7 Tips for Getting More out of Sunday Sermons

This article is part of the 7 Tips series.

Small Practices

The Olympic relay race is a striking event to watch. At first, each country’s runners burst off the starting line, no different than a standard footrace. Yet they hold something special in their hands—the Olympic baton. Soon they come across a waiting group, and each runner reaches out to pass his precious cargo to his teammate, focusing on a clean transfer. The second runner then accelerates, baton in hand, and continues the race. This crucial handoff, which looks so simple, actually has many moving parts and takes years of practice to perform at the highest level. Sometimes the transfer fails, the baton falls, and the second runner realizes he’s running in vain, having dropped the very item that gives the race its meaning.

If athletic glory and national pride are at stake in every Olympic relay, how much more important is the delivery of God’s Word from a pastor to his beloved congregation every Sunday when the church gathers? As second runners, we’re not receiving a mere baton but the very Word of God. What if we heard his preached Word like “[our] very life”? What if we opened our Bibles each Sunday expecting a taste like honey and a treasure like gold (Deut. 32:47; Ps. 19:10)? What would it look like to get the most from our pastors’ sermons? Here are some small practices that can strengthen our grasp on the precious truths being handed to us in these moments.

1. Read the passage beforehand.

Most ice cream shops offer free samples before you order. My wife and I recently visited Ehrler’s, a historic creamery here in Louisville. I asked to try the Bourbon Pecan Fudge, a local specialty. It was rich, buttery, and sweet. I wanted more, and the sundae that came soon did not disappoint. The small sample was an appetizing way to get me excited for my full order.

Most weeks, we can know what passage our pastor will preach on next. Sampling the Scripture in advance lets us taste the text and its truths well before the full meal. We then come hungry for more—eager for insights, curious with questions, and primed for application. Our palate is prepared, our taste buds expectant.

2. Pray for your pastor.

Each week, your pastor prays for you. He prays that God’s Word would reach new caverns in your heart. He prays that you would know God’s fatherly love in fresh ways. He prays for his own preaching—for your sake. Each week, faithful pastors pray and preach, preach and pray. We should join their intercession.

When we pray for our pastor’s preaching, we’re actually praying for ourselves and for our entire church. When I pray for a cloud to send rain, I’m also praying for the fields that will receive it. So, pray for your pastor. Ask the Father to enrich his heart with Scripture. Ask that the Son would become more precious to him. Ask the Spirit to fill him so that his outpouring on Sunday is pure and holy. Ask God to plant seeds that would bear genuine spiritual fruit—first in the pulpit, and then in the pew.

3. Remember who’s speaking.

It’s easy to forget who’s actually speaking when a biblical sermon takes place. Although we may see a mere man standing before us, every biblical preacher is truly a herald of the King of kings. Paul commended the Thessalonians for recognizing this reality: “when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13).

We must learn to hear the urgency of divine speech in the normalcy of human preaching. Only then can we listen and respond like the Thessalonians, who realized that God himself was being revealed to them through the preached Word.

4. Furrow the field.

Weeds and thorns don’t welcome fresh seed to their field. Instead, they compete with it and choke it out (Matt. 13:22). Our spiritual condition can either fertilize or hinder God’s Word. When Peter urges us to “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,” he’s helping us prepare to receive the truth: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Pet. 2:1–2).

Our appetite for truth withers when our hearts are consumed with bitterness, darkened by secrecy, calloused through hypocrisy, distracted by coveting, or poisoned by gossip and slander—everything Peter warns against. Overgrown fields resist good seed, so God urges us to deal with specific weeds, thorns, and stones that would hinder God’s work in our hearts.

Each week, faithful pastors pray and preach, preach and pray. We should join their intercession.

5. Arrive early.

I once visited fourteen different churches during a long sabbatical. For all their differences, most shared one dynamic in common—arriving late. There are certainly legitimate reasons for late arrivals—tight schedules, ministry responsibilities, parenting challenges, foyer conversations, or cultural differences with time. Yet for most of us, arriving early is doable when we commit to it.

One church I visited was packed well before the service. Fellowship was active. Guests were greeted. Energy and anticipation sparked throughout the sanctuary. The congregation’s readiness seemed to color the whole service—including the sermon. Though there are exceptions, arriving early can help us be more prepared when the sermon begins instead of hurrying in awkwardly, searching for a seat, then trying to play catch-up in a service that’s already underway.

6. Soak in the experience.

Some conscientious types stress over how much we’ll remember. We measure the value of a sermon or how well we listened by exactly how much we can recall weeks later. Yet human finiteness guarantees that we won’t remember much of what we hear. Instead, God the Spirit uses sermons to wash our hearts, renew our minds, and guide our steps over a lifetime.

So rather than being bound by a vision of detailed notes or overly frustrated by moments of distraction, we can soak in the sacred moments as Scripture is expounded to us. Instead of laboring to remember everything—an impossible task—you might even try seeing and savoring just one verse, truth, image, or illustration. Sometimes less is more.

7. Trust and obey.

When does a sermon end? When your pastor stops preaching and steps away from the pulpit? Or when God’s preached Word is embodied in our faith, hope, and love? The end of a sermon is not its chronological conclusion but its fulfillment in our lives as we begin embodying God’s truth as disciples of Christ.

One simple way to remember our calling is the phrase “trust and obey.” In every text, in every sermon, on every Sunday, we receive a call to trust and obey. Is there a promise to trust or a divine attribute to rest in? Is there a command to obey or a clear calling to fulfill? What specifically is the Spirit impressing on your mind as he presses the very words of Scripture into your soul? Sermons brim with fresh life when we expect them to reverberate through our own lives and into the world around us.

Conclusion

Every week, our pastors share God’s Word with us, passing it along with the fervent hope that we’ll carry it forward as second runners. Every week, our gathered churches scatter again, taking God’s truth back to our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and businesses. Every week, a sacred relay is performed and a priceless treasure is transferred from the well-studied mind of a preacher to a precious body of waiting believers. May we learn to grasp the truth we’re taught—and run with it—in ways worthy of the prize.

Gunner Gundersen is the author of How Do I Get the Most from My Pastor’s Sermons?.

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