How to Make Your Sermon Stick: 4 Tips for a Memorable Message
Sometimes we hear a sermon message and “Kaboom!”
The message hits so hard and has such an impact on our understanding of God in our lives that we are changed in an instant, never to be the same again.
But that’s rare!
Most of the time, sermon messages work like the drip of water on our stony hearts, and the Good News slowly transforms us to become more like Christ.
That’s why we hope our sermon messages are remembered.
The longer it’s remembered, the more opportunity the Spirit has to wear us down with love!
If you’re looking for some practical ideas to help your message stick, see the four suggestions below.
#1: Tell Stories
Most of us know the power of stories.
They draw us in and take us through an experience so that as the reader or listener, we start in one place but end in another because stories change us.
But what makes one story more memorable than another?
Stories that stick do these things:
They engage our senses.
They evoke emotion.
They show transformation.
Let's look at two versions of the same story to understand what makes the difference between a story that's forgettable and one that lingers in the listener's mind.
Version 1: "The Samaritan Woman was alone at the well at noon."
It’s factual. It’s accurate. It tells us what happened.
But is it memorable?
Not very.
Why not?
Three reasons.
Reason #1: The story lacks sensory details.
The scene offers nothing for the physical senses.
We can't see, smell, taste, or hear anything, let alone feel the heat or breeze or mood.
Reason #2: The story lacks emotion.
How did the woman feel to be alone at the well in the hot sun?
Did she feel lonely? Relieved? Angry?
Emotion connects us in the human experience.
When people don’t show emotions we call them robots, right?
They’re mechanical, not flesh and blood.
If we want to understand why someone does what they do, emotion reveals a backstory that made them act.
Reason #3: So what?
Why do we care that the woman was at the well at noon?
We don’t care unless we know the impact an action had on the character.
We don’t care unless we see how the character is changed from the beginning of the story compared to the end.
Because we don’t know the effect being at the well alone at noon had on the woman, our response is to yawn—or check our phones.
Version 2:
"The woman placed her empty jug next to the well's stone wall. She glanced at the sun straight above her, then around at the empty landscape, using her sleeve to wipe sweat from her eyes. For once she was glad to be alone. The other women would have mocked her for dirtying her dress with her own salty drips.
Which version will you remember longer?
Not only does Version 2 paint a picture with sensory details (empty jug, stone wall, sun straight above, empty landscape, sweat in the eyes and dirtying her dress), but it makes us feel what she's feeling physically (hot, alone) and emotionally (relief from fear of judgment).
In addition, though we only get a glimpse of her transformation in these three short sentences, we sense that her relief at being alone will make a difference going forward.
This combination of sensory details, the character's internal life, and hint at transformationmake Version 2 stick better than Version 1.
Layer the senses just as much as necessary to draw in your listener.
Too many will belabor the point.
But not enough, and we're left with a sterile narrative without texture.
How do we determine which details to include?
Close your eyes and put yourself in the scene.
What do you notice?
What can you see? Hear? Feel?
Select just a few points that will bring us into the scene with you.
We don't need to include everything—just a few strokes will engage us enough that the mind can fill in the rest.
Other sensory details that could have been used in this scene:
the clank of the ceramic jug against the stone
a small cloud of dust rising as she set the jug in the dirt
the swish of her skirt as she walked
the woman's dry mouth
Pro-Tip: Use strong verbs instead of adverbs to create action we can feel.
Stories with sensory details, emotions, and transformation help listeners remember longer.
#2: move from abstraction to incarnation
Justice. Mercy. Peace.
It’s what we all want, right.
But these are just words and ideas.
They’re abstract, and we don’t remember the abstract.
We remember what we experience.
What does justice sound like?
What does mercy look like?
What does peace feel like?
How would you recognize them if they happened in real life?
Tell us the conversation between the lawyer who represents the immigrant held in the detention camp.
Wrestle with the emotional gap between “fairness” and “mercy” when rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.
Bring us through grief to peace with the hymn writer who penned "It is Well With My Soul" after losing his family at sea.
Make the abstract incarnational.
Bring the realm of God into our actual human experience.
If we can’t describe it with actions, or sensory or emotional details, then it’s still abstract.
The same goes for any theological and biblical idea we mention.
What would it look like to be in a place where "there will be neither sorrow nor crying anymore?"
If we were to give God "thanks and praise" outside of Church, what, exactly, would we do?
If we were to "respect the dignity of every human being," what might we see?
Tangible examples won't provide a comprehensive definition of what these ideas mean (the possibilities are limitless), but with a few specifics listeners can better imagine what these concepts look like in their own lives.
Paradoxically, universal ideas are best understood through the personal and specific.
Spend some time doodling or free writing about some biblical or theological words, getting as concrete and incarnational as possible.
#3: compose your own Parables
Parables combine storytelling with a puzzle.
The combination of visualization, plot, and an "unresolved chord" is powerful.
Not only do we resonate with a storyline and scene, but our brains hate to leave a question unanswered.
We want to solve the puzzle, so our minds "fuss" over a parable to resolve it.
The additional mental energy makes a parable stick!
Parables don't have to be realistic.
The story of the Good Samaritan, for example, was hardly realistic, but what an impact that story continues to have!
Parables do have an end but not necessarily a conclusion.
Consider how we've been talking about Jesus' parables for two thousand years and we're still not satisfied we know what all of them mean!
Hold this framework in mind to write a parable.
Decide on the point you're trying to make.
Create a protagonist with a problem to define the issue
Attempt to resolve the problem—but don’t.
To illustrate, consider this modern-day parable:
One day, a well-intentioned parishioner decided to do something to help the unhoused by redirecting their charitable giving. Rather than continuing to give their money to their congregation, they gave it instead to a local shelter for the unhoused.
The congregation lost the income. When the income was lost, the outreach budget dried up. When the outreach budget dried up, the congregation’s food pantry wasn’t restocked. When the food pantry wasn’t restocked, the hungry got even hungrier. When the hungry got even hungrier, they stopped paying their rent. When they stopped paying their rent, they became the hungry—and the unhoused.
Compose a puzzle about the human condition, and you've got a parable that sticks.
#4: Distill your Message into a Proverb
Visual. Pithy. Memorable.
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
"A stitch in time saves nine."
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
These proverbs have been told for thousands of years, and have been retold in nearly every language and culture. Why?
Because their meaning still rings true.
They speak to the human condition, and the meaning is captured in such brief, practical, and poetic imagery, they stick!
Proverbs distill the essence of a message into the briefest possible sentence and always use imagery.
When we reduce our sermon message to a proverb, not only will we be extremely focused, but we'll have found a way to make the message stick.
For instance, here's a proverb I wrote for a sermon:
"The best wine is made from grapes watered by tears."
With their economy of words and visual impact, proverbs are the "poetry of parables."
Think of distilling your message into a bumper sticker: What would it say?
Make a sermon sticky by writing a parable and maybe yours will preach for the next few thousand years!
INTERESTED IN TAKING YOUR SERMON CRAFT TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
THE MENTORSHIP MAY BE FOR YOU
With 1:1 mentorship, peer sermon appraisals, and plenty of opportunity to experiment for more impact, you’ll grow your preaching skills in an encouraging, supportive community.
Plus, you’ll establish rhythms for completing sermons on your schedule and deepen your faith through it all.
Our next cohort launches in August, 2026, with applications due the first week of June.
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And next week, we’re running a workshop to help you appraise your own sermon and learn more:
Know What’s Working: Appraise Your Own Sermon
May 20th, 2pm Central
Mentor Meredith Crigler will walk through concrete, practical ways to appraise your own sermons so you can better recognize what’s working and where your growth edge is. This is one of the most formative practices in the Mentorship, and this session gives you a real taste of why.