Do they remember your sermon on Monday? Tips for making sure they do.

Many good sermons are delivered each Sunday but how many listeners can remember what was said on Monday? How many of those actually choose to do something different as a result of the sermon? I suspect that the number is fewer than the speaker would have hoped for. This short article presents some ideas for changing that.

There are two common methods that are used quite frequently in sermons to help the audience remember them. The first is some kind of outline that is included in the bulletin, often with blank spaces for key words. The second is using clever rhyming schemes for labeling each of the points. The first method is useful for helping the audience understand how the ideas presented are related to each other. However, the use of blanks has not been shown to be effective with adults, but rather is felt to be demeaning and counter-productive. The use of clever rhyming schemes can also helpful if used wisely. However, too often the words are chosen simply because they rhyme or all start with the same letter rather than the word that most simply and clearly defines the point.This too is counter-productive and the result is an audience impressed with the vocabulary of the speaker, but unable to remember the points.

Remember what is most important is that the audience identifies areas in their life to change and acts on that information. Secondary is remembering the points of the sermon. So how can this happen? In the printed outline, instead of leaving blanks for key words, leave spaces after each section for the audience to write down a short summary in their own words and to write down what God convicted them of and what they will do about it. When the speaker comes to the end of a part of the sermon, he or she should stop and ask the audience to write down the summary and action points. The speaker can than ask the audience to share their ideas with a person beside them. This is especially good to do at the end of the service. What we are looking for is for people to react to God's leading through the sermon. An altar call is good, but should probably be secondary to the individual having time to think and then talk it out with someone else, and then commit to the Lord at the altar.

To aid with remembering and placing into practice the commitments made on Sunday, home fellowship groups are encouraged to spend some time soliciting reactions to the sermon and how people are putting them into practice that week.