Memorable sermons

If you go to church, you end up hearing a lot of sermons over the years. And, the truth is, they pretty much are forgotten Monday morning. That doesn't mean they're bad, although I have heard a lot of bad preaching over the years. Let's face it, you just can't hear 52 memorable sermons a year - you wouldn't remember them all!

But there are a few... a few that stay with you. A few that have a core idea that gnaws at you, or a phrase that haunts you, or a beauty that transforms you.  These are the memorable ones, the ones that you can quote years later.

For me, one of the key elements of a memorable sermons is the maxim or epigram that encompasses the main idea. Now, when I was taught homilectics (preaching), I was told that the phrase ought to be from scripture. I suppose that's a good rule of thumb, but the phrases I recall most are not from scripture. I believe that's because scripture is so familiar, that using a phrase from it doesn't stand out in my memory long term.

One of my most memorable sermons was entitled, "First, you pray." And that was the point. The speaker, whose name I unfortunately forget, had raised the dead. People would ask him how he resurrected someone. His answer, "First, you pray." When people ask what you do next, his answer was, "First, you pray." The point of the sermon was that (a) you do nothing without prayer and (b) whatever God tells you to do in that prayer, you obey. So, first you pray. That's the only answer to anything.

And you know what? To this day, almost 10 yrs later, I remember it. In preparation for starting up a small group, I sat down to thinking through what I needed to do. I have one week to choose my material, time, location, plan the meeting, etc. One week in which I'm already very busy. So, I sat to write. Suddenly, the words "first you pray" came to my mind. I said, "Yes, of course! First I need to pray for the group members. That's most important." I wrote that down at the top of my to-do list. Then I wrote the number 2 and waited. I was reminded, "First you pray". Yeah, thanks God, I got that already. "No. . . you didn't. You're not praying. First, you pray!"

Right. "First you pray" doesn't mean listing prayer on a to-do list. It means praying. So, I put the list away and prayed instead. The list never did come out again, although it might later. After I pray.

The point is, a memorable sermon does precisely that. It actually changes our actions long term. It's transformative. It's a seed that grows. It'll only grow if its true, if it's perceptive/witty, and if its broadly applicable. How do you write /  prepare a memorable sermon? First, you pray.