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4 Ways to Make Your Sermon Resonate All Week

Will Basham

What if we could preach dynamic and convicting sermons that would resonate all week long?

The prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, knew well the importance of biblical preaching in the ministry and liturgy of the local church. He famously said, “Do not go where it is all fine music, grand talk, and beautiful architecture. Go where the gospel is preached and go often.” Spurgeon didn’t condemn fine music, “grand talk,” or even church buildings. He merely pointed out that the central tenet of local church ministry rests in the preached word.

Church planters would do well to establish churches on this same principle and commit to never deviate from it. As the preaching goes, the church goes. God’s pleasure and glory do not rest on the size of your congregation or the goosebumps the worship music generates. But I know God is pleased and glorified when his word is proclaimed and explained clearly and accurately.

At the church I pastor, we center our Sundays on the preaching of God’s word for these reasons. The problem is that listening to a sermon is a relatively short percentage of our members’ lives. We shouldn’t expect the fullness of biblical challenge and conviction to come in the preaching time alone. But what if we could preach dynamic and convicting sermons that would resonate all week long? Better yet, what if we could even preach to souls who are prayed up and prepared to receive the word before they even come to church?

We try to filter our sermons through four main areas of resonation that will help the preaching have more of a lasting effect: preparation, question, discussion, and reflection.

Preparation

Many Christians go to church every week not knowing what text their pastor is going to preach. I think many preachers like the element of surprise on Sunday mornings. But our sermons aren’t movies or novels, and we don’t necessarily need to hit congregants with something they didn’t see coming. What if we were bold enough to let our church know what text we’ll be preaching and encourage them to study it in advance? Preaching to a prepared congregation will keep a preacher on his toes!

This invites the church members into the process and keeps them engaged. “Will he observe that theological idea as I did,” someone may wonder, or they may think to themselves, “I wonder if he will use this cross reference?” There’s something special about knowing that as I’m preparing my sermon and studying the text, many of our church members are as well. When Sunday morning comes, our folks have already read the sermon text, answered reflective questions, and prayed for God’s wisdom. They are so much more ready to receive the preached word. We currently accomplish this through a custom devotional that our church publishes, but it can be as simple as providing Scripture journals or posting reading guides in advance online.

Question

In our preaching, we try to anticipate theological and practical questions that may arise from the text and be proactive about them. I send my sermon outlines in advance to my other pastors to let them help me anticipate questions our church may have when studying the text or hearing it preached. If I have time in the sermon, I’m not afraid to take an aside to address textual criticism or opposing theological views. But if it’s a topic that may deviate too far from the clear meaning of the passage, we will pursue answering the questions another way.

Our most common way of doing this is through a podcast. We release an episode every week and the topics are usually based on what comes up through preaching. We also encourage our congregation to submit questions for us to discuss (and allow anonymity in doing so). We’ve also had seasons of videos that we’ve called “overtime” to address theological asides. When we preached through the book of Leviticus, our pastors did an “overtime” video every week to address the strangest Levitical ceremonial laws. So, whether it’s a podcast, a video, or hosting a Q&A coffee session, there are lots of good ways to address good questions that are stirred up by good preaching.

Discussion

Our sermons should have the ability to generate discussion. Most churches have some form of small group and many do sermon-based discussions in those groups. We have occasionally departed from that format but for most of the life of our church, we have loved extending the sermon into the living rooms of our members through sermon-based discussion guides. Through these discussions, unity, and fellowship are encouraged, and it’s a great way to get feedback from your own small group and improve your preaching. You’ll be able to hear what most resonates with your church members and continue to challenge them scripturally in your preaching.

This filter of echoing the sermon throughout the week carries a bonus with it if you can create synergy in your sermon application. An old preacher once told me, “End all your sermon points with a period.” He taught me to make all my sermon points imperatives—something you’re exhorting your church to do. When groups of people in our church discuss those imperatives, they are spurring one another toward action, carrying out the challenges from the sermon together.

Reflection

The final filter of sermon prep for me is to make sure the sermon leaves room for reflection on what it means for each person in our church and our church as a whole to reinforce the truth of Scripture. I don’t merely want to make our members smarter (preparation and questions) or better in action (discussion). I want to actually change the way they think.

When depression creeps in, or they get stressed out at work, or they encounter joyful news in the middle of the week, I want them to reflect on the truths of the gospel they heard this past Sunday. Reminders back to the Lord’s Day throughout the week can reinforce the truth they should reflect on. Sharing sermon quotes on social media, creating a recap, or sending reminders to church members are helpful encouragements for their souls.

I encourage you to develop your own rhythms and do what is reasonable for your church and leadership team. Whatever that looks like, I challenge you to seek to make your sermons resonate in the hearts of church members outside of your Sunday liturgy. In the same spirit of the apostles, seek to continually stir the hearts of the saints.

“I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…” — 2 Peter 1:13