On Preaching Notes

I’m frequently asked about my preaching notes. In the video below, I explain the logic behind how I structure my notes. I know such things aren’t one size fits all, but hopefully there’s something helpful in there for you.

To see a page from my preaching notes on Isaiah 6:1-4, click here.

Read comments:

• JeremySep.24.2011

  Thanks for the transparency in sharing your notes. I do the same thing myself. After years of struggling through trying to follow typewritten notes, I recently swtched and love it.
  One concern I’ve always had is being able to search my handwritten notes or have them in digital format. But I just discovered that Evernote will index my handwritten notes scanned and saved as a JPG file. I never dreamed it could read my tiny chicken scratch, but it does.
  Again, thanks for sharing!

• Iris GodfreySep.24.2011

  This was refreshing. I do something very similar.
  Bless you.

• Tom PercontiSep.24.2011

  Thank you Pastor James for reposting this! It’s been nearly a year and a half since I’ve adopted your style to my own teaching prep and it has been an invaluable aid for me.

  Thank you for once again taking the time to share the “nuts-n-bolts” of being a preacher/Bible teacher. I know that I’m not the only one who has been helped and grown as a result.

  …in the glorious battle.

• GarySep.24.2011

  I love the searchability of digital notes, but for remembering the material,there is no substitute for writing them out in longhand.

• Doug SmithSep.26.2011

  Those notes are awesome!!! Haha!

• Chuck PatrickSep.26.2011

  Wow…how liberating and refreshing! This sounds so similar to what I do, but none of my buddies did anything like it…so…I’m really feeling like the odd guy out, but now…FREEDOM! THANK YOU Pastor James!

• BrandonSep.29.2011

  Love the comment about it being like a map. Looks like my history notes from college. I appreciate all the seeking and searching you must put into the messages you share.

  Thank you for using the gifts Yahweh has given you. May he continue to richly bless you. May we all stand firm and contend for the faith in the roles and places our Father has placed us in. The Harvest is plentiful.

• richard's ramblings » Let’s hear it for messy preaching notesSep.30.2011

  [...] preachers have the same idea -one of whom is James MacDonald. MacDonald explains his approach here and also has a pdf of his notes for a sermon on Isaiah 6 – I have inserted a photo of some [...]

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