“I tried what you suggested, and guess what? It worked! Thank you so much.”
How satisfying it is to hear such words. Unfortunately, they aren’t said all that often to pastors. The reason is that ministers don’t very often give out specific “how to” recommendations. This is in spite of the fat that they have a captive audience to speak to for a half-hour or so during their Sunday sermons.
Early on when preparing your church sermon I recommend that you first write down what your subject is. If that’s not clear to you, it won’t be to your hearers, either. “The topic I will be speaking about is ________________.”
Next, determine the response you will be calling for. Again, if that’s not clear to you, neither will it be to others. “My desired response in regard to this sermon is ___________________________.”
If your listeners honestly don’t know how to pull off this desired response without additional help, your job includes giving them the needed handles. I call this the “how to” factor. The “how to” will almost never be found in your text. “The ‘how to’ I am suggesting is ___________________________.”
When your topical sermons make these three elements clear, my belief is that it won’t be long before you start getting feedback that sounds like this: “Hey, Pastor, I tried what you suggested, and guess what? It worked. Thank you.”
