How A Sermon Should Be

Evaluating a sermon is always such a hard conversation to have. It's not that I never talk about a message that I hear; I just try to avoid basing my evaluation of a Sunday Service on external means - like style, delivery, or theme. While I do believe that there's always room for improvement for any and every person or profession, there is a danger to comment based on personal preferences. Especially when it comes to the church and the Word of God.

I'm no preacher, and have no intention of becoming one. And I know most my readers are on the same boat. But as the Lord has instructed us to be vigilant about how His Word is handled and received, I'm here to share what we should be looking for in a sermon - from one believer to another. To do this, I've thought of sharing some excerpts of comments I've heard in the past from real church-goers, and offer some biblical perspectives regarding these appraisals.

1. It must be based on Scripture.

"I didn't realize I came to attend a Bible Study, not a Worship Service. There wasn't even a Powerpoint."

I think this is pretty straightforward - a preacher must preach from the Scriptures - through and through. But sometimes, it's not always practiced well. What I tend to notice from most preachers and teachers of the Word today is that they allow their minds and ideas to set the agenda of the service, rather than allowing God to do so. More so, I find that many church goers get easily bored in a service that lacks some form of entertainment. Many people today are led to believe that once a preacher attempts to expose a text on a Sunday, it has become too informing, rather than transforming.

A good preacher makes sure that it is the Truth that connects with you, not himself. And the only way to do that is by studying the Source of Truth carefully. We as members of the body shouldn't count on the pep-talks, or the fancy Powerpoint, the heart-crushing videos, the catchy titles, or the emotional praise and worship time to transform us. Only the Word of God is able to do that.

Furthermore, it must be said that it is never wrong to plan things or to have an agenda. But we must be careful to never allow our skill, personal preferences, or even what's relevant to dictate our actions without consulting what the Word of the Lord says first. What i'm saying is: it would be manipulative of someone to have an idea first, then use the Bible to simply find verses to support it. We must let our convictions bow down to Scripture.

2. It must elevate the Gospel - always.

"The preacher was too stiff. I wish he broke it down to a few points and made it more practical."

Just because we're doing a series in Genesis or Psalms, doesn't mean it loses sight of what Christ has done. This is a point that resonates deep in my heart because in the past, my understanding of what "preaching the gospel" meant was blurred and limited. I had grown up thinking that sharing the gospel simply meant remembering 5-6 key points, which led to several different verses. It would often result in leading someone in a prayer to accept Jesus. Or perhaps in a Sunday setting - the preacher calling for people to come forward or raise their hands as an act of dedicating their lives to Christ.

(READ: Evangelism Without An Altar Call - 9Marks)

While I have nothing against the intent of this practice, there is a danger to produce a shallow understanding of what the gospel really is and what being saved is all about. We cannot reduce the gospel to a couple of points to remember, nor the effectiveness of sharing that gospel down to saying a prayer.

Martin Luther encouraged believers to "preach the Gospel to yourselves daily." And I'm confident that he didn't mean for us to pray the prayer we first prayed when we came to know the Lord. That would be silly. The same must be said for our pulpits on Sundays. To elevate the gospel is not "preaching an evangelistic message" week after week. After all, church is for those who already belong to the body of believers.  

To elevate the gospel is to bring to light the work of God - in the past, present, and the future - and what that work means for us as believers. That should take precedence over any four-points, or five-principles for application, no matter how practical they are. The gospel is the good news of Christ. The good news of grace. The good news of redemption. We NEVER "graduate" from these things because these can be found in ALL of Scripture, ergo must be heard across all pulpits in every right-standing church. So when you're listening to a "stiff" preacher dissect through the Word, listen and do not harden your heart.

3. It must lead you to a deeper understanding of God and His Word.

"The sermon was too long, and too deep. Shouldn't the message be simple?"

To worship God is to behold Him - to see Him for who He is. And if this is true, then contrary to popular belief, one of the best forms of worship must be to study God's Word. For in it contains everything we need to know about Him and His works. When we open our Bibles, we meet with Jesus; and when we study - we express our gratitude for providing a means to get to know Him.

"I give You thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing Your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to Your Name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word."

Psalm 138:1-2

Since we mentioned that a sermon must be rooted in Scripture, in turn, a good sermon then must help us have a better view of who God is and allow us to examine ourselves in light of that. It must cause us to think deeply, about God and even learn new things about Him. To say that a message should be "simple" is not to dumb it down, or avoid any complex topics. Alternatively, having a deeper understanding of God isn't always about knowing difficult doctrines or theologies. There is a time and a place for those things, and a good preacher will be wise to not shoe-horn these needlessly.   Instead, he must be able to explain what the Word of God says that it may be made plain to those who belong to the Church. 

4. It must convict and challenge

"A message has to be encouraging. Felt like the speaker was guilt-tripping me. I want to leave the building feeling better and more inspired than when I first came in."

When we think deeply about God, we feel deeply for Him. That is to say, when we have understood a sermon, it should stir our affections for Christ - not stir our affections for ourselves. The problem with most church goers today is that when we say we want to hear an encouraging message - we often pertain to feeling good with empty flattery, rather than being encouraged to endure our struggles by becoming more like Christ. 

Becoming like Christ is more than just an attitude adjustment. Be wary of sermons that only talk about God's forgiveness but skip on the sin that made it necessary. Good preachers will let Scripture cut where it needs to cut, and rebuke where it needs to rebuke. 

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 

2 Timothy 4:3-4

Furthermore, I use challenge instead of encourage because a good sermon allows us to self-examine ourselves and in so doing, inspires us to make growth and maturity in our walk with God as our aim.

Listening to one too many "encouraging messages" might lead us to believe that that we're doing alright, and have no need to repent or turn to the Lord. God's grace always spurs us on to love and good works because of Christ's finished work. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

If you hear a sermon and feel convicted, thank the Lord for speaking to you. For He loves you enough not to leave you the way you once were.

THE BIGGER ISSUE

But what if we see all of these things in a sermon, and yet still fail to connect with anything that the preacher is saying?

Sometimes, it's not always the preacher's fault. When a message doesn't seem to connect with us - it doesn't always equate to a bad sermon. Perhaps we also need to take time to evaluate the own condition of our hearts first before we start pointing fingers, or dubbing a sermon as bad or ineffective. One of the indicators of an unregenerate heart is a distaste for what is Holy. If all we look for in food is what could satisfy us rather than what could nourish us, then we could end up unhealthy. It is the same principle for the Word of God. 

"Therefore, consider carefully how you listen.."

- Luke 8:18

As we sit in our pews Sunday after Sunday, let us not come expecting to be amused or entertained by anything. Rather, let us come ready to receive what God has prepared through His servants.  At the start of every service, take time to actually pray and come before the Lord to prepare your heart to receive His Word. Because truth be told, we shouldn't be the ones evaluating the sermon - instead, we should let the Holy Spirit, through the sermon, evaluate us.