Comments on: I believe in manuscripts! No notes – part 3.

By: Curtis Bracey

Curtis Bracey — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:57:44 +0000

When I first started preaching, I preached from memory withour using any notes at all. But as I got older I started to use notes, not manuscripts. I write out my own notes. But I write them for the ear- not like it’s going to be read. However, I always had my notes mastered by the time I got up to preach! So when it comes to notes I believe in the “Prepare with notes, but preach without it” method. Yet I believe what works for one preacher may not work for the other. So when it comes to notes, manuscripts, or memory- You have to use the method that best succors you! Don’t try to preach like nobody else!

By: Preacher John

Preacher John — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:34:51 +0000

I hear what you are saying about manuscripts. I’ve heard it many times. I admire those who can prepare and preach with integrity without a manuscript. But, let’s not assume that to preach without a manuscript is to deny the work of the Spirit. I prefer not to force all preachers into the same mold by assuming that we all think and act the same way; that all of us have the ability to speak with integrity without the aid of notes or manuscript. Likewise, I will not assume that all who do not use manuscripts preach with integrity. Some make the absurd assumption that he who preaches without a manuscript is more holy, spiritual or faithful than others. Another view can be taken. In the development of a manuscript, I pray over it, seek God’s will and Words for God’s people . Why would I, then, chunk all that God and I have developed together and go to the pulpit depending on my sin-tainted human nature (my heart) to do what I refused to do in the study? I have heard too many “holy-than-me”" preachers proclaim heresies by ad-libbing from the pulpit in the assumption that their speech is of the Spirit. The truth is that there are many credible ways to preach with integrity. No one method is more righteous than the other. Handling the Word with Integrity is the sole litmus test of preaching.

By: John Barach, Sr.

John Barach, Sr. — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:28:00 +0000

I’m retired now, but I always preached from a manuscript which I took to the pulpit. I type them on one side of a half sheet of paper which neatly tucks into my Bible. I use 15pt type which is large enough to see from a distance. I slide my pages to one side as I go along rather than flipping them so that the congregation doesn’t notice the notes. Several days before the service, I read my notes aloud over and over so that I get rid of tongue twisters and so that I can become really familiar with the text. In the pulpit, I place my notes as high on the pulpit as I can so that I can maintain eye contact with the congregation as well as see my manuscript. In this way, I people have been surprised to learn that I simply read my manuscript because it didn’t sound “read.” At times I have added material that wasn’t in my manuscript as I felt led, but I always had the manuscript to get back on track. Often for story-type illustrations which I knew well, I would ignore the manuscript and sometimes step to one side of the pulpit and tell the story even though the whole story was in my manuscript. One other thing: I used my high-lighter to mark some key phrases so they would stand out.
Cheers,
John

By: Matt Oxendale

Matt Oxendale — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:48:13 +0000

I’ve always prepared a full manuscript, but then never knew what to do with it in the pulpit. This week I took the challenge of condensing my manuscript down to a few key points and then preaching from these points. I was amazed how natural I felt, and how much i remembered. I was pushed to prepare well and stay very close to the text.

Thank Peter.

By: Brian Ellison

Brian Ellison — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:06:31 +0000

I prepare a manuscript and take it to the pulpit with me. I am not a slave to the manuscript.

The number one advantage of using the manuscript in the pulpit is that I feel tremendous freedom within set boundaries.

Secondly, manuscript preparation forces me be reflect on every movement within the sermon. I take the economy of words seriously. Typically, I shoot for about 800 words in the manuscript. When I am preaching, I am confident that every one of those words is suppose to be there.

By: InnerMissionary

InnerMissionary — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:36:00 +0000

For me, writing a manuscript would be a waste of the Lord’s time and hinder my delivery. However I appreciate the thought of leaving your manuscript behind. There’s never been an effective public manuscript reading!!

Preaching is a matter of truth, passion and trust. Reading a manuscript (or writing one in my humble opinion) is the fastest way to short-circuit passion. It kills trust too as a hearer wonders if you know what you’re talking about if you have to read it like a schoolboy.

You’ll certainly have more precise truth if you take the time to write it out and cross every “t” and dot every “i”. But in my heart that’s living in fear of making a mistake. Now don’t run off and exclaim that I must not care about truth. Not at all. I love the truth of God’s word and I’m faithful to it. But when I stand before the Lord, I may be as precise and correct as the Pharisees (…thought they were?). I may also have searched the Scripture thinking that in them I had zoe when I was unwilling to come with my whole passionate (falible) self. I want to stand before Jesus knowing that I played to win and was faithful, not that I played to not lose and was fearful.