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 7: Opening; The Sermon Prep System — Step 8: Landing
Read
Read “From the guide” first, out loud if you can. Then read “Working it out.”
From the guide
Step 7: Craft the opening
Opening options:
- story
- tension
- question
- direct to text
Keep it under 5 minutes.
Earn attention quickly.
Step 8: Script the landing
Most preachers lose power in the last 5 minutes.
Script your final movement:
- summary
- emotional clarity
- invitation
- prayer
If the landing isn’t clear, you will ramble.
Working it out
The opening has one job. Make listeners want to hear what the passage says. Pick one of the four options and get to the text.
Script means word for word. You can preach the body from an outline. Write the landing out in full and know its last sentence before you stand up.
Emotional clarity. (Provisional editorial interpretation, not a verified definition from Parker.) Listeners should leave knowing what this truth should stir in them, not only what it says: comfort, conviction, courage, gratitude. Name it for yourself and write the landing toward it.
No new ideas at the end (editorial addition). The landing gathers what you have already said.
Worked example (fictional, process only)
A preacher's first opening was a five-minute personal story unrelated to the text. Her revision (sample work on Mark 4:35–41) opened with the question the passage raises in 4:41, then read the whole passage. Her first landing was three bullet points and ran six minutes when she rehearsed it. She scripted it: one sentence of summary, two sentences naming the comfort the passage offers, one clear invitation, and a written prayer. It ran under three minutes.
Discuss
- Which of the four openings fits this sermon, and why?
- How fast does your opening get to the text?
- What should listeners feel as you finish?
- What is the last sentence of your sermon?
Mentor: describe a sermon where you lost the room in the last five minutes.
Practice
Draft your opening and time it out loud. Script your landing word for word with all four parts: summary, emotional clarity, invitation, prayer. Then ask your mentor to name the question your opening raised and where the landing answered it. Revise only if that connection is unclear.
Worksheet
Copy onto paper or download below; nothing is saved here.
- Opening type (story / tension / question / direct to text)
- Opening draft
- Opening time (minutes)
- Landing — summary
- Landing — emotional clarity (what should this stir?)
- Landing — invitation
- Landing — prayer
- My last sentence
- The question my opening raises / where the landing answers it (in my mentor's words)
Review
Artifact: Opening draft and scripted landing.
Complete when: The opening is timed and the landing is written out in full with all four parts.
- Opening leads into the passage and is timed.
- Landing is scripted word for word.
- All four landing parts are present.
- The last sentence is decided.
- No new idea in the landing.
- Mentor can name the opening's question and where the landing answers it.
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.
- Name one real strength in the work.
- Name one priority improvement, based on evidence in the work.
- Revise, then recheck against the review list.