by Steve S.

Created on: June 17, 2009

Three Tips For Really Good Sermons

Writing good sermons that are interesting and Biblically correct can often be a rather difficult task. You may have many questions. What is your subject going to be about? What scripture text should you use? Can you be sure that everything will flow and be well connected? Is it interesting enough? There are a few simple guidelines to follow that will help.

One of the very first things you should do is pray. Allow God to lead you to a passage of scripture that you can preach from. He knows what your congregation needs to hear better than anyone. A lot of times, this will lock you into a subject. For instance, if you plan to preach on the crucifixion, you will be less likely to stray and begin talking about something different like creation. Having specific Bible verses in mind and on paper can cause your church sermons to flow more smoothly. You will also feel more confident with what you are saying.

Another helpful tip is to practice your time-line. If your sermon is too short, your congregation may feel short-changed. If it is too long, they may lose interest and patience. Even the best sermons can be drowned out by a growling stomach! One way to keep your sermon on the right track is to make a list of bullet points in your sermon outlines that you want to cover in the sermon itself. Try to keep them to 4 or 5 points in total. If you limit each one to about 5 minutes talking time, you can keep your sermon around 20-25 minutes. However, remember to allow God to be in control, no matter what time it is.

Lastly, try to start your Bible sermons off with a related personal story. Try to make it a humorous one if you can. This is an easy way to grab the congregation's attention. Even though the Word of God is what they need to hear the most, if you dive right into the theological stuff, you may lose a lot of your congregation before you even reach the second paragraph. Adding the human element will greatly help in keeping the people interested and thus they can hear the meat of what your sermon is really about.

There are other things you can do to improve your sermons. However, there is no reason why your sermons can't improve right away. For now, remember these tips, find a specific passage of scripture, keep the sermon within a reasonable time-frame, start off with a personal story, and you will find that your sermon will be better received by the people.

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