A couple of years ago I was at the Global Leadership Summit and had the opportunity to hear Pastor Jeff Manion speak on the subject of the Israelite’s experience in the desert. His message that day was based on a very successful sermon series he had preached at his church.

In between sessions I wandered out to the lobby where I discovered he had published a book titled The Land Between. I loved his message so much that I bought the book and took it home for some further reading. Imagine my surprise when I realized that his entire message made up nearly the entire content of his book.

You see, Jeff partnered with another writer to take his sermon series and re-write it into a book. The book mirrored his message and probably his sermon series in every way. It is great to have that message forever captured in print form. Like the books of the bible, Jeff’s message will be available for those who make up the future of the church.

This got me to thinking about how many pastors out there have a great sermon series sitting on the shelf somewhere. If the job of the church is to “Go forth and make disciples of all nations”, what better way to achieve that goal then to use modern technology and publishing programs to bring their sermons to book form.

Many will object saying that their work is not worthy.

I disagree.

Here are five reasons that I feel every pastor should seek to publish at least one of their sermons into a book:

1. New Technology Makes it Affordable- In the past, the only people who could get published were the lucky few. Now with self-publishing and print-on-demand technology, every pastor can be published and available to the world at little to no charge.
2. Books are an Easy Fix- Many people will seek out answers to their problems from the pages of a book before they will seek help from their pastor. Perhaps it is selfish pride that prevents them from discussing issues with their pastors. Either way, wouldn’t it be nice to have an important message in print and ready to aid someone in their struggles?
3. The Message Heard Around the World- Some self-publishing companies offer the ability to distribute your book around the world. Now pastors have the ability to turn their sermon series into a book and share it on a global level.
4. Ministry Costs Money- By bringing a sermon to print brings the added potential for income. Profits from book sales can go towards the writer, the writers church, an organization or any form of ministry. Ministry costs money, what better way to raise money than making money off a successful sermon that helps transform lives for Christ.
5. Share the Ooh-Aah With Others- Someone out there is waiting for the Ooh-Aah moment that only your book may deliver. For many years, once a sermon was preached it disappeared with time. Years later you always hear someone say, “You remember that message that Pastor Joe preached. Powerful stuff. I wish he would teach on it again. I know someone who needs to hear it.” With a published version, that perfect sermon is forever preserved.

Every pastor has one or two Ooh-Aah sermon series tucked away.

Isn’t it time to turn that Ooh-Aah moment into a book?