I hate boring sermons. It is extremely disappointing to go to church and sit through a sermon that is delivered in a bland fashion, that has nothing to do with me or anyone I am the least bit 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 different, unique individuals with varied vocations, education and ages. But it is the preacher’s challenge to find a way to get the message through to them. Even though they are different. If the preacher doesn’t succeed in meeting this challenge the sermon will be boring, at least to some.   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 urgent message, no timely news or pressing information that he must 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 are interested in other people and like to hear about them. They want to know about how things will affect them. People want to know how you feel about the subject. All too many sermons are just simple lectures concerning the preachers favorite 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 the preacher is on fire with the message he will get the message across and make a direct application to me and the sermon will not 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’s meat and potatoes are good stories, not documentaries. Jesus told stories about common things to deliver the complicated 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 motivates, informs and most of all is interesting enough to keep my attention. These sermons have three basic features. 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 has a lot of stories, personal anicdotes and first hand observations. When these three factors are in a sermon nobody nods off or spends their time doodling on the hymn book.

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