You do not need to include every possible calendar event on your preaching plan. Instead, list only the elements that will have an impact on what you will preach or that will affect your preparation time. Some parts of the calendar are included because they are important in your role of leadership as pastor. Others will be personal items such as vacation dates that will affect your scheduling. Still other items will be helpful to note so that you can use timely illustrations or applications in the messages that you preach on or near those dates. After you have filled out the Calendar Events column for each month of the year, you are ready to begin scheduling the actual sermons for each service.

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Following is a checklist of questions to ask as you fill in the Calendar Events column.

• Have you listed personal dates such as vacations, conference trips, or guest speaking engagements that will affect your preaching schedule?

• Have you noted national, community, or church events that will call for special messages?

• Have you included on the list meetings and appointment that will affect your preparation time?

• Have you noted special events in the life of your congregation such as revival meetings, missions conferences, Bible conferences, and musical programs?

• Have you listed the dates for baptism and Communion services?

• Have you included all major holidays?

Schedule sermons for holidays and other special days. The best practice is to plan sermons for special services and holidays first because they are usually fixed dates and cannot be changed easily.

A wise preacher will devote a considerable number of sermons to Christmas and Easter because these Christian occasions celebrate the incarnation and resurrection of Christ. Sermons addressing civil holidays such as Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Independence Day offer the preacher an opportunity to bring a biblical perspective to secular observances. Your church might also conduct special services such as Homecoming, Founder's Day, or other observances that will merit an appropriate sermon from the pastor.

Schedule sermons for the ordinances. Much like other special days, baptism and Communion often are established dates on your church calendar and need to be included early in your plan. Because these observances communicate the central truths of the Christian faith, you would be well advised to preach on subjects and texts related to the doctrines that these ordinances symbolize. In later chapters, we will consider how to maximize holidays, the ordinances, and other special days.

Schedule sermon series on themes and Bible books. The largest part of your preaching plan will most likely be devoted to series, either through books of the Bible or dealing with various biblical themes. You will want to allocate these series evenly among the weekly worship services at your church. Generally, longer series will work better in the Sunday evening and midweek services. Sunday mornings tend to be interrupted frequently by holidays and special services.