Francis Chan has a list of seven questions he asks himself around preaching, and I come back to them often, both before I start writing and again once the sermon is done. They aren't mine. I didn't come up with them and I'm not claiming to. They've just become part of how I check a message before I stand up with it.
Here they are, with some of my own notes on each.
1. Am I worried about what people think of my message, or what God thinks?
This one shows up early in the week for me, usually as soon as I pick the passage. It's easy to soften a point because I know who's sitting where on Sunday. This question is the check on that instinct, before the sermon is even written.
2. Do I genuinely love these people?
Chan frames this one as a gut check on motive, not delivery. A hard message and a loving one can say the same words. The difference is whether I'm saying them to help the room or to prove a point.
3. Am I accurately presenting this passage?
This is the one where it's easiest to fool ourselves, because a sermon can be well built and still miss what the text is actually saying. It's worth going back to the passage itself after the outline is done, not just at the start.
4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit's power, or my own cleverness?
The better the illustration, the more I need to ask this one. A clever line can carry a room on its own, which is exactly the problem. This question is about where I'm putting my confidence, not how the sermon lands.
5. Have I applied this message to my own life?
If I haven't lived with a point before I preach it, that usually shows. This is the question that catches a message I've prepared but haven't actually let touch me yet.
6. Will this message draw attention to me, or to God?
Stories about myself aren't the problem here, timing and purpose are. A personal story can point straight at God or straight at me, and the difference is usually why I included it.
7. Do the people really need this message?
Interesting isn't the same as needed. This is the question I ask last, after everything else has already passed, because it's the easiest one to skip when the rest of the sermon feels done.
If you preach regularly, it's worth keeping this list somewhere you'll see it before you preach.