The stages of sermon preparation are not rigid.  They are not like the seven chapters of a book that must be covered in sequence.  They are like loose pieces of paper.  In fact, they can be loose pieces of paper.  Have a page entitled Passage Study, and one for Passage Idea.  Also a Purpose page, a message idea page, and one for message shape, etc.  For message details you probably want three – introduction, conclusion and illustrations.  You can write on any page at any time as you work through the seven stages.  But there’s one more piece of paper, one that has a specific place in the process, and yet should be ignored in certain other stages.  You might entitle it, “Questions of the Text.”

Do use this page in an initial reading of the passage.  Before you study in any detail, read through the text and write down questions of the text.  What needs explaining?  What is not clear?  Are there details, or names, or words that are begging further attention?  Anything that is not immediately clear, write it down.  This is now a valuable piece of paper.  You may study in detail, maybe in original languages, probably in commentaries.  For a period of time you will live in that text.  You will forget what it is like to be a newcomer to the text.  Just like having someone visit your country is fascinating as you watch them observing what to you is familiar, your list of questions is a clue to the experience of a non-native in that text.  Your listeners will be new to the text when you preach it.  Your questions may be similar to theirs, so the list has real value.

Do not use this page in stage 6 – sermon shape.  At this stage do not let that sheet drive your preparation.  If you do, you run the risk of preaching a list of answers to questions, a series of distinct ideas.  A string of disjointed explanations may be considered expository preaching by some, but not here.

Do use this page once you are finished.  Having crafted and written a draft of your sermon, then you can break out the list again.  Which questions are not answered in the course of the message?  If it’s a question a first-time reader is likely to have of that text, you should probably answer it at some point in the message.  You don’t want that to be an obstacle to hearing the main point.  So the first thing you wrote in the process of preparing the message can be a great tool as you run your final checks prior to delivery.