Your Sermon Might Be Struggling If…

Kris BarnettKristopher Barnett, Preaching

Your Sermon Might Be Struggling IfIn the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might Be a Redneck…” routine, I offer this comedic tool to evaluate your preaching.

Your sermon might be struggling, if…

  • You say, “But I digress,” and the congregation can’t determine what you digressed from.
  •  A doctor in the congregation approaches the platform because he is certain your facial expressions and arm movements are a sign of internal injuries.
  • A listener’s notes resemble a Van Gogh painting.
  • You say, “Now we will return to the text,” and the congregation cannot recall ever being in a text.
  • You have to prompt the congregation to say, “Amen.”
  • Your vocal inflections unintentionally startle your audience.
  • The congregation knows more about you than they know about the text, or God revealed in the text.
  • The original language phrase that dominates your message doesn’t actually appear in your focal text.
  • You lean over to get close to the congregation and your posture and facial expression causes a young mother on the front row to inquire instinctively, “Do you need to go potty?”
  • One of the primary points of your sermon actually contradicts your primary Scripture text.
  • A boy in the congregation offers to bring his dog to church next week to help you chase down those pesky rabbits.
  • Two members of the congregation leave in the midst of your message because your hand gestures are mistaken for gang signs.
  • Your sermon points are so loosely connected that they would make a better sermon series than a sermon.
  • Your sermon points are so loosely connected that they wouldn’t even make a good sermon series.
  • You say, “One more thing and we’re through,” and the faces in the congregation convey a mixture of relief and joy.
  •  At the conclusion of the message you ask, “What is the point of what I am saying?” and no one in the room, including you, can articulate a response.