Thabiti Anyabwile on Sermon Prep

Below is an email Thabiti Anyabwile recently sent me in response to my question of how he goes about sermon prep. I thought this would be interesting reading for some of you:

Justin,Good to hear from you brother. I pray you’re well and that your laborsin the Lord are producing great fruit, joy and advancement in theKingdom of our Savior.Sounds like we're investing about the same amount of time in sermonprep. When I was at CHBC, my prep time (and this is the habit for bothMark and Michael as well) was essentially two long days, Friday andSaturday, 10-12 hours or so each day. I would also read and note thingsin the text nearly each morning during my quiet times. So, in all, Ispend about 20-25 hours a week in sermon prep, doing text work, writingthe sermon, consulting relevant materials (commentaries, etc), andreviewing the sermon a couple of times before preaching it.There are times when I put in less work, but that's almost always goingto involve extraordinary circumstances. My main function is to bringthe Word of God to the people of God so that they will be prepared tomeet their God on that Day. The elders here recognize that and protectme from things that would weaken my prep and teaching. The congregationalso appreciates this and works to protect me as well. Both the eldersand the body here are gracious gifts from the Lord.Hope this helps,Thabiti