Free printable sermon notes template (PDF)

Download the template

One page, black and purple on white, designed to stay readable when photocopied in grayscale. Big boxes where most of the writing happens; small ones for details you jot down in seconds.

Download the PDFTwo-language version

US Letter · 1 page · about 60 KB · free to copy for personal and church use

What is on the sermon notes template?

Each box answers one question you will want answered when you look back at these notes in a month. The order follows the way most sermons unfold, so your pen moves down the page as the preacher moves through the message.

1. Date, speaker, series, title and passage. Fill these in before the service begins. They take seconds and make a stack of sheets easy to sort later.
2. The big idea. A single sentence for the whole message. It is printed at the top on purpose but usually written last.
3. Main points. Four numbered spaces, each with room for the point itself and a line or two of explanation, an example, or a cross-reference.
4. Scripture references. Every passage the preacher mentions, the main text first. Put a star next to any you want to reread in context.
5. What stayed with me. A phrase, story or picture. It often becomes the handle you remember the sermon by.
6. Questions to study. Anything that puzzled you, to look up later or bring to your small group.
7. Application. One concrete “This week I will…” sentence, small enough to actually do.
8. Prayer. A few words of response: thanks, confession or a request that grew out of the message.

How do I fill it in during the sermon?

Write fragments, not sentences. “God runs to the son → before the speech” is enough for a main point while the preacher is still talking; you can turn it into a sentence afterward. Listen for signal words like “first,” “second” or a repeated question, because that is usually where a new main point starts. When a verse reference goes by too fast, write only the book and chapter and look up the verse number later.

Leave the big idea, application and prayer boxes empty while the message is going on unless something lands clearly. Preachers often restate their central claim and give a specific call to respond in the final minutes, and those last few minutes fill the three boxes better than any guess made earlier.

What does a filled-in sheet look like?

This sample is short on purpose: five lines like these are enough to bring a whole sermon back to mind weeks later. The questions box might hold “Why does the older brother stay outside?” for the small group.

What should I do with my notes after Sunday?

Give the sheet ten minutes the same afternoon. Reread the main passage, write the big idea if it is still blank, and make the application specific enough that you will know on Thursday whether you did it. Keep the sheets in a folder or a binder by date; after a few months, the series and passage fields let you find any message again in a minute. If you lead a group, the questions box and the starred references are a ready-made start for discussion.

Is there a faster way than writing it all by hand?

Paper is quiet and helps many people remember. If writing keeps pulling your attention away from the preacher, SermonNote records the sermon on your phone, shows a live transcript and turns it into notes with the same shape as this sheet: the summary, the main points, applications and the Scripture references, each one a tap away from the passage in a built-in Bible. Your first sermon is fully free, and nothing is uploaded; everything runs on the device. Follow your church’s recording policy before you press record.