Teach through the point. Do not announce a point and then defend it. Read the Scripture, explain it, and show it, so that by the time you say the point out loud the room is already nodding.

How many movements. Three is usually enough. If the passage has two, preach two. Think hard before going past three.

Worked example (fictional, process only)

A preacher's first big idea was a paragraph long. She cut it to (sample work on Mark 4:35–41): “Jesus calls us to trust him in our fear because even the wind and the sea obey him.” The passage falls into two natural sections (the storm and the calm, 4:35–39; Jesus' question and the disciples' response, 4:40–41), so she built two movements. In each, she moved the point statement from the first line to the end of the explanation.

Discuss

  1. Can someone repeat your big idea after hearing it once?
  2. What could a listener do with it on Monday?
  3. Which point is clever where it should be clear?
  4. How does your big idea compare with your “before” snapshot from installment 1?

Mentor: ask to hear the big idea once, then say it back from memory.

Practice

Write your big idea and test it against the four words. Compare it with your “before” snapshot from installment 1 and mark each claim there keep, revise or remove. Outline the passage's own movements, as many as its natural sections (do not force two or three), with Scripture, explanation, illustration and application for each. For each movement, mark where you will state the point and check that the teaching comes before it. Then say the big idea once to your mentor and ask them to repeat it.

Worksheet

Copy onto paper or download below; nothing is saved here.

Big idea (one sentence)
Clear? Biblical? Memorable? Applicable Monday?
“Before” snapshot: each claim marked keep / revise / remove
Movement 1 — Scripture / explanation / illustration / application / where I state the point
Movement 2 (if the passage has one) — Scripture / explanation / illustration / application / where I state the point
Further movements (one row for each further natural section) — Scripture / explanation / illustration / application / where I state the point
Anything cut because it did not serve the big idea

Review

Artifact: Big idea and outline.

Complete when: The big idea passes all four tests, the snapshot comparison is marked, and each movement the passage has includes all four elements.

  • Big idea is one sentence and traces to the passage.
  • Mentor repeated the big idea after hearing it once.
  • A Monday action is clear.
  • Each movement has Scripture, explanation, illustration and application.
  • Points are plain, and each is taught before it is stated.
  • The snapshot comparison is visible, and the number of movements follows the passage.

Mentor feedback

Bring the work you made, not just your answers. Show one place where the passage shaped a decision. Name one strength, choose one useful improvement, and check the revision together.

  1. Name one real strength in the work.
  2. Name one priority improvement, based on evidence in the work.
  3. Revise, then recheck against the review list.