I Want To Write A Good Sermon

As I’m in the middle of sermon writing, I found myself doing the “5 Whys” activity.

Initial statement:I want to write a good sermon.

Why #1: Why do you want to write a good sermon?

I want Scripture to be memorable and transformative for people, and I think good sermons can help that happen.

Why #2: Why is making Scripture memorable and transformative through a sermon important?

Sermons provide a way to present Scripture that is informed by study, discernment, and prayer. This helps ensure that what is shared is not just my personal opinions or desires. It is rooted in what God wants us to receive and apply for a more holy life in the righteousness of Christ.

Why #3: Why is it important to write in a way that helps listeners hear God’s desires for a more holy life in Christ, grounded in Scripture?

When I write, my perspective and lived experience are valuable and helpful. But they can only be supporting characters in God’s story. When I preach in worship, the sermon is to the glory, praise, and honor of God. It should point to God rather than to me, so that people hear it, hear God in it, and hear God at work within them.

Why #4: Why is preaching God’s story with your personal story important for helping people hear Scripture in a way that they can recognize God at work in them?

As God is at work within me through the study of Scripture, I am transformed too. In preaching, there is testimony of faith formation that keeps me humble about my own need to live aligned with God’s story. From that place, I can be free to share, or to hold back, personal experiences because my intent is not self-promotion. My intent is to show others paths toward God’s ways, built on a scriptural foundation.

Why #5: Why is Scripture-based, transformative preaching, shaped by study, your own faith formation, personal experience, and a desire to promote God instead of self, important for showing others paths toward God’s ways?

Preaching without bringing myself, my voice, into the sermon is like preaching in a vacuum, or writing as if I am disembodied and disconnected, and therefore not accountable to the lessons of Scripture.

Even though I must focus and center my thoughts in Scripture, I must also be willing to include personal insights when they align with what God is inspiring. Just as biblical stories, and stories from history and today, can help illustrate what might otherwise go unheard or misunderstood without them, my story is not exempt from the pool of possibilities that can speak life and hope in Christ.