Let’s take a few moments to ask the question, “What does it take to build a sermon that matters?” To answer this question, we’ll look toward the greatest sermon builder of all time, Jesus. We are going to look at the Sermon on the Mount and find key elements that Jesus used to be sure his audience heard, remembered, and did something with what he was telling them.

The Sermon on the Mount can be found in Matthew 5-7. It’s a collection of messages that Jesus spoke to groups of Israelites. This section of scripture has some of the most quoted lines of Jesus. We have the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, and instructions on how to give, fast, and pray. These 3 chapters are layered with amazing content. But how did Jesus make sure that this was more than just information presented, and how can we do the same?

There are 3 key elements that we can see in these scriptures that can help us build our sermons to matter. 

1. Personal Connection
Jesus was a master at personal connection in both his “street style ministry” and in his sermons. In the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus being very specific with how he addresses his audience. Matthew 5 opens by telling us that Jesus “went up on a mountain…” My initial thought has always been that Jesus was trying to be sure that he could be heard by everyone, but the more I study, the more I believe that this was an initial action to better connect what he was saying to his audience. This was a group of Israelites. They grew up hearing the stories of how Moses had come down off of Mount Sinai and presented the Law to their ancestors. Jesus knew the content of his sermon was going to touch on the Law. I believe that Jesus took his place on a mountain to connect deeper with his audience.

Imagine with me being an Israelite at this time. Your whole life being told the history of your people and how when Pharoah was oppressing them Moses came as the voice of the Deliverer and stood on a mountainside sharing what God had said. Then, while feeling that same sense of oppression from the Romans this time around, a man claiming to be the Son of God stands on a mountainside and delivers the word of God. What an amazing feeling of joy, excitement, and expectation they must have felt.

Jesus was also very intentional about where he preached. Jesus didn’t tell everyone to come to the temple at 10 am on a Tuesday morning so he could preach to them. Jesus knew where to find his audience. He knew they were in the fields working, on the lake fishing, doing what they could to take care of themselves and their families. So, he went to them. He decided to meet them in the place they suffered.

If we are going to preach like Jesus, our first step is to connect with our audience on a personal level, knowing where they are and meeting them there. While our audience most likely doesn’t match the criteria of the Israelite people of Jesus’ time, we do have plenty that are oppressed, poor, suffering, and not able to show up when it’s best for us. If we are going to preach sermons that matter, we have to first know our audience. We need to sit down to have coffee or lunch with them. Learn their stories. Understand their history. Then, present our content in a way that speaks to them and their situations. 

2. Cultural Relevance

Jesus not only made sure that he was connecting with his audience, but he also made sure that what he was talking about was relevant to what they were facing. Jesus didn’t preach a sermon that was designed for the scholars of the Law. He spoke a sermon that was relevant to those he went to meet. Jesus saw around him the poor, the outcast, the destitute, the sick, and the hurting. So he opens his sermon by sharing how the Kingdom of Heaven is “upside down”. He said things like the poor, the oppressed, and the persecuted were blessed. He shared the true nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. He told a group of people that what was happening to them and around them was not the way of Heaven. He told them that their situation was not the hope of the Kingdom. He told them that what they were going through was not void and unnoticed. He told them that it wouldn’t always be this way.

Jesus also made his sermon matter by giving them instructions they knew and understood. When Jesus told them how to pray, he took a prayer that most of his audience quoted daily, the Shema from Deuteronomy 6, and simply tweaked it a bit. He made it easy to understand and remember by connecting it to something they already knew and held dear to their hearts. Jesus knew that no matter the background, of those standing around, they knew the Shema. He made this new way to pray relevant to his audience by connecting it to something deep and meaningful to them.

Our sermons need to be relevant to the culture of those who are listening. Our messages should speak of hope for them. Are you preaching to a group of high school students? They won’t care about if the mortgage is getting paid next week, or if Susan from work is getting the credit for their presentation. However, they do care about God’s perspective on social status, belonging, and what their future may hold. Do you have a room full of financially stable adults you are preaching to? They likely won’t connect to a story about God’s provision when you can’t afford groceries, but they may be dealing with worry about their kids and if they are doing a good job parenting. Or maybe they are concerned about a diagnosis that money can’t “fix”. Your sermons matter when they are relevant to those who hear them. Speak to the hardships they face, and show them the upside-down Kingdom of Heaven that God is building. 

3. Call to Action

I don’t know that I have ever sat under a sermon that did not have a call to action. Many of us thrive on the Call to Action. Whether it be receiving prayer, accepting Christ, or to go and be the salt of the world, most pastors have this step down. However, I don’t want you to gloss over this section, because I think Jesus’ call to action may have a few key elements we could miss in our own.

Jesus’ call to action seems to point towards being something over doing something. Now at first reading, you may see things like how to pray, fast, and give and think that sounds a whole lot like “doing” over “being”, but if we dig into his instructions, we can see that Jesus was much more interested in what those instructions created in someone over being sure they “did them right”. If we look at Matthew 6 we see instructions to give to those in need without being seen, to pray in a closet, and to be sure you clean yourself up when you fast. Jesus ends each of these by stating that what God sees in secret, will be blessed openly. Why do these things need to happen in secret? I believe it’s because our character is developed in secret. Our secret self is the most genuine version of our character. If we develop habits of loving others, loving God, and putting Him above ourselves in secret, that develops our character to be more in line with the upside-down Kingdom of Heaven.

Our sermons need to have a call to action. We need to tell our audience what to do with what they have just heard, but we need to be sure that what is communicated is the goal of changing from the inside out. Our churches and communities need to know that God is calling them to be something and not just do something. God is calling them to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, and the only way to do that is to be a follower of Christ and not just act like one. 

I’ve heard thousands of speakers at this point in my life. Some pastors, conference headliners, TED talks, standup routines, and even book reports. The ones that I remember, that I call back to, that made a difference in my life were ones that pulled on these 3 elements that Jesus used. They connected with who I was while being relevant to where I was in life and culture while pushing me to be more than I thought I could be. If we want our sermons to matter and be more than just a speech with a few amens thrown our way, then we need to build them like Jesus did, with our audience in mind, and push them to be the version of themselves God called them to be.