A few weeks ago here at The Journey, we had a two day planning retreat with all of our teaching pastors and our worship pastors from our various campuses.

We spent time preparing for that meeting by doing research in our church about what the biggest needs are, looking over prayer requests, talking to our group leaders about what the big needs were inside of our church, preparing our personal calendar for the next year.

At the end of the planning session, we walked away with a preaching calendar. 

Out of that two days, literally and somewhat surprisingly, we had all the titles for all of our series next year and most of the individual titles.

We are already starting design on our January series. We are already starting to gather information for our January and February series. I have already created files on my computer for these series so that I can collect information and research.

So this week I want to give you four reasons why you should consider planning a preaching calendar.

Reason #1: Increase Your Impact

You see, you’re going to conduct services next year 51 to 52 weeks anyway.

The question is, are all of those services going to be maximized?

You know I love this word “maximized.” If you’re already doing the services anyway, why not make sure you have as impactful a service as you can have every single week?

Planning allows you to increase your ministry each of those Sundays, to think through in advance what’s going on the lives of the people, and to make sure that every Sunday is exactly what it needs to be.

We all know the pain of regret after a Sunday is over and you look back and you think, “Boy, I could have done this. I should have been able to do that.”

Even with your sermons, you’re going to preach 51 to 52 sermons next year. Probably not you personally, but you’re going to have guest speakers and all of that. Why not make every single one the best that it can be?

Well the truth is, having a plan in advance allows you to increase that impact.

Right now, I am already collecting sermon material for what I’m going to preach on in February. Whenever I read something that falls under this topic for February, I can start filing that away.

In fact, just the other morning, as I was having my devotion on the plane, not something I like to do, but hey, that’s the way it worked out. I was reading something in Proverbs and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. But there’s something that stood out and it jumped out at me and I went and filed that for the second Sunday of December next year.

Now, having that much lead time is going to make that sermon even better.  You ever had this happen? You come back from two weeks vacation and it’s the best sermon you ever preached? Well, the reason why is you had two weeks to prepare.

I came back from being gone for three weeks last year and one week of that was a study break and two weeks of that was vacation. The next three or four messages were some of the best that I ever preached. People were like, “Hey man, you were really fired up.” I’m like, “I know, I had this much time to prepare.”

Well, imagine if you have that much time to prepare in advance. Even now, you’re planning for January. Even now, you’re putting the pieces together for March. Even now, you’re thinking through Easter and things like that. You’re going to have these services anyway. Why not increase the impact?

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. Register today for my Planning Your 2014 Preaching Calendar Webinar starting November 12th! Hurry, space is limited!

You’ll learn how to reduce your stress and increase your creativity over the next year. I will walk you, month-by-month, through the specifics of the 2014 calendar to help you plan your preaching in advance!

In this webinar you will also learn:

• When, specifically, to plan your 2014 Big Days (and when not to plan them).
• The pitfalls and possibilities built into the 2014 calendar.
• How to make the most of people’s natural seasonal patterns.
• The best times in 2014 for each of the 3 different types of sermon series (attraction, growth & balance).
• How to make Easter in 2014 more effective than ever at your church.
• Which days you can expect fewer people and how to best use those days.
• Plus much more!

Click here to register for my Planning Your 2014 Preaching Calendar Webinar for only $39! You will also receive two free months of the Renegade Pastors Network and receive over $1080.00 in bonuses!

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.