Guides

How to take sermon notes you will actually use

November 1, 2026

Most sermon notes are written once and never read again. The page fills up with half sentences, the notebook goes back on the shelf, and by Wednesday the sermon is mostly gone. That is not a failure of attention. It is a failure of method: notes taken without a plan are hard to return to.

This guide is a plain method that works with a paper notebook, a notes app or a Bible app. It has three parts: a few minutes before the service, a small number of things to write during it, and ten minutes afterward.

Why take notes at all

Writing slows you down just enough to listen. It also gives you something to come back to when you read the same passage months later. The Bereans are remembered for checking what they heard:

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11, KJV)

Good notes let you do the same: return to the text, check what was said, and keep what you learned.

Before the service

• Find the passage. Many churches post the text in a bulletin, an app or a weekly email. If you know it, read it once before you sit down.
• Start a new page with three lines at the top: the date, the preacher, and the passage. These are what you will search for later, so write them the same way every week (for example, “Romans 8:28–39”).
• Write one question you have about the passage. Listening for an answer keeps you engaged when attention drifts.

During the sermon: write less, but write the right things

You cannot write down everything, and you should not try. Trying to keep up turns note taking into dictation. Listen for five things instead:

1. The main point, in one sentence. Preachers usually state it near the start and again near the end. If you only write one line, write this one.
2. The structure. Most sermons have two to four movements. Number them as you hear them. If the preacher gives an outline, copy only the headings.
3. Every verse reference. Write the reference, not the verse. You can look up the text later; you cannot look up a reference you did not catch.
4. One or two phrases worth keeping. A sentence that struck you, in quotation marks, as close to the exact words as you can.
5. Questions and disagreements. Mark them with a question mark in the margin. These are often the most useful part of the page later.

A simple layout helps. Draw a narrow column on the left for references and question marks, and use the wide column on the right for the main point, the headings and the phrases. When you review, the left column becomes your index.

After the service: the ten minutes that matter

Notes become useful in the review, not in the writing. The same day, while the sermon is still fresh, take ten minutes:

• Rewrite the main point in your own words. If you cannot, that tells you something too.
• Look up each reference and read a few verses around it. Note anything the preacher did not have time to cover.
• Answer your question from before the service, or write down why it is still open.
• Write one application. Something specific you will do, change or pray about this week.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22, KJV)

If you only do one of these, do the last.

Keeping notes so you can find them again

The hard part of sermon notes is not this week. It is next year, when you are reading Romans 8 again and remember that someone preached on it, but not when, or where you wrote it down. A few habits help:

• File by passage, not only by date. A dated notebook is fine, but keep an index at the back that lists each passage and the page it is on.
• Use the same reference format every time. “Rom 8:28”, “Romans 8:28” and “Ro. 8.28” look the same to you and different to a search box.
• Keep the question marks. Unanswered questions are good starting points for your own study.
• Read old notes when you read the passage. This is the habit that makes all the others worth it.

Paper, phone or recording

Paper is quiet, works everywhere and is easy to remember. A phone is searchable but can pull your attention elsewhere; put it in airplane mode if you use one. Recording the sermon lets you listen fully and take fewer notes, then return to the exact words afterward. Many people combine them: a short page of notes on paper, plus a recording for the parts they want to hear again.

How Carrell can help

Carrell is a Bible app built around this kind of review. It is optional: the method above works with a pen and a notebook. If you would like the notes, the recording and the text in one place, here is what Carrell does today:

• Photograph your paper notes or the slides, and Carrell reads the handwriting and links the page to the verses it mentions. The free plan includes 20 photos a month.
• Record the sermon on iPhone, or on Apple Watch so the phone can stay in your pocket. Transcription is part of Pro, with one hour free to try.
• Type notes beside the verse while you read, so next year’s reading of Romans 8 shows you this year’s notes.
• Ask a question later, and Carrell answers from the Bible and your own notes and sermons, citing each source so you can check it.

Carrell is free to download, in beta, for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Linux. Download Carrell or see what is free and what is in Pro.

A one-page summary

• Before: date, preacher, passage, one question.
• During: main point, structure, references, a phrase or two, question marks.
• After: restate the point, read the references, answer the question, write one application.
• Later: file by passage, and read old notes when you read the passage again.