I know I've talked about this before, but one of the benefits of getting older in the ministry is that you accumulate a lot of sermon notes. The danger, of course, is that you simply go back (after a "decent" amount of time has passed, of course) and re-preach those old messages! I have found that I can't generally do that.
For example, I am now preaching through the book of Revelation. It was a series I had done back in 1997 and was well-received. But as I look at those old messages, I see a lot of flaws as well as out-dated illustrations, etc. And not only is the world a different place than it was 10 years ago, I am a different person and my church is a different church. So while the Word of God is eternal, our understanding of and application of the text is constantly growing and changing.
Does it save me some time to re-trace old steps? Maybe a little some weeks. But generally, I find it just as easy to look at the old sermon and then virtually start from scratch!
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