Ever write a message or talk that even you suspected was boring?
That’s exactly where I find myself from time to time.
Here’s how that played out recently… I love to work ahead, so I had outlined my message for a series well in advance.
But when I went back into it 6 days before I had to give the message, it felt like I’d written a boring sermon on a fundamentally exciting subject.
What’s worse, it moved me into one of the worst cases of writer’s block I’ve had in years.
I worked at the message day after day, but I just couldn’t make it interesting, despite having a fascinating subject (heaven).
Don’t get me wrong. As a preacher and Christian, I’m the first to tell you God’s Word is never boring. But sometimes, we preachers make it boring. That’s exactly where I was heading that particular Sunday.
I kept tweaking the message for a few days with little success. I still found it…boring. And preachers, if you’re bored by your message, it’s a guarantee your audience will be as well.
How did I get through it? Well, I dug out everything I knew about beating writer’s block and solving the problem of boring writing.
It worked…I think. You only really find out on Sunday, but I’m no longer bored by my message. In fact, I’m excited to preach it.
Almost every communicator I know has been there, so I thought I’d share my 7 best tips on beating writer’s block and writing a great sermon.
Preachers, if you're bored by your message, it's a virtual guarantee your audience will be as well. Share on X1. Find the tension
If a sermon or piece of writing comes off as boring, it’s often because it lacks tension.
As much as we all dislike tension personally, in a talk, there is no compelling sermon without tension.
Think of the universal plotline for every story/book/movie you’ve ever loved.
It’s NOT this:
- Good thing happens.
- Another good thing happens.
- Then, lots of good things happen forever.
As much as we wish our lives were tension-free, there’s actually no drama in that. You’d never watch a movie without tension.
Instead, the universal plot line people come back to again and again is:
- Things are good.
- Something bad happens (enter death, illness, a villain, a problem).
- There’s a struggle between good and evil.
- A hero enters.
- Good wins.
- Hopefully, people will live happily ever after.
If there’s no tension in a story, there’s no story.
So, if you’re stuck, ask yourself: what’s the tension point in your message?
If you can find that, you’ve created a plot line the audience will follow and identify with. Because everyone has tension in their lives.
For my message, the focal point was that heaven is a beautiful place…beautiful beyond words.
One of the early tension points in this message centered on the fact that most of us never think about eternity, even though we’ll spend forever there. How can you think about a trip to the grocery store and the price of lettuce in more detail than you think about where you’ll spend eternity?
As much as we all dislike tension personally, without tension, there is no compelling sermon. Share on X2. Identify, build, and solve an actual problem
Most people who show up at your church, on your blog, or who open the first pages of your book face problems they don’t know how to solve: marriage problems, money problems, hope problems, and forgiveness problems.
Your message immediately becomes relevant when you identify a problem and lead people to a solution (or potential solution).
In my message, I had to identify a problem that most people would want to see solved. When it comes to imagining eternity, one clear problem about eternity is that most of us struggle with the idea of hell.
So, I focused on why people instinctively hate the idea of hell or separation in eternity. And I also explained how that resolves some of the tension people find impossible to resolve in their lives right now—the tension we have to want to take judgment into our own hands.
Ironically, your writer’s block problem often gets solved if you can identify and solve someone else’s problem.
Your writer's block problem often gets solved if you can solve someone else's problem. Share on X3. Find the Why
You can find tension and a problem to solve but still not have a fascinating message.
Why?
Because you haven’t yet identified why any of it matters.
In any kind of communication, the why is the most important question you can answer for someone.
“Why” establishes relevance. When you establish the why – a money problem suddenly matters to your listener; when you explain why forgiveness is an issue, or why the existence of hell or the beauty of heaven matters, interest in a subject piques.
The problem with far too many sermons and far too much Christian writing is that they focus on the what and the how, and they completely miss the why.
In my Preaching Cheat Sheet, I outline 10 questions I use to evaluate every message as I write it. My two favorite questions are why the audience needs to know what they need to know and why they need to do what they need to do.
When you’re stuck, keep asking yourself, “Why does any of this matter?” When you can answer that, you’ve got an interesting message.
If you can’t answer why your message matters, your message won’t matter.
If you can't answer why your message matters, your message won't matter. Share on X4. Look for surprises
Even in an age of declining biblical literacy, familiarity is a problem with preaching from the Bible.
It’s a problem because people assume they know what a text means. And even people with little Christian background assume they know what Christians would say about an issue.
Even as a preacher, you might read a text and miss the shock and surprise of the original text.
To get over this, I try to pretend I’m reading the text for the first time. My text this week was from Revelation 21-22. Here are some surprise angles that could make a sermon on Revelation 21: 1-3 (and this just scratches the surface on three short verses):
John is in exile on the Island of Patmos, and he sees this? Why? What would that have meant to him?
Wait…there’s a new earth, not just a new heaven? What????
And why a new heaven? What’s wrong with the old one?
Wait…heaven’s a city? What about the endless golf games in the sky that people imagine?
What’s this bride and groom language all about, and why is it so intimate?
Hey, in Greek, the word for ‘dwell’ is ‘tabernacle’. Does this go back to the Old Testament and John 1 and then the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (actually, yes, it does)? And what on earth does this mean?
See…that’s just three verses.
Approach the Bible as a stranger or a child, and it will pop into life.
Bored reading the Bible? Approach it like a stranger or a child and it will pop into life. Share on X5. Talk to someone another writer about your problem
Honestly, when you go to a non-preacher or non-communicator for advice, their advice often isn’t that helpful.
Why?
Because writing problems are usually best understood by other writers.
So sure, you can ask questions of your neighbor or someone else who doesn’t write for a living.
But keep in mind that a quick consult with another writer or preacher can zero in on the problem faster than you might think.
They can also help you with ideas on illustrating your sermon and providing meaningful feedback about your preaching.
6. Imagine you’re being pulled off the stage…
I don’t know how I developed this trick, but it’s tremendously helpful.
Years ago, when I felt stuck in the sermon writing process, I started imagining myself being pulled off the stage in the middle of my message (almost by a cane…like in the comics) and getting 30 seconds to shout out my last line before the message was over.
If I didn’t have anything to shout in that last line, I knew I hadn’t found the main point of my message.
If I could say it, I’d found the tension and the main point of my message.
Last week, the single line was, “You should have a better plan for eternity than you do for your next vacation.”
Try this exercise… it works.
7. Come back to it another day
If you find that you’re striking out repeatedly, pack it in and return to it fresh in the morning. I find so many breakthroughs happen this way.
Of course, that doesn’t work if you’re starting your message Saturday morning for Sunday delivery.
But if you work ahead like I do, time becomes your friend as much as deadlines do.
So work ahead. And come back to it fresh after a good night’s sleep.
The Bottom Line
If you’re not interested in your sermon, your congregation won’t be interested in your sermon either.
Working through the problems all of us face as we write messages to craft a compelling sermon raises the chance that the congregation will find it compelling, too.
