Planning a Sermon Series

Choose a series with a clear reason

Use this original tool when several sermons will belong to one planned sequence. A useful series has a biblical passage or book, a reason for teaching it now, and a clear movement. A collection of attractive titles alone does not tell the preacher what the congregation will actually hear.

Planning can help a congregation hear more than the preacher’s favourite passages. A series through a whole book also gives individual passages their surrounding place, while the schedule can still be revised when church circumstances require it. Set aside real preparation time rather than relying on spare moments.²

Second Timothy 3:14 to 17 connects Scripture with salvation through faith in Christ and with teaching, correction, and preparation for good works. Use that purpose to test the proposed series. Ask what listeners will understand more clearly and how the explanation will help them respond faithfully.¹

Read the whole selected material

For the worked example, read all four chapters of Ruth before deciding the weekly divisions. Notice the opening losses, the journey, the field, the request concerning a kinsman, the public arrangement, the birth, and the genealogy. Those scenes make a connected narrative.¹

Ruth 1 names the period of the judges and ends at the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth 4 closes with David’s family line. Keep the beginning and ending visible while preparing the middle scenes. Avoid treating one speech as though it were an independent promise to every present listener.¹

Choose a length the congregation can realistically follow. Four messages are a proposed arrangement for this tool, not a required number. A church may need more time for a difficult passage or less time because of its calendar. Keep the complete story in view when adjusting the divisions.

Copy the series planning board

Fill one row for each proposed sermon. Use the same fields every time so that the connection and difference between messages are easy to see. A separate series purpose sentence should govern the whole board.

1. Series title and biblical material: ____________________
2. The reason for choosing it and its central concern: ____________________
3. Message number and proposed date: ____________________
4. Complete passage and scene or argument: ____________________
5. Main message supported by that passage: ____________________
6. What this message adds to the series: ____________________
7. What must be explained for someone attending for the first time: ____________________
8. The practical response invited by this passage: ____________________
9. Speaker, interpreter, and time available: ____________________
10. Preparation question that still needs a verified answer: ____________________

A worked four message series through Ruth

Proposed series purpose: Follow the movement from loss toward provision and a restored future, paying attention to faithful kindness and responsible action. These are original planning statements for the actual narrative. They are not promises that every grieving listener will receive the same sequence of events.

1. Message one, Ruth 1: Loss, commitment, and return. Explain Naomi’s bereavement, Ruth’s decision, their return, and Naomi’s words of bitterness. Let the harvest notice open the next scene without rushing past the grief.
2. Message two, Ruth 2: Kindness takes practical form. Explain Ruth’s work, Boaz’s instructions, food and protection in the field, and Naomi’s response. Keep the provision connected to the people and actions the text names.
3. Message three, Ruth 3: A request and a responsibility still to be resolved. Explain the conversation about a near kinsman and Boaz’s recognition of a nearer relative. Do not present the private encounter as modern courtship advice.
4. Message four, Ruth 4: Public responsibility and the wider future. Explain the gate scene, the witnessed arrangement, the marriage and birth, Naomi’s care, and the genealogy leading to David. Let the ending show the narrative’s wider reach.

Help each message stand on its own

Begin each sermon with a short account of what a new listener needs to know. For message two, one sentence could say: Naomi has returned to Bethlehem with Ruth after the deaths in their family, and Ruth now goes to glean food. Identify the passage before adding the recap.

Finish each sermon by making its own central message clear. A listener should not feel that the sermon withheld every meaningful conclusion until the final week. The series connection can be stated briefly after the present passage has received a complete explanation.

Keep a small record after each gathering: what was actually explained, what question arose, and what needs a better explanation next time. Do not repeat a private pastoral disclosure in the next sermon. A series can remain attentive to the congregation without making individual lives into public material.

Coordinate the practical work

If more than one person will preach, share the board and explain the purpose together. For each message, name who is responsible for the reading, interpretation arrangements, and any announced conversation afterward. Agree how proposed changes will be communicated so the sequence does not depend on assumptions.

Leave enough room for people to ask about unfamiliar details. The Ruth example may require explaining gleaning and the family relationship from the narrative itself. If a speaker adds a historical claim beyond the text, record a reliable source and the exact portion consulted before including it.

Check the proposed applications across the series. They should grow from the passages rather than repeat the same generic request each week. A message concerning grief may call for patient care; another concerning practical kindness may suggest a considerate act of help. Present those as fitting applications, not guaranteed formulas.

Review before beginning and after finishing

Before the first message, ask someone to read the board and describe the series’ journey. If they cannot explain why the passages belong together, revise the purpose or the divisions. Confirm that every title corresponds to material that will actually be taught.

After the series, review the complete board against what was delivered. Record useful corrections and any promised care that remains to be offered. Keep the record for future preparation, while leaving personal conversations private. A finished series should make both the biblical material and the next preparation task clearer.