How to Create Sermon Outlines That Won't Bore Your Church - Part Two
Some biblical sermons faithfully transmit the message of a text, but bore the audience, so that no one hears the message. We will try to help you create sermon outlines that won't bore your church in this second part of a two-part post. In part one, we focused on taking the theses or main ideas of our texts and transforming them into an outline that covers the truth of a passage. Now, we'll examine ways to make the sermon outline more engaging.
To review, we looked at Proverbs 3:5-6, which says...
5- Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6- In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6, NKJV)
Here's the unimaginative but accurate "textual idea"...
If you trust God in everything, then he will guide you through life’s obstacles.
The passage offers a three-part description of trusting God in all things. The conclusion given tells us God will "direct your paths" or, as we've stated it, "guide you through life's obstacles." Here are a few reasons this textual idea or exegetical idea works. These come from Haddon Robinson's Biblical Preaching, a foundational preaching text (affiliate link) for modern preachers. He says the idea should follow these four characteristics:
State the idea as simply and as memorably as possible.
State the idea in concrete and familiar words.
State the idea so that it focuses on response.
State the idea so that your listeners sense you are talking to them about them.
Transform an Ordinary Exegetical Idea Into an Interesting Homiletical Idea
Let's take our Exegetical or Textual Idea and transform it into something that will grab the attention of listeners and drive the idea home in a memorable way. If the above four characteristics describe the Textual Idea, we can boost them to make it more exciting. That creates an interesting and maybe even exciting Homiletical Idea.
We do this often with memorable language. We can produce memorable ideas and outlines using the following strategies.
Find an illustration that people can relate to, which effectively communicates the idea.
Use language that is pithy and creative.
Use familiar ideas, like famous quotes or popular sayings.
Tie the idea to popular culture to make it more memorable and to redeem the culture.
Each of these approaches will help you create more interest than a bland idea, such as the one we mentioned above for Proverbs 3:5-6. We'll look at each of these strategies and apply them to our passage.
An Interesting Illustration to Frame the Idea
In my town, we see road crews working to "straighten the path" that connects from one part of Business US Highway 421 to our 421 Bypass. They had to build up a section with rocks and dirt and then pave over it with concrete and asphalt. They are literally "making straight the path" that thousands drive each week through Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Using this illustration, we can transform our bland idea, "If you trust God in everything, then he will guide you through life’s obstacles," into something more appealing and interesting. "If you trust God on life's highway, then he will pave the way through life's hazards."
Creatively Stating the Idea
The above illustration may creatively convey the idea, but we don't always want to use one that dominates our entire sermon in every message. Sometimes it's best to resort to creative wording for the various "points" in a sermon.
A preacher I appreciate calls these "Sticky Statements." Trey VanCamp mastered these. He spends time coming up with pithy and creative ways to say things in memorial and sometimes amusing ways. Watch the video below to hear him talk about them. He offers some fun!
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Just the phrase "Sticky Statements" gives us what we want. Create outline points that people will remember and might even find fun or funny. Trey described how he spends time coming up with these statements.
Be careful with alliteration. It can weaken communication in the following ways:
Alliteration often reduces clarity - you have to shoehorn a word to fit the pattern and then spend a minute or two explaining why you picked that third P-word—this wastes time and makes your idea less clear to achieve the right sound.
Alliteration only impresses other preachers. "But it helps me remember the outlines better so I'm less tied to my notes." Does it really? Most preachers who alliterate will get lost trying to remember which A or P word they're on and have to refer back to notes anyway.
Sticky Statements and the other strategies embed the idea in the minds of listeners better than alliteration because they're more memorable and clearer.
Familiar Language, Famous Quotes, or Popular Sayings
Using wording that people in your setting will remember can make your Biblical ideas memorable. For example, Spurgeon said:
To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust Him in the dark—that is faith.
We could say, "If we trust God day or night, then he will shine the light on every obstacle we face."
Cultural References That Illustrate Your Idea
Chuck Colson coined the phrase "redeeming the culture," but not necessarily the way I use it. We're talking bout making cultural references in a sermon and tying a Biblical idea to that reference. As a result, people will think about the Biblical idea when they experience the referenced songs, TV shows, books, movies, and ads.
"Let Jesus take the wheel to steer you through life's obstacles." I'm not sure that's a great example of a Biblical idea, but it does take a popular song title and grabs the attention of listeners to make the idea more apparent. When we live with Jesus in control, another way of saying trust Jesus in all your ways, then you'll find him blessing you with guidance through life's obstacles.
We can also use popular cultural references like the Allstate commercials. "Get Allstate to be better protected from mayhem."
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"Trust God with your life to avoid the mayhem of poor choices." This gives us an illustration that helps communicate the dangers of failing to trust the Lord.
The Benefits and Dangers of Using Cultural References
Using popular cultural references can have both positive and negative effects on communication. Tying your idea to a cultural reference can bring the idea to mind every time the listener interacts with that cultural reference. Every time they hear "Jesus Take the Wheel" or see the Allstate Mayhem commercials, they might remember your message.
Using popular cultural references shortens the sermon's timeliness. We quote Spurgeon, but people won't quote your mayhem reference in one hundred years. That's why you must also tie to a timeless truth.
When you state your Big Idea or sub-ideas, you use restatement to explain and help listeners remember it. We can use a popular reference along with a timeless statement to restate the idea. As a result you might say, "Trust God with your life to avoid the mayhem of poor choices. When you put your trust in God, he helps you avoid obstacles in life, so trusting God is the best insurance against poor choices."
I'm no Spurgeon, and my timeless statement won't show up in any listing of great quotes from the 2020s. However, it's more useful long after the mayhem commercials leave TV.
Putting Everything Together to Create Sermon Outlines
We're ready to put everything together to create sermon outlines that won't bore your church. We follow these steps.
Take your Big Idea or Sermon Idea and state it interestingly.
Take the statement and turn it into a question that the text answers.
Find the answers in the text and state them in a way that will interest your listeners.
Devise a strategy to present the text and ideas in a way that will remain faithful to the text while also grabbing the attention of your listeners and keeping them engaged throughout.
We will look at these steps in part three of how to create sermon outlines that won't bore your church.