I’ve done it as a listener, and you probably have, too. By the time Monday rolls around and the week cranks up, you’ve already forgotten the sermon from the day before. If you’re a preacher or teacher, below are some ways to help your hearers remember what you’ve taught them long beyond your presentation. Keep them in mind as you do lesson or sermon preparation the rest of this week.
1. In your preparation time, pray that God will guard your listeners against the enemy snatching the Word away. Whenever you preach the Word, the spiritual battle is on. Engage it by praying intentionally for your listeners ahead of time.
2. Don’t be boring. If you’re a dull preacher, your congregants will remember your teaching for the wrong reasons. All of us need to do everybody a favor: ask someone we trust to tell us the brutal truth about our communication. If it’s boring, we must do what it takes to improve.
3. Use relevant, specific illustrations and applications. The Holy Spirit applies the Word to our hearts, but He also uses good sermon preparation to show where biblical teachings intersect with our lives. If you need help in application (or just want a refresher), review the chapter on application in Bryan Chapell’s “Christ-Centered Preaching.”
4. Help your members hear, see and write the main points of your sermon. We usually remember better what we’ve experienced with multiple senses. Proclaim the Word clearly so people hear it well. Show the outline on a screen so they see it well. Encourage them to write the outline in their journal or a bulletin insert so they reinforce both by writing.
5. Preach to the children in your congregation. The steps you take to connect with children at their level — speaking concretely, using simple illustrations, talking directly to them — will make your adults listen and remember better, too.
6. Make sure your sermon is quickly available online. Members who want to listen to your sermon again will often want access sooner than later. If you wait weeks before posting it, you’ll weaken the opportunity for them to reinforce what they’ve heard.
7. Give follow-up homework. Give your church daily Bible texts and questions based on your sermon to read over the next week. Guide them back to the topic of the sermon every day. Those who are most interested will appreciate #6 above.
8. Connect small group studies to your sermon. This approach works as long as (a) the small groups meet after the sermon is preached and (b) the participants have heard the sermon. Guests who attend without having heard the sermon may not be as prepared, though they can still engage in well-led discussion.
9. Send a reinforcement message in the middle of the week. Each week, send an email (or whatever means works for you) that includes the sermon outline, a reminder of the truth, and another specific way to apply the teaching. Give your church something fresh in the email so they will want to read it.
10. Give a quiz the following Sunday. Seriously. Take two to three minutes and verbally quiz your church about last week’s sermon. I can almost assure you that many will begin to listen and remember more intently if they know a quiz is coming.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by chucklawless.com.
