Sermons

Sermon Outlines for Sale

130 Comments

For those who are even too lazy to just make things up wholesale and fill in the gaps with yelling, there is this great book of outlines. And for crying out loud, read the instructions and make sure you fill out the checks correctly.

Thankfully, this website also includes a note that the author “is not trying to ‘toot his own trumpet’ too loudly.” If not for that, I would have thought that trying to sell your sermons so that other people can preach them would be quite the act of ego. Or possibly desperation

130 thoughts on “Sermon Outlines for Sale”

    2. Alliteration or “repeat after me” followed by a basic word, Evangelicals love to do that, not sure which is worse. Both tactics are distracting.

    3. I’ve found that I have an immediate revulsion whenever seeing/hearing sermon points that are alliterated. It’s an automatic “I don’t have to listen anymore” switch.

    4. I have come to see alliteration as an attempt by some to prove they are literate. I usually am unconvinced.

      All alliteration is forced. Then again, almost any mnemonic devise the preacher uses to try to get the listener to remember his hour-length production is forced.

      I found over the years I could not remember the sermons very much past a couple of hours after I had heard them, unless I decided to comment to the pastor on a point he had made. That added a short bit of time.

      But at the Episcopal Church, where the sermons are short, sweet, and to a central point, I tend to remember those for several days — sometimes even weeks. Yes, IFB pastors like to call them “sermonettes.” But if I remember them and they provide spiritual strength or guidance, then less is more!

      1. I agree. When I first started dating my husband, his grandma told me about how most people don’t have an attention span of more than about twenty minutes. (Her husband was a Methodist pastor, and preached short sermons.) I was still in the fundy mindset when she told me this, and I shrugged off what she said. However, in the church we’re in now, our sermons last about twenty minutes, and I retain it so much better and for so much longer. They’re short, sweet, and to the point, and I love it!

  2. Not only does a preacher need to exegete Scripture, he also needs to exegete his audience. How in the world is this possible when you’re using pre-scripted sermons?

  3. Preach another man’s sermons, but don’t you dare repeat another man’s prayer (especially the vain repetition of the Lord’s prayer)!

    1. Well, to be fair there really are only about 6 official IFB-approved sermons and the rest are just variations on the theme.

      2. …and the 6 IFB-approved sermons are:
        1. The MOG (why he is ALWAYS right)
        2. Tithing (God will get His money one way or another!)
        3. A Woman’s role (is barefoot, pregnant & cooking dinner)
        4. Faithful Attendance (you need three to thrive)
        5. How to rear children (spare the rod, spoil the child)
        6. The MOG, Part 2 (how he, not the pope, is the vicar of Christ on earth)

        2. I think most of the way it used to be aggrandizement can be rolled into the Women’s roles (barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen) sermons quite easily. Once you get the women back in their place the rest just falls into place ! 🙂

  6. So 341 outlines are included and a whopping 73 of them are about Jesus.

    Someone check my math but that comes out to 21.4% of the sermons are about Jesus. And here I thought we were supposed to give our all.

    1. You’re right, 21.4% is way too high – 1 sermon per year about Jesus should just about do it 🙄

        2. And baby Jesus didn’t say all those awkward things about feeding the poor and loving your neighbor. Baby Jesus is sweet and Jesus on the cross died for our sins, but the in-between Jesus often gets relegated to the “kingdom age” which is not for us since we’re in the “church age.” (This is one of the things that made me realize I didn’t want to believe the way I had been believing. I was tired of calling myself a Christian and not really focusing on Jesus’ actual words, except for a few passages like John 3 and 14.)

        3. Today I studied through Matthew 23. Such a sharp rebuke to me as it brought me to tears… especially as I thought of the old IFB me. Jesus’ words were so sharp against the hypocrite making others twice as much a child of hell as themselves. I was one with phylacteries broad and fringes long. Only it looked like a Bible under my arm when I wasn’t reading it and a stiff shirt and a tie.

    2. Well, there are that many on his “person and work” (whatever that means). The rest, I assume, are about all of His rules and the heavy burden and yoke he has laden on his followers.

      1. Here is an example…………

        Outline #42 – Jesus and His work

        1) Wingtips and your ministry
        2) Wommen-folk and their place
        3) Weekly tithes and your place in hell if you don’t

    3. The things I noticed:

      1) Why 341? Why not 365, enough for a year of daily sermons? Or 364, enough for 7 years (perfection) of weekly sermons? What’s 341?

      2) In 50 years, he’s come up with a total of less than 7 years of weekly material?

      3) Why does the Bible get more sermons than the blood? Aren’t they supposed to preach FROM the Bible, not ON the Bible?

      4) You’re supposed to take the whole book to the pulpit? Wouldn’t the sheeple be able to see they’re boughten sermons?

      5) Just because the author “doesn’t know” of any books like or better than his, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist 😀 Although most go with meaningful numbers like 52 and just put out a new book every year (Bonus: more money!).

      I know there are no answers, but those are my thoughts :mrgreen:

      2. In 50 years, he’s come up with a total of less than 7 years of weekly material? This will be a big success, why waste all your material on the first NY best seller?

        Why does the Bible get more sermons than the blood? Aren’t they supposed to preach FROM the Bible, not ON the Bible? Why not? Jesus preached from a copy, they have the authorized version? Therefore, preach ON the Bible

  7. The 73 outlines about Christ include 8 outlines on his blood. How many are on the way he loved people?

  8. Why sit down and study the word for yourself, get direction from God to lead your sheeple? Order this today! It will give more time for other hobbies….like….youth conferences, teenage girl counseling…or maybe…practice your axe swinging.

    1. This. What happened to doing your own study, and preparing the message you believe He wants you to bring to His people?

      Never been a fan of just re-hashed sermons like this one.

  9. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little (or a lot 😥 ). How disgusting! What a show of pride! What a promotion of laziness and self! To ignore the leading and power of the Spirit for the ease of preaching pre-made messages!

    No wonder many IFB churches are powerless today, because there is no power in the pulpit, just a dead, stale farce!

    2. But those are a Catholic invention. Alliteration was clearly Paul’s patented persuasive preaching preference, I’m certain that’s what almost persuaded King Agrippa.

      1. So that Sermon title would be:
        Paul’s Patented, Persuasive, Preaching Preference Presented to Pompous Potentate Partially Persuades.

    3. “decry lectionary sermon selection”

      Which means they . . . don’t want preachers . . . writing sermons based on . . . the Bible? 😕

      Or is it just that getting off “the little treadmill of his fifteen favorite psalms and twenty favorite lessons” would require a preacher to actually READ AND THINK?

      1. Why preach about the Bible, when you can just denounce Teletubbies for an hour, and save yourself all the hard work of studying a Biblical text and its varying interpretations?

      1. Dear Strangely Warmed:

        They would also be FORCED to discuss many things they prefer remain unmentioned such as GRACE and God’s LOVE of the world [and occasionally, the dissolute lives of some religious leaders].

        The lectionary system delivers congregations from the tyranny of the pastor’s hobby horse. Worse [horror of horrors], it produces Biblically literate congregations. I’m a HUGE lectionary fan. I’m also exploring the confluence of lectionary texts with a rich tradition of catechetical preaching to see how the two might inform each other with the result of enriching sermons in both breadth and depth.

        Christian Socialist

  11. Oh noes! The preacher can bring the entire book to the pulpit. How many preachers will limit themselves to just one outline per “sermon”??

        1. Xmas . . .
          – Disrespects the Season
          – Distresses the Shopper
          – Disregards the Savior

          Closing Song: “Put Christ Back into Christmas” (by George Beverly Shea although don’t tell anyone that)

  13. I’ve carried around a personal copy of a 66 book sermon outline for a while now. The outlines come in ESV, though. 🙁

    1. Amen to that Christian Commentor! I tend to be slow to reach for the shelf of commentators above my desk even before I’ve spent time with the Lord in study and prayer.

  14. And he’s a doctor! He must be super smart with a deep understanding of all things biblical.

    Where can I get my copy?

        1. My guess is that Dr.Brule is Crown graduate for the acclaimed School of Business and Trade. He is definitely has the mark of a Sexton protege. :mrgreen:

  15. Ax Swinging would be a good addition.. even better (for several reasons) if spelt “X swinging” but makes me wonder: if the FBHMOG had tarried, would Sword Polishing have been followed by Sword Swallowing. (Get your mind out of the gutter, you reprobate!)

  16. Key words in the description: “This author is not trying to “toot his own trumpet” TOO LOUDLY, but he doesn’t know of any book that can compare with either its extensive contents or its unique format!”

    So he wanted to toot his own horn just no too loudly?

    smh

    1. Right. Not too loudly.

      Before, this, he had trumpeted his achievements and worth too loudly. He identified this as the sin of pride.

      As every good Christian should, he prayed, wrote the book, and was delivered from the sin of pride. Now he is perfect!

      He just can’t trumpet that too loudly.

  17. Wow! So I, as a woman, could pick up this little gem and stand behind a pulpit and preach? Oh goodie! 😉

    1. hmmmm…..a woman preaching these very sermons…..I still have a feeling that though the study and message of the sermon was created by a man, somehow being filtered through a female would taint those messages and they would lose all the Spirit….at least according to our insecure fundamentalist pastors out there. I have witnessed this first hand–not in preaching–but in conversation–a woman can say the same thing as a man and she is ignored while the man is praised for his wisdom and insight.

        1. to have a house where both voices are listened to and able to express themselves is a gift that fundamentalists do not often enjoy. Good for you.

  18. Dear SFL Reader:

    I thought that confidence came from study through which one became knowledgeable of the text.

    Speaking of knowledge of the text, the Hebrew word ‘kiclah’ [Job 4:6; Ps 85:8] can be translated ‘confidence’ OR ‘stupidity.’

    As I’m not preaching today, I’ll leave it to others to decide which applies in Don Jasmin’s case.

    Christian Socialist

  19. The “Holy Spirit” in fundamentalism is so damn lazy. I mean the Spirit will not anoint or aid in the translating of the Bible into a modern English version so we can understand the Scriptures easier. And now, why bother to work on a sermon since the Spirit was in these from the last 50 years. Nothing fresh or new from the Spirit of fundamentalism. 🙄

    1. Dear Leanne:

      Fundamentalism not only insists on an archaic translation [as did Rome with the Vulgate], but it is also developing a tradition of revered preachers of the past, to which fundamental preachers look [as Rome looks to the church fathers].

      Christian Socialist

      1. It is ironic how much fundamentalism is not just looking like the Catholic Church but surpassing the Catholic Church in the things they complain about in the Catholic church…
        I’ll take Catholicism any day.

        3. While I prefer the KJV myself (but am not a KJVO heretic), I also believe that the IFB mirrors the Roman Catholic Church:
          MOG = Pope
          Sinner’s Rail = Confession
          Bob Jones, Sr, John R Rice, Jack Hyles, etc = Church Fathers
          Tithing = Indulgences
          Winning the Favor of the MOG = Absolution
          Being there “every time the doors are open” = Purgatory

          I could go on and on…although the pope only wishes he had the control over his parishioners that the fundy MOG does.

  20. About Dr Jasmin:
    A possessor of the B.A., B.D., D.D, and L.L.D. degrees, Dr. Jasmin is an honoree in the Fundamentalist Hall of Fame and a recipient of the C.H. Spurgeon Award for contributions to evangelism and Fundamentalism. He also received The Sword Of The Lord Foundation’s “Soul-Winner’s Award”. A strong defender of the KJV and wholesome Christian music, he terms himself simply as “a slave to Christ, a servant of local churches and a pastor’s helper.” *

    *emphasis mine

  21. From his profile:

    Dr. Don Jasmin has a lengthy and varied ministry in Christian service. For nearly twenty years, he served as pastor of Fundamental Baptist churches where he was noted for his strong emphasis on evangelism, missions, and prayer.

    Subtext translation:

    Dr Jasmin has a lengthy and varied ministry because he soon runs out of material to preach and has to move on before he starts repeating himself. all of his sermons can be found here: http://www.fundamentalbaptistministries.com/archives2/biblicaloutlinesyoucanpreach.htm

  22. I was willing to go all out on another phoney doctor of King Jimmy Idol worship and thin I found this article on his Fundamental Digest site: http://www.fundamentalbaptistministries.com/archives2/ASTATEMENTWORTHPONDERING.htm

    It says:
    “The Stand of Ravenswood Baptist Church on the “’Tragedy of Child Sexual Abuse’”

    In 2013, the United States is experiencing an epidemic of child sexual abuse. This is what happens when you have a pornographically fueled culture. By child sexual abuse, I refer to adults being involved with anyone under 18 for the purpose of sexual gratification or a sexual thrill. This tragedy is all over our public schools, and social and recreational institutions.

    Tragically, the religious world has not escaped these attacks on our young people. Churches, denominations, religious communions of all kinds, and youth programs have seen case after case of people abusing their positions of religious trust to sexually manipulate young people. This is a tragedy and crises of the first order.

    Because of this epidemic, all fifty states have made religious workers mandatory reporters according to the established guidelines. This is a good and proper step on the part of civil government. Child sexual abuse is a crime and deserves to be punished by the state. We believe that we are responsible before God, the church, church members, civil government and the general population to be a part of fighting this epidemic.

    Abusers should and will be turned in to the authorities regardless of what position they hold, who are related to, how popular they are or how much good they have done previously. We believe that those who violate a religious trust in order to engage in child sexual abuse deserve even harsher punishment than abusers in the general population. Parents should be able to trust religious workers.

    As New Testament Baptists we do not consider any church which condones, covers up, tolerates or fails to report child sexual abuse as a legitimate Baptist church. Just as improper doctrine invalidates a church from being recognized as a Baptist church, so does a deficient moral and legal standard concerning child sexual abuse.

    Everyone whoworks as a staff member or volunteer at the Ravenswood Baptist Church will be required to read this statement before they begin their responsibilities. We oppose all forms of moral impurity and the pornography that fuels so much ungodly living. Pastor Phil Stringer

    Remarks: The F. D. editor believes that all Biblicist Fundamentalist Baptist churches would benefit by adopting this statement or one of a similar nature and locally publicizing it in the direct area for which they have chosen as their evangelistic outreach. Sound N. T. churches should seek to alert themselves to all overt and covert Satanic endeavors to destroy their ministries and vigilantly guard against the entrance of any such perverted activity under their spiritual domain.

    1. I went to the link and found this:

      “I am hearing from all over the country how this is hurting our churches and schools both in practice and in public relations.”.

      No mention was made of the VICTIMS. Yes, sexual abuse in the church does hurt the church, but only because it hurts individuals who make up the church. And yes, when word gets out that Pastor So-And-So is having sex with the deacon’s wife or worse, the deacon’s 14 year old daughter, it is a PR disaster.

      It’s a start, but it would be better if it acknowledged the intense pain and suffering this behavior inflicts on the VICTIMS WHO HAVE BEEN ABUSED.

      1. I found this, too. Child abuse hurts our churches and their reputations.

        And ….?

        Come on! ….

        Who else? ….

        Good grief! It hurts the children! The victims!

        If they can’t bring themselves to focus on the harm to the victims, then no statement or “policy” will help. And if they have a pastor-worshipping church, then no policy will help if the pastor is doing the abusing.

        Frankly, what they need is to tell their people that anyone who witness or is informed of abuse should call the police and bypass the pastor and his staff. The policy says that abusers will be turned over to the authorities. It says nothing about suspected abusers or those accused of abuse.

        I consider this a well-written decoy to the problem, pretending to be a solution but letting abuse continue on as long as it isn’t “proven.”

        Remember that BJU wrote a policy to deal with student concerns. They adopted a policy to handle allegations of sexual abuse. And the result has been no real change at all.

        2. Good point, Semp.
          Yes, it’s bad for our public relations … but it’s really, really bad for the people being abused.

      2. I agree that this statement has glaring gaps and doesn’t go far enough but this is light years ahead of the average IFB Manual on Rolls and Responsibilities of Christians and Church practices.

        1. Don,

          I thought that was a one-line document that just said “Touch not God’s anointed (MOG)”.

          Bro Bluto

    2. Props to them for saying flat out that they will turn abusers over to civil authorities, no matter who they might be. The pastor and the church may have other problems, but they got that part right.

  23. There are several websites that one can join to get sermon helps. However, they aren’t IFB.

    What is it with Baptists and the blood of Christ? They rip on Roman Catholics and the “literal” blood of Christ. Are they vampires? Silly question, they do LOVE to suck the joy out of people.

  24. This gem is in the endorsement section: “Some are expository, some are theological and all are soundly Biblical.” Some are theological? Huh? So you’re saying that there are some that are “soundly Biblical”, but not theological? The preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. This is why these guys don’t preach the gospel,but rather opt for sermons about pet peeves and invented sins. They are perishing in their sins.

  25. I once sat under a pastor who used canned sermons. (I found out via the church secretary, who got the mail, and had to hear him practicing in his office.) They were pretty awful. And the funny things- the one time I knew that it was his own work- it was actually a really good sermon! I rather wished he’d done his own sermons more often.

    Mind, this is the guy who later demanded a loyalty oath…

  26. The proper fundy thing to do is for one of us to purchase the book at full price, then make a multitude of copies for everyone else. You know, being a good steward by stealing.

  27. Don Jasmine used to come to our church in VA when he was an evangelist…

    A long time ago we attended his church when we lived in New England. Husband was stationed at Fort Devens.

    I think there was a bit of a culture clash between him and the New Englanders. 😉

    Interestingly enough that was the last fundamentalist church we ever attended.

  28. $30 (including the overpriced s&h) for a spiral-bound book is mighty high. It would be interesting to know how many of these he has sold, and if he’s even covered his own costs of printing. Not sure there’s a market, seeing how there’s a multitude of outlines/sermons online that can be plagiarized for free.

    Having said that, IFB’s do not have the corner of the market for selling sermon outlines. Just about every denominational strain is available…

    My favorite quote: “The book is designed so the preacher can take the entire notebook to the pulpit…” Like, who needs the Bible?

  29. Dear Don Jasmin:

    Regarding your Ps and Ws:

    I have a question about sermon classification:

    Are white piano sermons filed under ‘P’ or ‘W?’

    Christian Socialist

    PS: Same question for ‘Pissing against the Wall.’

    1. I am curious if women’s attire is under Pants on Women, Britches on Women or under the heading of Jezebel.

      1. I would assume Jezebel just to be safe and can adjust on the fly if you actually encounter someone that files it differently.

  30. “These outlines will be an excellent source of teaching for any Christian, and a wonderful source for preachers to use in ‘priming the pump.’ I highly recommend them.”” WAIT. Preachers are looking at “outlines” to “prime the pump.”
    Is there a 7 point sermon centerfold??

  31. If you want a real belly-laugh read his editorials.

    He is accomplished at inserting amusing typos. For example:
    Prov. 28:2 says, “For the transgression of a land, many are the princess thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.”

  32. I wonder if the book includes a lesson on how to take some other preacher’s story and re-tell it in the first person to make it sound like it happened to you.

  33. This all reminds me of a “Church Leadership” class I took at TTU in the early 80s. The teacher (one of the pastors) actually advocated “borrowing” a sermon from SOTL if you were too busy from traveling around (holding “reVIVals”), to actually sit down and prepare a sermon. I’m so glad I chucked every last one of my class notebooks (and 95% of the textbooks) from that place.

    1. Hmm. He’s using java script for his roll over buttons. You can use CSS 3 for that these days.

    2. I remember hearing the aBeka curriculum touted as material that would teach itself, and I thought, “Why did I just spend six years getting a teaching degree if I’m just supposed to follow super-detailed lesson plans?” When I was looking for a job after college, I rejected a couple of Christian schools that seemed to encourage that kind of teaching. I’m intelligent, educated, trained, flexible, creative; I’m not a robot.

  36. I wonder if the outlines have the spots to yell HAYYMMENN??? marked or does the purchaser have to figure that out on his own?
    It seems like an undue burden on the mog.

  37. Monopoly: A game in which the end goal is to conquer other players by increasing your assets (greed?) and succeeding only through the shortcomings of others = ACCEPTABLE. (“Appearance of evil” anybody?)

    T.V.: A modern communication device that can be used to display educational, informative, and healthy programs that can further the knowledge of you and your family = UN-ACCEPTABLE.

  38. Hover text made me laugh. Maybe we could whip round a collection plate?

    Also, in this day of digital recording, won’t it be awkward when multiple pastors are on youtube giving their own renditions of the same sermon?

    1. We could have an SFL contest all using the same outline and preaching the content and see which is the best!

        1. Or what if you brought your copy to the service and found quickly from where the MOg is preaching, then following, you anticipate what he’s going to say and blurt it out before he does?

  39. I’m not excusing this man’s pride nor his arrogance. I will state, however, that a quick web search reveals sermon sites and ‘preach for a year manuals’ in ALL the major denominations. This is not just an IFB problem but a multi- denomination issue. Lets at least be fair.

  40. Heard this guy in Bible College many years ago–a very unremarkable preacher with a voice that was kind of irritating. Glad to see he has moved on to selling his sermons online.

  41. The endorsement from “Dr. Robert Barnett, Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Grayling, MI [Dr. Jasmin’s pastor]” is pretty fishy if you ask me.

    Dr. Robert Barnett, Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church,

    Grayling, MI [Dr. Jasmin’s pastor]

    “Dr. Don Jasmin gave me a copy of his recently printed new book Biblical Outlines You Can Preach With Confidence to examine and review. He has done it again! Despite limited time and a pressing schedule (normal for most preachers); I could not lay the book down until I had covered every page. It was very Biblical, informative, inspiring and encouraging reading.

    Those who have heard Dr. Jasmin preach, or have read his books and articles, know how his well thought out and prepared sermons are outlined in an acrostic style to make them easier to read and remember. He has made many years of work available covering very important Biblical doctrinal topics in an alphabetical order from A-W. Many of these titles also have varied subtitles in this excellent 341 page book.

    All pastors who read this book will be encouraged, educated and edified by these excellent outlines of Biblical truth. We are grateful to Dr. Jasmin for taking the time and making the effort to share his many years of ministry, labor of love and studied expertise with other Fundamental pastors.”

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blurb that commented on how many pages a book had before. I’m not sure where 341 falls in the overall universe of books on the page-count-scale measuring stick, but I guess it’s more pages than I’ve written/published.

    Also directly quoting the authors own publicizing his work as part of your blurb seems a bit of a faux pas minimally.

    But the kicker is where he alliterates his own compliments of the book as a book that will leave readers “encouraged, educated and edified”.

    I have no idea if that author got punked, or wrote his own endorsement, or what happened, but it doesn’t read like something you legitimately got an honest blurb and printed it.

  42. We had revival services at a fundy church we used to go to, and Jasmin was the preacher. Very depressing, and we walked out of every service feeling like we were worthless.

    He made a statement during one of his sermons – that if his daughter (or son, I can’t remember) so much as held her boyfriend’s hand, he would break off the engagement because young people are not to touch each other.

    This was the same church where the pastor, with 10 people (or less) on a Wednesday night, said that he would be happy if the church never grew because he wasn’t interested in compromise. SO GLAD WE LEFT THAT PLACE.

  44. For no good reason, the title makes me think of the song “Love For Sale”. I suppose you could replace the word “love” with “sermon”, hmmm…
    Sermon-outlines for sale,
    appetizing young sermon-outlines for sale,
    Sermon-outlines that’re fresh and still unspoiled,
    Sermon-outlines that’re only slightly soiled,
    Sermon-outlines for sale.
    😛
    BTW, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Benny Hill sing it. Yes you read that right. :mrgreen:

  45. One of my favorite outlines:

    1) Hell in the home! (you know who yo uare you bunch of “hen-pecked” husbands…haymen! 😮

    2) Hell in the heart! (that’s you folks sitting out there getting mad at me right now…haymen!) 😮

    3) Hell in the House of God! (that’s all those liberal non-KJV churches out there…haymen!) 😮

    …in conclusion…today I hope to have preached the hell out of you. 😯 Every head bowed, every eye closed as the pianist comes to play. 😀

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