What’s the goal of service planning?

The goal of service planning is to craft a unified service that clearly communicates the gospel, makes the sermon the centerpiece of the service, and impresses people with the glory of God.

1. Craft a unified service. As he plans services, a pastor or elder should look for some way to unite the songs, readings, prayers, and the sermon. This unity can be based on something like a theological theme or a redemptive-historical theme in the sermon text.  This gives the congregation the opportunity to praise God in song for the themes that show up in the sermon text, to confess in prayer the sins that are highlighted in the text, and so forth.
2. Make the gospel clear. Every service should clearly communicate the gospel in the Scripture readings, songs, prayers, and the sermon. The content of the various elements should clearly set forth God’s holiness, our sin, Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection, and our need to repent of our sins and trust in Christ for salvation.
3. Make the sermon the centerpiece. The preaching of God’s Word is the central event in Christian worship. Therefore all of the elements of the service should support, clarify, and point toward the sermon and the text it is based on.
4. Leave the congregation impressed with God. Finally, Christian gatherings should be God-centered, which means that people leave more impressed with something about God than when they came.