Several years ago, I began thinking about the amount of time pastors spend preparing sermons.

The numbers began to stagger me.

Imagine 10,000 pastors spending an average of five hours each week preparing a sermon. That would represent:

• 50,000 hours of sermon preparation every week

• 2,600,000 hours of preparation every year

• More than 108,000 full days of study

• Nearly 297 years of combined preparation time

Those numbers are only an illustration. Every pastor and every week is different. Some sermons require far more than five hours of preparation. Others grow out of years of study, prayer, and personal experience.

But the larger point remains:

Pastors invest an enormous amount of time preparing to preach the Word of God.

That time is valuable. It should never be treated casually. Studying the Word, praying over a message, and preparing to feed God’s people are among a pastor’s most important responsibilities.

However, I began asking another question:

What if pastors could help one another use some of that preparation time more effectively?

Many Pastors Are Studying the Same Subjects

Every week, pastors throughout the world are preparing messages about many of the same biblical truths:

• Faith

• Prayer

• Repentance

• Salvation

• Marriage

• Leadership

• The Holy Ghost

• Spiritual growth

• Christian living

• The return of Jesus Christ

The sermons will not be identical. Every congregation has different needs, and every preacher brings different experiences, burdens, and insights to the pulpit.

But many of us are still researching the same Scriptures, studying the same Bible characters, and developing messages around similar spiritual principles.

That is not a criticism.

There is one Gospel. There is one Word. There are eternal truths that every generation must hear again.

Paul wrote:

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man…”

—1 Corinthians 10:13

Many of the struggles people face are common. The names and circumstances may change, but people still need biblical truth concerning fear, temptation, forgiveness, faith, suffering, obedience, and hope.

If one pastor has spent many hours developing a sound biblical outline, could that work become a seed that helps another pastor?

That question helped give birth to PreachIt.org.

Saving One Hour Can Make a Difference

Suppose those 10,000 pastors could each save only one hour per week by using a trusted sermon outline, illustration, study resource, or organizational tool.

Together, that would represent:

• 10,000 hours saved every week

• 520,000 hours saved every year

• More than 21,000 full days

• Nearly 59 years of combined time

Again, these are illustrative numbers, not the results of a formal study. But they help us see what can happen when ministry resources are shared.

One hour may not seem like much.

To a busy pastor, one hour can matter.

That hour might become:

• Time spent praying

• Time with a spouse

• Time listening to a child

• Time visiting someone in the hospital

• Time mentoring a young leader

• Time reaching for a lost person

• Time resting before the next responsibility

• Time studying the part of the message that needs deeper attention

The goal is not to help pastors study less because study is unimportant.

The goal is to help pastors use their study time wisely.

A Sermon Resource Should Be a Seed

PreachIt.org was never intended to replace a pastor’s personal relationship with God.

A sermon outline cannot pray for you.

It cannot carry your burden for the congregation.

It cannot tell you exactly what the people in your church need to hear.

It cannot replace the voice of the Holy Ghost.

A sermon resource should be a seed.

When you find an outline that speaks to you:

• Read every Scripture.

• Study the passage in context.

• Verify the facts and illustrations.

• Pray over the central truth.

• Consider the needs of your congregation.

• Remove what does not fit.

• Add what God has placed in your heart.

• Allow the Holy Ghost to make the message personal.

Do not merely repeat another preacher’s experience as though it happened to you. Do not preach someone else’s personal story in the first person. Do not assume that every statement in an outline is automatically correct.

Use the material honestly and responsibly.

The goal is not to sound like the person who wrote the outline.

The goal is to allow a good seed to grow within your own study, experience, and calling.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Receiving Help

Some pastors feel guilty using another person’s sermon outline or study material.

I understand the concern. No sincere preacher wants to become lazy, dishonest, or dependent upon someone else’s relationship with God.

But receiving help is not the same as refusing to study.

Paul told Timothy:

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

—2 Timothy 2:2

Truth was received.

Truth was preserved.

Truth was shared.

Truth was entrusted to someone else.

Every preacher has received help from others:

• Someone taught us how to study.

• Someone explained a difficult passage.

• Someone recommended a useful book.

• Someone shared an illustration.

• Someone preached a message that planted a seed in our hearts.

• Someone showed us how to organize an outline.

• Someone helped us understand a doctrine more clearly.

We did not arrive where we are by ourselves.

There is no shame in learning from faithful men and women who have spent years studying, preaching, teaching, and serving the church.

The danger is not receiving help.

The danger is using that help without prayer, study, honesty, or discernment.

Stewardship Includes Our Time

We often preach about stewardship in relation to money, but stewardship includes everything God has placed in our hands.

That includes time.

Paul wrote:

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

—Ephesians 5:15–16

Pastors have only so many hours in a week.

Within those hours, they must carry many responsibilities:

• Sermon preparation

• Prayer and personal devotion

• Counseling

• Hospital visits

• Leadership development

• Administration

• Community outreach

• Family responsibilities

• Unexpected emergencies

• Personal rest

A resource that saves time in one area can create room for faithfulness in another.

That is not laziness.

That is stewardship.

However, saving time should not become the only goal. A pastor can prepare a sermon quickly and still be spiritually unprepared to preach it.

Efficiency is useful.

Anointing is essential.

Preparation Must Remain Personal

There is a part of sermon preparation that no resource can complete for you.

You must spend time with God.

You must know the people you are preaching to.

You must allow the Word to work in your own heart.

You must carry the burden of the message.

A borrowed outline without personal prayer may contain truth but lack spiritual weight. The congregation does not merely need correct information. They need a word that has passed through the heart of their pastor.

Before preaching, ask:

• Have I prayed over this message?

• Do I understand the Scriptures?

• Has this truth affected my own life?

• Does this address a real need within the church?

• Am I preaching it because it is timely or merely because it is available?

• Can I communicate it honestly in my own voice?

• What response am I asking the congregation to make?

A sermon becomes personal when the preacher has lived with its truth.

Use the resource.

But do not skip the process.

Better Resources Can Produce Deeper Study

A sermon outline should not close the door to deeper study.

It should open it.

A strong outline may help you:

• Discover a Scripture you had overlooked

• Recognize a connection between two passages

• Find a clearer way to organize a subject

• Understand how another preacher approached the text

• Identify an application for the congregation

• Begin developing a sermon series

• Find a new direction for further research

Sometimes the most valuable part of an outline is not the finished material. It is the question the outline causes you to ask.

One thought can lead to another.

One Scripture can open an entire subject.

One illustration can help the truth become clear.

One seed can grow into a message that reaches someone’s heart.

Share What God Has Given You

The Kingdom of God grows when faithful people share what they have received.

There are sermons, lessons, and leadership principles in the hearts and files of experienced ministers that could help thousands of pastors.

Some of those resources were developed through:

• Years of ministry

• Hours of Bible study

• Difficult pastoral experiences

• Seasons of revival

• Personal failure and restoration

• Lessons learned while building a church

• Truths discovered through prayer

• Wisdom received from earlier generations

Those things should not be lost.

When a seasoned pastor shares a sermon outline, he is doing more than sharing notes. He may be placing years of experience into the hands of a young minister who has not yet had time to learn those lessons personally.

That does not remove the younger preacher’s responsibility to study.

It gives him a place to begin.

PreachIt.org Exists to Serve Pastors

PreachIt.org grew out of a burden for pastors—especially busy and bi-vocational pastors who carry several responsibilities every week.

The purpose is simple:

• Help pastors find sound, Spirit-filled sermon material.

• Help preachers organize and develop messages.

• Help ministry leaders discover useful illustrations and applications.

• Help churches access teaching, media, and administrative resources.

• Help pastors redeem time without sacrificing biblical truth.

• Help one generation of ministers share what it has learned with another.

For more than two decades, pastors and church leaders around the world have used PreachIt.org as a source of inspiration and practical help.

The material does not replace your calling.

It supports your calling.

It does not replace your study.

It strengthens your study.

It does not replace the Holy Ghost.

It gives you more material to place before Him in prayer.

Your Time and Ministry Matter

Sunday comes every week.

The sermon must be prepared. People will arrive carrying questions, pain, fear, temptation, and spiritual hunger. They need more than a speech.

They need the Word of God.

Pastor, prepare faithfully.

Study carefully.

Pray sincerely.

Use every trustworthy resource God places in your hands.

Then stand behind the pulpit and preach the message God has made personal to you.

If a sermon outline helps you save an hour, use that hour wisely.

• Give it to God.

• Give it to your family.

• Give it to someone who needs a pastor.

• Give it to deeper study.

• Give it to rest when your body and mind need renewal.

Time is precious.

Your family is precious.

The people you lead are precious.

Your calling is precious.

That is why PreachIt.org exists.

Your time matters, and your ministry matters.

Related Ministry Resources

• Article: When Time Is Tight and Pressure Is High — Practical encouragement for pastors balancing sermon preparation, pastoral care, and personal responsibilities.

• Article: Preaching with Purpose — A practical C.R.A.F.T. process for developing and refining a Spirit-led sermon.

• Article: Pursuing Clarity in Every Biblical Text — Guidance for interpreting Scripture carefully and handling the Word of God accurately.

• Sermon Preparation Resources: Explore thousands of searchable and editable sermon outlines at PreachIt.org.

• Pastoral Books and Training: Visit PastoralHelps.com for books and practical training materials, including Momentum in Ministry.

• Missions and Humanitarian Ministry: Learn how OpportunityHope.org is serving orphaned and at-risk children, pastors, families, and communities in India.

About Pastor James Smith

Pastor James Smith of Valparaiso, Indiana, is the founder of PreachIt.org, OpportunityHope.org, and PastoralHelps.com.

For more than two decades, he has equipped pastors and church leaders with sermon resources, practical leadership training, and encouragement for the challenges of ministry. His writing grows out of a burden to help pastors lead with wisdom, remain faithful to their calling, and develop healthy, growing churches.

Through OpportunityHope, Pastor Smith also helps care for orphaned and at-risk children in West Bengal, India. The ministry provides food, shelter, education, clean-water wells, livestock, and other practical assistance to children, families, pastors, and communities in need.

Books and practical ministry-training resources, including Momentum in Ministry, are available through PastoralHelps.com.