I will never forget sitting in a Homiletics class at Covington Theological Seminary and the professor said this ''Sermon come from here, there, and everywhere.'' I have often thought of that little quote and have tried to apply its truthfulness throughout the last 37 years of my ministry.
It is my desire to write these four quarterly thirteen weeks of sermons to help the busy pastor and namely the bi-vocational man of God. I spent well over half of my ministry as a bi-vocational pastor and I well know the rigors of working, visiting, preaching, caring for your family, and trying to design sermons that are fresh and fruitful.
One of the great passions that I have developed over the last 37 years of preaching and pastoring; has been in developing and designing sermons. In honing my skills in sermon designing and practicing the art of alliteration, I would often share my sermons with others.
The Lord has blessed my ministry by allowing me the opportunity to help other men of God, as others have helped me. I used to sit and try to design sermons like John Phillips, James Merritt, and Jerry Vines, who is my hero of heroes. The more I looked at the sermons of these men, the more my heart burned to learn how to design sermons like them.
Is it okay to use another man's material? The late great Adrian Rogers, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN, used to say, ''If my bullet fits your gun, go ahead and shoot it.''
I have developed these sermon outlines in a weekly format. Sunday morning is in the O.T, Sunday night in the N.T. and Wednesday in one of the Poetic books.
