When thinking of how to prepare a sermon, imagine being a truck driver with a big load or watermelons to deliver. I back up to the loading dock and stop four feet short of the bay door. Then I start dumping my load right off the back of the truck—it is crashing and going all over the ground. That is how a lot of people preach. The problem is not that they were not prepared or did not deliver the message, they just didn’t deliver it in a usable way. Now, of course, even if I dumped all of my load in front of the loading dock, I am sure the business could salvage and use some of it, but most of it would be wasted. I hate to see preachers drop the watermelon. It is very important to remember that preaching is more than just delivering a message—it is getting it to the intended target. If you stand up and deliver a monologue, you are simply dumping a load off target. In a conversation, you listen and not just talk. Think of preaching/teaching as a conversation. Now, I do not stop and take questions when I am preaching. That is not what I mean. In an informal teaching setting, I love to take questions and interact with the listeners, but not when I am preaching. Preaching is a semi-load delivery, I just have to make sure I get it to the bay and that the doors are open. If the truck driver backs up snuggly to the dock, he can cart his load out of the trailer and get it inside the warehouse where it becomes useful and appreciated by the people inside. I want to help you make that connection. When you watch this video training, you will have a clear method for unloading what the Lord has given you in a way that people can receive and use. But I will raise you one better than that. What truck driver likes unloading his own truck? How much nicer it is when you pull into the receiving dock and the workers in the warehouse unload the truck for you? Imagine preaching a sermon where people pulled the information out of you! Rather than pushing and shoving the message onto the crowd, they eagerly receive it and reach for the concepts you are presenting. I think that is a much better feeling. Those kind of sermons leave me feeling effective rather than drained when people are not receiving the Word the way they should.

Video: 7 tips how to prepare a sermon effectively

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUzYNh5UB8M

(Credit to Dr. David Norris for “pots and pans” illustration.)

You can deliver 1,111,111,111 words in 35 minutes. Think of how much information that is! To speak 1,111,111,111 words, you would have to talk non-stop for ten years, (provided my math is correct, but your mileage may vary).

First, 1 word.

You need to get a word from the Lord. Your message must be from above. God can speak to you in just a few seconds, but you need to develop the message with illustrations and Scriptures. Once you have started working on a sermon or lesson, you should be able to summarize its theme in one word. This disciplines your mind and hones your focus. After you study various Bible passages, you will see many rabbit trails you could chase if you are unfocused. Using one word like “Forgiveness” or “Empathy” to summarize the theme of your message will help anchor it from drifting off course. You never have to use this word during your message. Of course, your summary might be a phrase and not just one word.

Next, 10 words.

Can you tweet the main idea of your message? In addition to knowing the overarching theme, you need to be able to clearly grasp what it is the listeners should do after you have delivered your sermon. Summarize this in a short sentence of about 10 words. This is the application part of your message. Maybe you can think of it as the destination. I give credit to Roger Grohman for helping hone my awareness of the importance of application in a message. When people see how the Word of God connects with their lives, they are powerfully moved. If all they hear is information transfer, they may leave informed but not motivated. If they see examples and illustrations of how to do the principles of Scripture, they become stronger believers. Make sure the following tips apply to getting the application of the message across and not just the information. For example, information would teach that Mary anointed Jesus and Judas betrayed Him. Application would point out that she gave her best while Judas stole from Him and hated her “wasting” valuables on Jesus. Further application would show that we have “giving to Jesus” moments all around us.

100-word story

You need a strong story. Maybe a few. While the story might not be an exact 100 words, it should be clear and to the point. Those who do not know how to prepare a sermon will let the story of Noah building a boat trigger a memory of their neighbor building a boat and then he went out on the lake and it sunk and he drowned. That is a powerful story, but it really distracts if your message was about Noah finding favor with the Lord and not about proper boat building techniques. Stories not only help the listeners get a sense of what you mean, it gives them an opportunity to join in the emotions of the message. The whole Bible is a series of stories. If God communicates with us through story, we should also do the same when preaching and teaching. These can and should include Bible stories, but also modern day illustrations as well.

1,000 words is worth a picture

One tip in how to prepare an effective sermon is to find a good picture that can illustrate what you are saying. This means more than putting up a picture of Noah’s ark when talking about Noah’s ark. However, a picture of a grandfather holding his granddaughter and pointing up at a rainbow would add a creative twist illustrating both favor of God toward us (by the grandfather’s love for the girl) set in the context of the sign of God’s favor in the sky. Like any aspect of an effective sermon, you will need to ask the Lord to guide you in how to best get the concept across. If a good picture is worth 1,000 words, I do not feel the need to refer to it. It comes up on the screen as I speak to add to what I say, not to become the topic in itself.

10,000 words. Do you object?

Here’s how I came up with the math on that: a four-dimensional object is 10 times better than a two-dimensional picture, and if a picture is worth 1,000 words, that would make an object worth 10,000. One time I was sitting in the congregation while my dad was teaching. My five-year-old son would not sit still but was scooted right up against me. Finally I whispered to him to find out what he was doing climbing all over me like that. He said, “I want to see what is under that towel up there. What does he have?” That illustration, which turned out to be a basket of fruit, kept his attention for over 20 minutes while he waited to see the big reveal. Many times you do not have to touch an object to get the point across. Just having it there, and like a picture, let the listeners connect how that illustration goes along with your message. Again, hearing from the Lord, you can get a good sense of how to prepare an effective sermon with an object lesson. One of the Old Testament prophets made a model to show how the city of Jerusalem would be put under siege and attacked. What might the Lord tell you to do to get His message across?

100,000 word pictures

If a picture is powerful, what about a motion picture? Video clips have become standard fare in social media because people would rather see movement than still images. A well placed video clip can get across powerful points that just talking cannot. Use short clips. I have noticed that people mentally disengage from your message if you play a long video clip. For me, the max is about 3 minutes. I have played longer clips, but it seems that after a 5 or 10 minute video, it is tough to get people focused on your speaking again. I have read research that the brain goes into maintenance mode after as little as 15 minutes of watching video. Use something relevant to the point of your message. A chameleon changing colors would be good for a message on compromising to be like the world. It would not be useful for a sermon on how the serpent tricked Eve in the garden and so here’s video of a lizard which is related to the snake. You want to pick illustrations like this after you know your application. For example, if you are studying about Pharisees, you might think of showing a video of what a Pharisee looked like. That might be interesting and informative, but you could do better. Once you realize your application is “Don’t put on a false front” you decide to use the chameleon video because it illustrates the point of the message, not just one of the details in it.

1,000,000 words sound sketchy?

One of the most captivating illustrations you can use is a drawing. Get a set of markers and a white board, a tablet projecting onto a screen, a neon board, a chalkboard, or a giant paper tablet. Any tough moment in your lesson can be drawn out. The story you are telling can be illustrated. The map of a biblical characters travels can be sketched out for them. Yes, a drawing conveys so much more than a still image or a video because it is creativity in the moment. There is a raw sense of honesty with it being live and not refined. You say you are not good at drawing? Excellent, that will have them guessing more. A good speaker knows how to prepare a sermon that captures both hemispheres of the brain. These last four points are tapping into the right brain. A person learns two things better at once than one thing at a time. Drawing the walls of the red sea split in two while explaining baptism gives the color-and-sound side of the brain something to hang onto while the data center on the left captures the information. If you are not helping keep their right brain focused during your message, something else will pull it away—a notification on their phone, a child misbehaving, or that fingernail that needs filing.

10,000,000 words go into action

It is a lot more captivating to see you not just doing 2 dimensional action (drawing) but 4D. Put a sock on your arm and have it talk to you as if it was the worm that ate Jonah’s shade plant. Take a chunk of bread and break it into pieces as you talk about Jesus feeding the 5,000. One preacher went so far as to wound himself badly enough to bleed before he delivered his message to the king. Another ground up the golden calf and made the people swallow it. I am not saying you should go so far as some of the Old Testament prophets, but action goes a long way. This is not something you can do every time, but when you can, put together a skit to illustrate the applicable point of the message. This leads to the next idea in how to prepare an effective sermon.

100,000,000 words, anyone?

There is something that will help people remember probably more than anything else: involve them. People will notice what they see and think about what they hear, but they will not forget what they put into action. One way of actively involving a person is pull them into the skit you are preparing. Or, if it is easy enough, volunteer a couple people and give them a few lines to read as they act out a simple part of the story. You cannot fall asleep during a sermon and help deliver it at the same time. When you involve people, you pull in the attention of everyone as if it were happening to any of them. For this reason, be careful that you are always thankful toward your helpers and never insulting. You can say you have drawn a lame stick figure, but do not complain about a poor actor. If anything goes wrong in your illustrations, you take the responsibility for it. Remember, any of these points can add volumes to your message if done correctly, but they can take away so much more if done poorly.

1,000,000,000 word explosion!

This level is the thing that is beyond you.  You probably won’t say this many words in your lifetime.  This is 1,000 times more words than are in the Bible! There is more to God and the Bible than written words. Something happens when the Spirit is speaking to your heart. You might be reading a simple verse in Ephesians or listening to a preacher with a monotone voice going through a lecture, when suddenly boom! God speaks something into your spirit. The eyes of your understanding pop open and you see something you had never realized before. Your sermon begins with inspiration. Then, you study and pray until you have the application. Your job is complete when your listener gets revelation. Anything else, and you are the trucker dumping the load in front of the loading dock instead of safely inside. If the congregation you preach to walks out the door without the Lord speaking to them, you have only spoken a bunch of words. When God speaks to a person, it is more than a billion words going into their Spirit. We can present a dozen objects, drawings, videos, and skits, but without Holy Ghost power, we are just another show. We are not talking about finding amusing ways of having church but of finding culturally tuned ways of helping people hear from the Lord. Once they see Jesus, our job is done. Each time I teach or preach, my role is to simply move the listeners one step closer to the Lord. I can only build on where they are. Different crowds will change the dynamics of what is needed. I must be sensitive to the Lord for them to get revelation from Him. Inspiration –> Application –> Revelation

You can do this!

If you struggle to have meaty messages or do not have the time to come up with creative ideas to illustrate your messages, consider the DiscipleMaker series. It includes 52 lessons through the gospels, offering you a way to convey “1,111,111,111” words in each one.