There are many good sermons and good preachers, but there seems to be a level of great. Communicators that thousands listen to, thousands respond to and the Holy Spirit uses in incredible ways. So while I would not stick myself in that category, I hope to continue growing to be used by God as much as I can.

Before laying out the difference between a good and great sermon, a quick definition:

To expound Scripture is to open up the inspired text with such faithfulness and sensitivity that God’s voice is heard and his people obey him. -John Stott

A sermon is not a sermon if it doesn’t point people to Jesus. It is just a motivational talk if it is simply self-help and not focused on the gospel. So, yes, God is the one who moves in powerful and mysterious ways through the act of preaching, and we can’t make someone change. But there are things we as preachers can do when it comes to preaching and sermon prep.

With what a preacher has power over, what separates a good from a great sermon?

Three things.

Tell stories. We all know that stories move people; stories are engaging and memorable.

Now, pastors can go overboard and tell too many stories. As a preacher, I am more comfortable with logic, data, and history, and those can be interesting, but they rarely move people. I have had to grow in my storytelling ability, and I still have a ways to go. But, if you listen to great communicators, you will hear great storytellers who can build tension and add layers and details to their stories.

Edit. A lot. Years ago, I read this: For 33 consecutive years, 1981 to 2013, every Best Picture winner had also been nominated for the Film Editing Oscar, and about two-thirds of the Best Picture winners have also won for Film Editing.

One of the most overlooked skills of preaching is the ability to edit, to leave things out. As a result, many sermons that get preached on a Sunday are two or three-week series.

I remember saying to our feedback team recently, “I feel like I have two sermons here.” And I did. I had to decide which way to go, both were good topics, but I needed to pick one and go deeper.

What about length?

I know some pastors who wear it as a badge of honor that they preach 45-60 minutes. So if you can be interesting for that long, do it.

Let me confess: I have never listened to an hour-long sermon. Ever. That’s just me. My mind wanders off.

One point. This follows closely with the second thing. People listening to a sermon cannot remember multiple things, only one thing. I saw this with a group of younger leaders I meet with. We watched some sermons, and 5 weeks after the one sermon, we were talking about it. Although the guy didn’t like the speaker (he said he was shallow), he could remember the main point he communicated 5 weeks later.

Make your main point into a simple, memorable statement. And say it again and again in your sermon. Make your church say it with you. Then, long after your sermon is over, they will remember the stories and that one statement.