Sunday Sermon Reflection Prompts to Use All Week

Most sermons are gone by Monday lunchtime. Not because they were poor, but because nothing was done with them between hearing and forgetting.

Philippians 4:6 says that in nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Made known is a useful frame for sermon notes as well. Most of what you heard on Sunday stays half yours until you have said something back about it. These prompts spread one sermon across a week. Two minutes a day, using whatever notes you took or whatever you can remember.

The Week, Day by Day

1. Sunday. Write the passage and one sentence on what the sermon was about, in your own words.

2. Monday. Read the passage again yourself, slowly, without the notes.

3. Tuesday. What did I disagree with, or not understand?

4. Wednesday. What does this ask of me specifically, this week, in my own house?

5. Thursday. Where have I already had the chance to do it, and what did I do instead?

6. Friday. Who else needs to hear this, and how would I say it in two sentences?

7. Saturday. Pray the passage back and ask for whatever it exposed.

Take Notes You Can Use

Long notes are rarely reread. Write the passage, three phrases that landed, and one question. That is all you need for the week ahead.

Leave a wide margin down one side of the page for the daily entries. By Saturday the margin is fuller than the sermon notes, which is the right proportion.

If you take no notes at all, use the church's app or the order of service to get the passage. Everything else can be recalled.

Tuesday Is the Important One

The disagreement question is the one people skip, and it is where the thinking actually happens.

Being unsure about something you heard is not disloyalty. Write the objection down, then take it to the passage rather than leaving it circling.

Some of these will resolve by Thursday. The ones that do not are worth asking someone about, and most preachers are glad to be asked.

Keep the Prompts Where You Sit

Write the seven prompts on the inside cover of your sermon notebook so you are not remembering them each week.

Two minutes a day is the whole commitment. It fits in the gap between sitting down and starting anything else.

Do It as a Household

The Wednesday and Friday questions work well out loud at dinner. Ask them of the table rather than answering them alone.

Children give unexpected answers to what does this ask of us, and their answers are usually more concrete than the adults.

Start With Last Sunday

You do not have to wait for the next service. Take last Sunday's passage, whatever you can remember of it, and write the one sentence tonight.

Then pick the week up from Monday's prompt tomorrow.