Preaching of the Bible is one of the key ingredients of the college ministry that I have the honor of leading. I believe that the preaching and teaching of the Word of God is perhaps my highest calling as a college minister. By the grace of God, it also ends up being the most fun, enjoyable, and rewarding part of my role as a leader. At this time of the year, I start seriously thinking about what my group’s focus will be for the upcoming semester.

I realize that not all college ministries focus on a sermon series each semester. However, in my experience I have found that a central theme for the semester is a powerful unifying element for the students in my ministry. I’d like to share a few ideas with you about how to plan and implement a sermon series for the upcoming semester. Here are some considerations and strategies that have worked for me in the past.

Keep God in the Equation



God has entrusted me with the care of His people on the college campus. My main responsibility as a leader of His people, is to guide them in the direction that He is moving. With this in mind, simply ask Jesus where He wants to take you and your group this semester, then be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit for an answer. Many times, this process begins at the end of the previous semester, and I have a good starting point for where God is heading. This usually comes in the form of a broad stroke topic such as worship, evangelism, or fellowship.

Ask Questions



After I’ve received some direction from the Lord, I start focusing on the details by asking myself lots of questions:

• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the past semester?
• How can I further empower my students to live Christ-centered lives?
• What passages of scripture can my students currently identify with?
• What questions do my students have about their faith?
• What goals are we trying to accomplish outside of our large group meetings?
• How can I condense this idea into a simple, memorable phrase?

Ask for Help



As much as I love teaching and preaching the Bible, I don’t do it every week on my campus. Usually, I take half of the dates that we have each semester, and ask other speakers to come and share. I do this for a few different reasons.

• I schedule myself around the busy times of the semester. For example, our group attends the BASIC conference every semester. The week before the conference is usually very busy for me as I’m trying to plan meals, rides, and registration details for all of my students. If I had to preach on top of that work, I might blow up.

• I love inviting gifted speakers from my sponsor church to come and speak. Every semester I invite our senior pastor and assistant pastor, along with other ministry leaders. This helps my group connect with members of our church and vise versa.

• I also love inviting leaders of the other Christian club on campus to come and speak at our group. I believe that they have a lot of wisdom and insight to share with college students, and it goes a long way in terms of unity between our ministries.

I’d love to hear your insight! What will your theme be this coming semester? How do you go about planning it?