I hate boring sermons. There is something terribly disappointing about going to church and having to endure a sermon that is not interesting, has nothing to do with me or anyone I am interested in. It is just a boring thirty or forty minutes. I realize that there are subjects that may deserve some attention from the pulpit that I may not be interested in. But even these can be made interesting if presented in the right way. 

When a church gathers to hear a sermon it is a diverse mixture of people. All of the listeners are of different ages, different vocations, different education levels and different backgrounds. But it is the preacher’s challenge to find a way to get the message through to them. Even though they are different. If he fails in this challenge it is a boring sermon to someone.   So, what is he to do to meet this challenge and not bore me to tears? 

First of all a preacher needs to have a real message. One of the factors that contribute to boring sermons is a lack of motivation on the part of the preacher. He has no pressing message, no urgent information that he needs to get across. I feel like his attitude is. “Oh well, its Sunday I have to preach something today.” If the preacher is just talking in order to fill the time or to “earn” his salary it will be boring.  

The second factor that contributes to boring sermons is not making the sermon personal. People like to hear about other people. They want to know about how things will affect them. People want to know how you feel about the subject. Too many sermons are simply lectures about a subject. Lectures that are full of facts but lack any call to action. These sermons take up our time and when they are over we say, “So what?” The sermon didn’t ask of us anything, so we don’t do anything. Boring.  

The third factor that leads to boring sermons is a lack of story quality. If a preacher has a fervent message that he has to get across, and he makes an application to me personally and tells me how he feels about the subject it will not usually be boring. However, if the preacher wants to really grab my attention and hold it let him tell a story. We all love stories. The publishing industry thrives not on textbooks, but on novels, stories. The entertainment industry survives on good stories not factoid films. Jesus used parables, stories, to communicate complex divine truths to the people. The modern preacher would do well to follow his example. When I am listening to a sermon and the preacher says, “let me tell you a story about . . .” It always gets my attention. Build in your sermons, what I call, story quality. Make your points but tell a story illustrating the point.  

I love a good sermon. One that informs me motivates me and keeps my attention. These sermons tend to have three things in common. The preacher is motivated to tell me something important. He is personally and intensely interested in the subject and shows me how I can be affected. The sermon is interesting because it has a story quality. It is amply illustrated with stories, personal incidents and interesting observations. When these three factors are in place no one even gets drowsy.