What makes some sermons feel better than others?

I have asked myself this question for 30 years. I have both delivered and listened to sermons, and I always wonder why some are perceived as remarkable, and others are not.

Is it the Bible interpretation? I am sure that Bible exposition has something to do with it. Any time I can learn something new about Jesus, I am blessed. Sermons that give me new insights are always better than those that don’t.

Is it the speaker? I am sure the speaker has something to do with it. A low-energy person can lull people to sleep. While a person who desperately needs affirmation and continually shouts, “Can I get an amen?” is distracting. Some people have the perfect voice and demeanor to make the sermon more engaging naturally.

People have suggested a long list of things to make a sermon feel great. These possibilities range from the worship setting to the size of the audience and the time of the program. 

The one thing I have found that consistently makes a sermon great is the connection to my life. When I am interested in a topic, the sermon is more engaging. When my life is going through a situation, and the sermon addresses it, I am instructed. When it is something I need to hear, then I give it my full attention. 

One major part of great sermons is the heart of the listener.

That is why one week, a person can say, “That was the best sermon ever,” while another is bored to tears. And the next week can be the exact opposite. 

As a preacher, I write the best sermons that I am able. I study the scriptures, pray, and try to use all my God-given abilities. If the sermon will be remarkable is up to the listener’s response to the Spirit through me. You will have to show up and listen to see if it connects; the preacher has no control over that and cannot tell you when it will happen. You just have to be here on Sunday to see for yourself.

I recognize that I am not a great leader. Nevertheless, I do my best to fulfill the role God has placed me in. That means I read numerous books and articles on Church leadership. I have attended conferences, taken classes, and listened to every type of teaching to try and get better. And yet, I know numerous people do not like how I lead. 

I have learned to be okay with disdain from others regarding my leadership. There is room in the Church for different opinions on matters of methods. But I have developed a few leadership convictions through the years about how I will lead and what I will encourage other people to do as well.

1. IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS. My single goal as a leader is to make Jesus famous – not myself or my Church. I live and serve to make him happy.

2. SERVE HARD. Christian leadership is servant leadership. So I choose to serve with all my might. I refuse to let anyone out serve me.   

3. GIVE OTHERS GLORY. This one has been hard for me at times. I share an idea with someone, and they take off with it. Other people praise their vision and dreams. The whole time I knew that it was all MY idea. Instead of demanding praise, I attempt to keep the light on the other person.

4. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. The old saying is, “The buck stops here.”  It is true. As a leader, I am often blamed for things I had no part in creating. I feel like a parent protecting their children. I am big enough to handle it, so let me take the blame.

5. RESULTS ARE HARD TO MEASURE. People will come and go. Lives will be changed and then revert to a mess. People may not respond for years. I will never fully know the impact of my life till I stand before Jesus.

*Bonus – BE PATIENT. Ministry is not like killing snakes. It is a long slow process. Some things take years to develop. This can drive some leaders crazy while making some Church members mad.  

I am sure I will fail as a leader and upset more people in the future. But know that most of my decisions come from these fundamental convictions.

The person said, “I could never be them.”  They noted how well the person handled the pressures of their life with grace and ease. They seemed unflappable in the face of adversity. 

I should have said, “And they could never be you.” They do not have your background, experiences, and knowledge. They could not handle your life and everything you juggle for your family and God.

Each one of us is a unique creation by God. He molded us through our family, background, and personal journey. You could never be someone else, and they could never be you. That is great because God only asks you to fulfill your role in his world.

Glad has a plan for each and every one of us, and only you can play your part.

Recently I spent a little more than twelve days walking through personal darkness.

I could feel some of my issues coming on me. I had let myself get physically, emotionally, and spiritually tired. A few long days of work, a couple of big meetings, a little travel, and the culmination of months of prayer came together all at once. When the last event happened, I could feel the downward spiral into a personal crash.

Through the first phase of my struggle, I recognized my need for self-care. I want to be successful in my job, and I believe what I do is significant. So I push myself to pour my soul into every project, meeting, and sermon. Self-care is a big topic nowadays, and there is truth in the need to care for your own soul.

Situations beyond my control brought on the second part of my darkness. Other people had said and done things that hurt me. Almost nothing was done on purpose. Mistakes were made, and their struggles overflowed into my life.

During this time, I called other people to pray for me because of my darkness. I realized my need for a few people to support me spiritually. I did not have to try and make it alone. Sometimes the best action when drowning is to signal to others for help. While they physically did not do anything that benefited me. Their prayers have strengthened my faith and helped me to keep moving forward.

Whenever I share stories like this, I know a few people will not understand, and some will be critical and point out all my weaknesses as a pastor. But I am reminded of the Apostle Paul, who said he would glory in his weakness because that is when Jesus is strong. His power is made perfect in our weakness. I know that is true.

One of the most important questions you can ask as a Christian is simply, “What is the next step on my journey of faith?”

This answer is an ever-changing goal. It should have a different answer every time you ask it. Today it may be reading the Bible more. Next week it might be praying. The following week it could be serving. And the week after that, it might be fellowshipping with other believers.

There is a long list of things we must do to become mature believers and expand our faith. You cannot do everything all at once. But you do have the ability to do the next thing.

Today is the day that Christians like me celebrate Good Friday. It is the day we set aside to remember Jesus’ death on the cross specifically. We honor the day Jesus bled and died for our sins. We believe his body was broken and his blood shed so that we could have the debt paid for all our mistakes, failures, and trespasses.

The book of Hebrews underlines, along with Romans, that the work of Jesus is complete. He has done everything we needed for our salvation. Yet the Apostle Paul makes a remarkable statement in his letter to the Church in Colossae.

“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24 – NIV 2011)

Paul says he is filling up in his flesh what is LACKING regarding Jesus’ suffering. What does that mean? I thought the cross was enough.

It was enough to secure our salvation, but it did not take the message of his saving work into all the world. The great Apostle recognized that people needed to be sent out to share their faith; as they did, some would suffer. The work of Good Friday is not complete until people have the chance to hear the message of Jesus.

Recently I heard a preacher talk about traveling to India on a mission trip. He stopped to speak to a group of village pastors about standing firm in their faith. One of the local leaders asked this preacher a simple question that left him speechless. He inquired, “Are there any scars on your body for Jesus?”

Today I praise God that Jesus was scarred, but I also pray that I will fill up in my body was that lacking in Christ’s affliction.

Christianity is filled with enormous concepts wrapped in an ancient setting that is relevant today.

The struggle is getting those foundational ideas across to the people so they see the relevance. As followers of Jesus, we need to not only know what we believe but also be able to explain it to others.

One rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “Could I explain it so that an elementary-aged child would understand it?”

This challenge will push you to think through your language and the big words often associated with faith. We will be required to take concepts and attach them to a word picture to make them easy to understand. Analogies, object lessons, and stories become necessary to show others exactly what we mean.

Christianity will always be deeply intellectual, but remember that CS Lewis could argue with professors logically and still teach children through Narnia.

The Church I lead started in 1888, according to historical records. It started on one side of the street and moved to the other several years later. Eventually, it would split and come back together in a new building on the outer edge of town. Altogether it has been serving the Lord in this community for 135 years.

Some days I sit in my office and ponder all the people who got this Church to this point. How many people sacrificed time and money to keep the Church going? How many pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, worship leaders, trustees, treasurers, and secretaries gave countless hours to keep this Church functioning? How many lives were impacted throughout that time? How many people performed baptisms, shared communion, and ate together in the name of Jesus?

I am allowed to be the preacher at this Church by the grace of God and the hard work of an untold number of heroes of the faith. People whose names I will never know, yet they shaped the life of this Church. I am so thankful for some people I will never meet on this side of heaven.

The truth of the matter is that all of us will one day be forgotten. However, we still have the chance to impact future generations. We can be a hero in the faith to people we will never meet. Distant relatives and future generations will one day be blessed by our work in this Church.

I may not know the previous generations, just like future generations will not know me. They served the Lord, and I am blessed by it. Hopefully, further down the road, people will be thankful for the work you and I did too.

My inbox lately has been filled with emails asking me to sign up for a “master class.” They have ranged from a course on discipleship to marriage to cooking and even to hunting. These messages proudly proclaim that if you listen closely to the teaching, you will soon master the given topic.

Everyone who reads those advertisements knows that they are an overstatement. Becoming a master at any craft requires teaching, plus guidance and experience. The experience comes from numerous attempts that both try and fail. There are no shortcuts to developing the skills needed to accomplish what we desire. These classes may give us a solid starting point; the rest is up to us.

Jesus called twelve men to be his disciples. He offered them the ultimate master class. They sat at the feet of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, listening to him teach about life, faith, and eternity. Not only that, but he also mentored them through their first preaching adventures and helped develop their fledgling faith. He poured his life into them for over three years, trying to develop them into fully mature disciples. Despite all his tutelage, one of those twelve men denied knowing him, and one betrayed him. The other ten scattered when he went to the cross.

I suppose Jesus could have offered people to take his master class on faith, but he didn’t because he knew you could not master faith by listening to someone else teach. It requires you to attempt to do it for yourself. Fail. Then attempt to do it again and fail. Then try again and again.

This Sunday, I will preach and pour out everything in my heart to help people in their walk of faith. Every week I feel like I am teaching a master class on spiritual growth. Still, it will not help you if you do not try to implement it. And even then, you will repeatedly fail until you get it right. The only way to develop a mature faith is to spend a lifetime walking with the master.

She did something foolish. He looked at her, and she responded, “Just Don’t!” 

He said, “Don’t what?”  She glared and stated, “Don’t think it, don’t feel it, and don’t say it.”

The other day I was listening to a Christian rationalize their behaviors, and I thought, “Just Don’t.”

Don’t tell me you believe everything in your Bible, and then don’t read it.

Don’t say you love the Church and then rarely attend.

Don’t try to explain to me how much you need Jesus and then not pray regularly.

Don’t exclaim how the God of the Bible is the only god worthy of praise and then not sing on Sunday.

Don’t say Jesus and his death on the cross are the center of your life and then willingly miss taking communion with the body of believers.

Don’t proudly state how much you long for heaven and then not work to experience the kingdom of God on earth. 

The list of things I have heard through the years could go on and on. Everyone (including me) has a series of things they say that do not line up with their life. Whenever our eyes are opened to a new area of hypocrisy, we need to speak to ourselves, “Just Don’t.”