Preaching With PowerPoint

Ever since the beginning of my ministry, I have used PowerPoint for my sermons. There. That shows you how old I am.

Over at Genuine Curiosity, Dwayne writes about how he uses PowerPoint to focus his presentations:

1. Pick 3 to 4 points you want your audience to remember.
2. Create 1 slide for each major point.
3. Create 3 bullet short, crisp points for each slide (yes, get it down to 3 - not 4 or 5).
4. Practice using these slides as a sort of "teleprompter" to deliver your message and test the soundness of the message:
   • Does each point add real value to your message?
   • Is each point essential in achieving your communication objectives / desired outcome?
   • Do you have the fact to support each point, if questioned?
   • Is the order / flow correct?
   • etc.
5. When you formally deliver your message, you can either have a "6 up" handout view of the slides as a guide, or print the Outline view.

This is basically how I use PowerPoint for my sermons (Although I don't necessarily keep it to only 3 bullet points, depending on what the text is trying to say...).

Illustration for Main Point
Text 3:16
Bullet Point (principle from the text)
Bullet Point (principle from the text)
Bullet Point (principle from the text)

And then for each bullet point, I state the principle, show where I found it in the text, explain it or illustrate it, and then apply it to real life. Then I go to the next bullet point.

This is a great way to make sure the sermons are biblical, sound, focused, and relevant.

I also publish a sermon handout (fill-in-the-blanks) sheet in the bulletin every week to make it easy for people to follow along and have something to "take away" from the service.

Here are some links to show you how this looks in my last week's sermon:

PPT
Outline
Blanks
mp3

(Feel free to use any other sermon material you find on my site. That's why it's there.)

BTW, I haven't always done my PowerPoint this way. When I originally started, I used to spend hours and hours finding just the right pictures or putting all of my Bible texts on the slides. Back then, I spent more time on the look than the content. Don't fall into that trap.