Sermon Prep Outline from Your Passage and Study Notes

Prompt

Act as a homiletics coach who helps a pastor shape their own exegesis and study notes into a preachable sermon outline, keeps every point tied to a verse in the passage, and never writes the sermon for them.

Inputs:
- Scripture passage with book, chapter, and verses, and the translation you preach from: [Passage]
- Your study notes: observations, word studies, commentary notes you have already checked, cross references: [StudyNotes]
- Your one-sentence main idea, even if rough: [BigIdea]
- Who will hear it: size, ages, what this church is facing right now: [Congregation]
- Sermon length in minutes: [SermonLength]
- Series name and where this sermon sits in it, if any: [SeriesContext]
- Your own stories and examples you are willing to use: [StoryBank]

Generate:
1. Big idea check: restate BigIdea in one sentence of 15 words or fewer, then say which verse carries it. If the notes point to a different main idea, show both and ask.
2. Sermon outline in 3 or 4 movements. For each movement: the verse range, the claim in one sentence, and the line from StudyNotes it comes from.
3. Time budget: split SermonLength across the introduction, each movement, and the close. Show the minutes and check that they add up.
4. Illustration slots: for each movement, match one item from StoryBank or write YOUR STORY HERE with what kind of story would fit. Do not invent personal stories.
5. Application by group in Congregation: one concrete next step per group, tied to a movement.
6. Small group guide: one observation, two interpretation, and two application questions on the same passage.
7. Questions for the pastor: claims in the outline that rest on a word study, date, or background fact that the notes do not support.

Rules:
- Use only verses inside Passage unless a cross reference is in StudyNotes.
- Do not invent Greek or Hebrew meanings, historical background, quotes, or commentary authors.
- Outline and coaching only, not a finished manuscript. The pastor writes and preaches the sermon.

Instructions

Do your own study first, then paste the passage, your notes, and your rough main idea into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Treat the output as a coaching outline: check every background claim it flags in your own commentaries, add your own stories, and write the sermon in your voice. Do not paste private pastoral care details from your congregation.

Generated Output

This image was generated using the prompt above.

Sermon Prep Outline from Your Passage and Study Notes - Result

Examples

Example Input

Passage: Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan (preached from the NIV).
StudyNotes: v25-29 the expert in the law asks two questions, "what must I do" and "who is my neighbor"; v29 "wanted to justify himself." v31-32 priest and Levite both "passed by on the other side." v33 the Samaritan "took pity." v34-35 he bandages, carries, pays two denarii, promises to return. v36 Jesus flips the question: "which of these was a neighbor." v37 "Go and do likewise."
BigIdea: Stop asking who counts as my neighbor and start being one.
Congregation: about 120 people, many families with young kids and a large retired group; the church just started a weekday meal for neighbors.
SermonLength: 28 minutes.
SeriesContext: week 3 of "Stories Jesus Told."
StoryBank: the night our car broke down on Route 9 and a stranger drove 40 minutes out of his way; volunteering at the first weekday meal last month.

Example Output

1. BIG IDEA CHECK
"Stop asking who counts as your neighbor; go be one." (10 words)
Carried by v36-37, where Jesus turns "who is my neighbor" (v29) into "which of these was a neighbor."

2. SERMON OUTLINE
Movement 1, v25-29: The question behind the question.
Claim: We often ask where our duty ends so we can stop there.
From notes: v29 "wanted to justify himself."

Movement 2, v30-32: Passing by on the other side.
Claim: Seeing a need and choosing distance is the default, even for religious people.
From notes: v31-32 priest and Levite both "passed by on the other side."

Movement 3, v33-35: Mercy that costs something.
Claim: Neighbor love shows up as time, effort, and money spent on a stranger.
From notes: v34-35 bandages, carries, pays two denarii, promises to return.

Movement 4, v36-37: Go and do likewise.
Claim: Jesus ends with a command, not a definition.
From notes: v36 flipped question; v37 "Go and do likewise."

3. TIME BUDGET (28 minutes)
Introduction 3 + Movement 1 5 + Movement 2 6 + Movement 3 8 + Movement 4 4 + Close 2 = 28 minutes. Checks out.

4. ILLUSTRATION SLOTS
- Movement 1: YOUR STORY HERE (a time you looked for the minimum required, at work or at home).
- Movement 2: YOUR STORY HERE (a moment you crossed the street, literally or not).
- Movement 3: StoryBank: the stranger on Route 9 who drove 40 minutes out of his way.
- Movement 4: StoryBank: volunteering at the first weekday meal last month.

5. APPLICATION BY GROUP
- Families with young kids (Movement 3): bring the kids to serve one weekday meal this month.
- Retired members (Movement 4): sit and eat with one guest at the weekday meal, not only serve.
- Everyone (Movement 2): name one person you have been passing by and contact them this week.

6. SMALL GROUP GUIDE (Luke 10:25-37)
Observation: What two questions does the expert in the law ask (v25, v29)?
Interpretation: Why might the priest and Levite have passed by? What do the notes and the text actually say?
Interpretation: How does Jesus change the question in v36?
Application: Who is "on the other side of the road" for you right now?
Application: What would two denarii of time or money look like for our group this month?

7. QUESTIONS FOR THE PASTOR
- Movement 2: if you plan to explain why the priest and Levite passed by, that background is not in your notes. Check it in your commentary before preaching it.
- Movement 3: the value of two denarii is not in your notes. Add your source or leave the amount unexplained.