{"id":21685,"date":"1997-10-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-10-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1997\/10\/01\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/"},"modified":"1997-10-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1997-10-01T00:00:00","slug":"questions-to-ask-before-you-preach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be more specific<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In one sentence, what’s this sermon about?<\/li>\n\n
  2. What theological category would this fit under?<\/li>\n\n
  3. What do I want my listeners to know?<\/li>\n\n
  4. What do I want my listeners to do?<\/li>\n\n
  5. What do I want my listeners to become?<\/li>\n\n
  6. How does this message fit with the larger vision?<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n

    To be more relevant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

      \n
    1. So what?<\/li>\n\n
    2. Oh really?<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n

      To be more passionate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

        \n
      1. Do I believe this message will make a difference?<\/li>\n\n
      2. Has this sermon made a difference in my life this week?<\/li>\n\n
      3. Have I earnestly prayed for God to speak through me?<\/li>\n\n
      4. Have I used the materials of others inappropriately?<\/li>\n\n
      5. Have I tried to make myself look better than I am?<\/li>\n\n
      6. Will my listeners know I care about them?<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n

        —Ed Rowell<\/p>\n\n

        1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        To be more specific To be more relevant To be more passionate —Ed Rowell 1997 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[154],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[653,654,156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3641,4688],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-1997-leadership-journal","tax_publications-fall_1997-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-communication","tax_ctp_tags-preaching"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nQuestions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Questions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\"},\"headline\":\"Questions to Ask Before You Preach\",\"datePublished\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\"},\"wordCount\":147,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\",\"name\":\"Questions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Questions to Ask Before You Preach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\",\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CMS Admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors","description":"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors","og_description":"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","article_published_time":"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CTpastors","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/"},"author":{"name":"CMS Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3"},"headline":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach","datePublished":"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/"},"wordCount":147,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","name":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"datePublished":"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"1997-10-01T00:00:00+00:00","description":"To be more specific In one sentence, what's this sermon about? What theological category would this fit under? What do I want my listeners to know? What","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3","name":"CMS Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CMS Admin"}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Questions to Ask Before You Preach","url":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"CMS Admin"}],"creator":["CMS Admin"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CT Pastors","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z","datePublished":"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z","dateModified":"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Questions to Ask Before You Preach\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/questions-to-ask-before-you-preach\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"CMS Admin\"}],\"creator\":[\"CMS Admin\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"1997-10-01T00:00:00Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/christianitytoday.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","byline":{"writer_byline":"","writer_byline_override":""},"primary_category":null,"secondary_categories":[],"featured_video":null,"related_articles":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21686,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21685\/revisions\/21686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_books","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_books?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=21685"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=21685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}