We love using “sticky statements” to help make messages memorable. Such as “Conversations create connections,” “Your growing relationship with Jesus is built on your growing trust in Jesus,” and “Church isn’t somewhere we go, it’s someone we are.”
Of course, you can just read the Bible to them if you prefer. Just make sure you wake them up when it’s over.
5. Make it LONG …
I hate reading the 250-page book that has 100 pages of actual content. The author just repeats themselves over and over to better prove the point—or to get more pages to the publisher.
Many sermons feel like that. They go on and on and on. That’s good for batteries, but bad for messages.
Here’s a suggestion: Don’t preach the time allotment; preach the time necessary to make your point. If you can do it in 28 minutes, do it in 28 minutes. Sitcoms somehow make it happen.
6. Make it a “Saturday Night Special.”
When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Somebody important said that.
When it comes to your message, the time your put into preparation will directly correlate to the effectiveness of your preaching. Plan ahead. Decide on topics, series and passages weeks in advance. Leverage Evernote or other tools to capture ideas, illustrations and stories.
Or, you can just ramble for a while, say a few Greek words to impress the Christians, and circle around a passage until the time runs out. That’s always an option.
Ineffective is NEVER a preacher’s goal. But too often, preachers don’t consider the simple components of a successful sermon. Luckily, it’s not that complicated.