Dr. Al & Pastor Dan discuss how they arrive on a particular text to use in their sermons.

* Most commonly the text comes from personal Bible reading.

* Occasionally you may  hear another sermon and wish to study on it yourself.

* Church members may have questions or there may be a problem in the church which needs to be addressed.

* A world event may be the driving force to address a particular topic.

* There is a 'debate' among many Baptist preachers between being a topical preacher or an exegetical preacher.

* Sermon series are good to to promote a topic, go through a book study or address a particular need in the congregation.

* You will rarely get as much time to prepare a sermon as you wish.

* Usually the less experience of a speaker you have, the more of your sermon you write out.

* Writing more of the body of your message out will help keep you on track and keep you from 'chasing rabbits.'