• There are many tools available to get a sermon ready for the pulpit.roman catholic cathedral christmas interrior image by fotosergio from Fotolia.com
  
  There is a great deal of writing involved in preparing a sermon; a half-hour may take as many as 4,800 words. A sermon is normally quite structured, with identifiable points tied together with scripture passages, anecdotes and a bit of personal experience. The challenge in writing and delivering a sermon is in connecting with the audience, so many of a preacher's tools are used to facilitate this.
  
  

Concordance

• A good concordance--such as Strong's Exhaustive Concordance--may be your biggest tool in getting to the details in your sermon. Not only does a concordance serve as an index to the Bible, but it also includes the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek translations from the original manuscripts. Use these tools when you want to get the fullest meaning from a passage of scripture.
  
  

The Preacher's Library

• A preacher will usually have a well-stocked library.old dusty books image by Laura Lupton from Fotolia.com
  
  Bible commentaries can be useful for sermon preparation. Some excellent ones by John Wesley and Matthew Henry may help cast a scripture passage in a different light. You will also need a dictionary and thesaurus, devotional books, church history and classical Christian literature. Biographies, even secular ones, also make a good resource. Of necessity, preachers are usually voracious readers.
  
  

Listening to People

• A preacher's sermons should reflect real life, and it doesn't get much more real than people. Everyone has a story, and there may be a teachable moment in all of this. A preacher may use a conversation to make a point in a sermon, or even a chance moment at the grocery store. A good preacher is usually a collector of stories, and he has his eye out for interesting news articles or blog posts that may add a human dimension to a sermon. Another resource is the preacher himself; he frequently uses his own experiences to build a sermon.
  
  

Idea Starters

• Build a tickler file with ideas and quotes written down on index cards, or in a text file on your computer. These can be plugged into a sermon when appropriate, or serve as a basis for future sermons.
  
  

Organizing Tools

• Outlining and mind mapping are excellent for building structure out of a pile of sermon notes. An outline is more structured and can be used from the pulpit, while a mind map is more graphic and is better used in brainstorming. Both of these can be done on paper or with computer programs. Some ministers use PowerPoint presentations during services, partly to help the congregation follow an idea and partly to keep the minister on subject.
  
  

Word Processing Software

• While some preachers may prefer longhand, a word processor is excellent for writing out a sermon. Its ability to move around blocks of text make it worth having, and many word processors come with word count tools, spelling dictionaries and grammar checkers. When practicing the sermon, a preacher is likely to time it and make adjustments for length, but a word count tool gives a rough picture of a sermon's delivery time.