You take sermon notes you’ll use all week by doing a few small things around the sermon: read the passage ahead, write down what gets repeated, tidy your notes the same day, and read them once midweek. The notes you look at again are the short ones, not the long ones.
If you already keep a journal, how to keep a Bible journal you’ll actually use covers how to lay out the page. This post is about what to do around the sermon itself.
Before the Service: Read the Passage Ahead
If you know which passage is being preached, read it before Sunday. It takes a few minutes, and it changes how you listen.
You’ll hear the sermon with the words already in your head, so you can follow along instead of catching up. If you don’t know the passage ahead of time, that’s fine. Just bring your notes and start where you are.
During: Write Down What Gets Repeated
While you listen, write down the words the pastor repeats and the verses the pastor reads aloud. Those are usually where the weight of the sermon sits.
You don’t have to write everything. If a phrase comes back two or three times, that’s a signal to write it down. If a verse is read out loud, write the reference and a few of its words. You can look it up again later.
Leave Space Between Points
Leave a line or two of space between what you write. Later, when you want to add a thought or a question, you’ll have somewhere to put it. A page with no gaps is a page you can’t add to.
Right After: Two Minutes the Same Day
Take two minutes the same day to tidy your notes while the sermon is still fresh.
Fill in anything you rushed. Circle the one thing you want to remember. Add the date if you forgot it. Two minutes on Sunday saves you from a page of notes you can’t read by Tuesday.
James wrote about hearing and doing:
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22
Writing a note down is a small way of not being one of the “hearers only.” It gives you something to come back to.
Midweek: Read Your Notes Once
Pick one day midweek, Wednesday works well, and read your notes once. Five minutes is plenty.
You’re not studying. You’re just reminding yourself what you heard. You’ll notice the phrase you circled. You’ll see the verse you wrote down. You might find that one part of the sermon fits what you’re reading this week.
This is where notes often get lost, in the gap between Sunday and the next Sunday. One look midweek closes that gap.
Optional: Talk About One Point with Someone
If you want to take it one step further, bring one point to your family, a friend, or your home group. Just one.
Say what stood out and ask what they thought. It doesn’t need to be a discussion. A short conversation is enough to keep the sermon in your week.
The Key Point
Read the passage ahead, write what gets repeated, tidy your notes the same day, and look at them once midweek. Small steps around the sermon keep it with you all week.
If you’d like your sermon notes in one place, My Journal in Righteously has a Sermon Notes section, and you can link the verse your pastor is preaching. See how My Journal works.
