Is It Okay To Take Sermon Notes?

On your average Sunday morning, the preacher will be giving his sermon with some key points for the people to remember. Some churches will have them on a powerpoint slide for everyone to see and write them down. Other churches will just have a fill in the blank sermon note guide to help them with the sermon. There will be some that has a spiral notebook or a moleskin journal to take their notes in.

Some might say this feels more like school that a worship service. While some may get that feeling, others might say it is a good way to remember the sermon. Granted most churches record their sermons to put them on the internet, whether on iTunes or their church website, so people can hear the sermon again. Some Christians think taking sermon notes is a bad idea while others think it is not. Let me give you a few reasons why taking notes during the sermon is a good thing.

First, this is more of me and may not apply to you, it will help you remember key points in the sermon. I have always found that if I write something down I have a better chance of remembering it better than hearing it or having someone else writing it down for me. Sometimes, our minds are to cluttered with other things that we may forget something. I remember my wife telling me a small list of groceries I needed to get. I did not write it down, so I forgot one thing. Thankfully that did not happen again. Same thing with a sermon. Sure we can go to that podcast to find what he said but you don't remember when, but if you write down it will help you remember.

Second, if you take sermon notes, it will be a great guide for family devotionals. Lets face it, there are not many great family devotionals in the bookstore outside the Bible. Having a time with your family talking about the sermon will help the kids because they were in children's church, if your church does that, or they feel asleep (that can happen).

Finally, it will make a great conversation between your church family as well as brothers and sisters from other churches. Community groups is a great way to talk about the sermon especially if the preacher is in yours. If you work with other Christians that attend another church, that would be a great conversation to have with them.

One word of caution, while taking notes in a sermon can be an important thing, the warning I have is do not treat the sermon as a lecture. The sermon is a time to hear the Word and meet the risen Christ. If you are starting to think the sermon as a lecture, maybe you need to tone down the note taking or just stop altogether.