For those involved in planning an annual preaching calendar, we’ve created a google sheet to help us visually ascertain how we are tracking in a systematic approach to the Bible. Whilst each year we plan to have a broad focus (i.e., around: 50% in New Testament, 25% in Old Testament, and the balance in systematics and/or thematic series), this tool helps us to: identify any biblical blindspots; prioritise any needs for the coming year; and check our intended pattern for preaching against reality. By looking at trends for multiple years it also helps us to maintain a longer-term approach to the systematic preaching of the Bible in our local church.
Accessing the Sheet
- Visit the Google Sheet (you will just be able to view, not edit).
- “Make a Copy” of the Sheet (for your own purposes to edit) – you’ll need a google account.
- Insert your preaching data into the first tab, labelled “DATA”.
Understanding the Sheet
Once you’ve inserted your history of preaching into the DATA tab, there are two main areas of analysis.
- VISUALISATION. This tab shows a detailed analysis of preaching by BOOK and CHAPTER. The cells show the year that this chapter was most recently addressed. The colour of the cell (from light green to dark green) provides a general indication of the number of times that the chapter has been the focus of preaching. Blank grey cells mean that it is yet to be addressed!
- DASHBOARD. This tab provides an overview of preaching by book, testament and genre. On it, you will be able to see:
- By Book: The number of sermons for each book along with the percentage of the book that has been covered.
- By Testament: The overall balance of preaching by testament (this is just how the number of sermons is split between OT and NT) along with the percentage of NT/OT that has been addressed (this looks at the actual chapters that have been covered, not just the number of sermons in the OT/NT).
- By Genre: This provides an overall indication of where the focus of preaching has been (this is the number of sermons by the various genres) along with the percentage of the various genres that have been covered (this looks at the actual chapters that have been covered, not just the number of sermons for each genre).
