How to Listen to a Sermon

Imagine your boss calls you in for an important meeting. He says, “We’ve got a lot of important items to discuss.” It sounds serious. But you show up 10 minutes late and you bring nothing with you. As your boss is giving instructions, you scramble to pull out your phone to and try to make a few notes, but you’ve all these text messages and notifications to clear away first. You miss half the instructions. I think we could all agree, this is not the best way to approach an important business meeting. But sadly, it’s not that different from how most people approach the gathering of the church. We gather to meet with God and His people, but we show up unprepared, distracted, and not expecting much.

A true Christian church is devoted to the apostles’ teaching. For preachers, that means faithfully exposing and explaining the truth of God’s Word. But what about the people in the pews? For our members, one way to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching is to be good sermon listeners.

Do you know how to listen to a sermon? It may sound like a strange question, something you’ve never thought about. Isn’t it obvious? You just show up and listen, right? Not quite! If we truly believe God wants to speak to us through the sermons pastors preach, then we should approach listening to sermons with special care. Here are a few tips to maximize the impact of every sermon you hear.

(1) Start preparing your heart in advance. Spend the week in prayer and worship. Pray for God to help the preacher in his study and preparation. Pray for your own heart and for your church family, that you all may understand and apply God’s Word. Pray against distractions. A great Biblical prayer comes from Psalm 119:18—“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your Word!” (paraphrase) If you already know the sermon text in advance, consider reading it ahead of time and meditating on it throughout the week. We know life is busy, but to the best of your ability, come with your heart and mind ready and expecting to hear from God.

(2) Bring a paper Bible. The goal of a good preacher is to teach his congregation to look at the book, to point them to the Scripture again and again. If the preacher is faithful to God’s Word, you should be able to see the points of the sermon in the passage and the points of the passage in the sermon. To be a good listener, you need to always have the text open in front of you. Unfortunately, I’ve been in churches where I didn’t need to bring a Bible because I knew they weren’t going to preach it anyway! May that never be true of us. May we always look at the book.

You may wonder why you need a paper Bible? Aren’t the verses usually on the screen? Well, yes. But preachers can put anything on the screen. How do you know that’s what the text actually says? Imagine if I completely misrepresented a passage of Scripture by taking it out of context and putting it in my own words. Then to make it seem credible, I cite the address and add my initials: Romans 3:23 MLC. To those who don’t know any better, it appears to be a credible translation of the Bible when it’s actually my deceptive paraphrase. That may seem like a ridiculous scenario, but I’ve literally witnessed a pastor do this. And it’s a good reminder that what’s on the screen may or may not be faithful to what’s in the Bible. So at the very least, you need your own copy in front of you.

But again, why paper? Why not just a Bible app? Well, don’t get me wrong. Apps are wonderful. I use them all the time. Yet, I can also tell you from experience that paper Bibles make a difference for several reasons.

• A paper Bible is great because it doesn’t ring, vibrate, or come with any of the built-in distractions of a cellphone.
• It’s great because it works even when the wifi doesn’t.
• It’s great because you can easily flip back and forth between pages. Sometimes a preacher will preach out of more than one chapter, ask you to look back or look ahead, or ask you to compare multiple passages. On those occasions, those with a paper Bible have the advantage of being able to quickly turn pages.
• A paper Bible is also great because you can underline, circle, highlight, and so on. This can increase focus, aid memory, and set you up to review later. (Yes, you can do some of those things in apps, too. But in my experience, there’s just something about having a physical Bible in your hands that makes a difference.)

(3) Take notes. Like highlighting, taking notes can increase focus and aid memory. It also gives you something to look back on. You can review your notes later and fact check what you heard. You can use your notes to create follow up questions for deeper study. You can even share your notes with others to pass on what you learned. This is a great way to live on mission!

(4) Say ‘Amen’. Amen means yes or so be it. This may seem weird, depending on your church background, but it’s perfectly okay to respond during the sermon with a lifted hand or by saying amen. Don’t go overboard with it and become a distraction. But a well-placed amen is always appreciated by the preacher. It lets him know that the message is getting through. (Sometimes, a silent audience can make you feel like you’re just preaching to yourself!) Saying amen is also a way of encouraging your church family. It says to the church, “Yes! That’s true! I’ve witnessed it! I’ve tasted and seen that it is good.”

(5) Apply and obey the Word. Remember to listen for transformation, not just information. Don’t just walk away saying, “That was interesting,” or “That was boring,” or “That was too long.” But walk away asking, “What does God want me to think or believe? And what does God want me to do about it? What steps do I need to take this week?”

(5) Take the sermon home with you. Think about it throughout the week and find a way to discuss it with someone. Share it with a friend. You may say, “Something my pastor said Sunday really resonated with me…” or simply ask your spouse, “What did you think of the sermon today?” Talk about it at lunch. Talk about it at the dinner table later in the week. Especially talk about how you’re applying the message. If you leave church with a plan to make some changes in your life, share that with someone. Be an encouragement. Maybe ask them to pray for you.

As you can see, being a good sermon listener means more than showing up. The mindset with which we show up is everything. The way we approach listening, learning, remembering, and applying the message is so important. Because God really wants to speak through preachers. Do you come expecting to hear from Him?