A Letter from the Pastor September 2026
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
A sermon is one of the most important ways God speaks His Word to His hearers. But are you listening? It means 15 minutes of intense concentration on a sermon can be an insurmountable task… especially in our highly tech & digital world that thrives on excitement to keep us attentive. So, I’d like to share with you a few ways / tools to help you prepare for a Sunday morning sermon in a “start to finish” outline that follows.
Start: Spend the week before the sermon preparing to listen. Start by reading the upcoming texts. You can find the weekly readings on line (www.lcms.org/worship) and, as a suggestion, you can select one of the readings to accompany your daily devotion.
Meditate: Lutheran pastors preach the Law & Gospel in every sermon. During the sermon, listen for the Law - which shows us our sin. Then listen for the Gospel - which pronounces the forgiveness Jesus won for us. As you read through Sunday’s texts, find and note the presence of the Law and the Gospel. Then on Sunday, listen as the pastor proclaims it.
Look: As you study the texts, look for themes. On Sunday, locate these “themes” in the prayers, the hymns, in the worship folders, in the graphics, and then in the sermon itself.
Listen: When the pastor reads the texts on Sunday morning, he’ll emphasize important words & phrases that might reappear in the sermon. Try closing your eyes & listening to the readings instead of reading along from the worship folder. As you listen, think about why he emphasized that phrase or that word? Why did he pause at certain points in the reading? Ask yourself, what can I learn about the text based on how it was read?
Pray: Your pastor prays before he preaches; you can too. In the front cover of the Hymnal are prayers including a prayer for before and after the Word is declared. Pray them and pray that the Holy Spirit will open your ears and heart to the Word’s proclamation.
Make: Make notes during the sermon. Besides picking up a copy of the sermon when entering the Sanctuary to follow along during the preaching of the sermon, you can make notes as the sermon is preached. You might underline important words & phrases to remember; you can circle lines that appear difficult to understand; you can put a ‘?’ to remind you to ask a question you question. Regardless of the method, keeping notes will engage your mind & help you avoid distractions. The very act of making notes forces one to retain their focus.
Ask: Again I say, ask questions. Pastors spend a lot of time preparing the sermon to be preached. You may have heard it said that pastors spend one hour writing the sermon for every minute of preaching. With that much time invested in preparation, a pastor will delight to hear your questions & answer them to help you understand & appreciate the Words spoken.
Repent: Yes, you will at times fail to pay attention to God’s Word during the sermon; you will at times “despise preaching and the Word.” Repent & return to the Lord your God, for He is slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love. He gladly forgives & continues to proclaim His Word of forgiveness to you.
Finish: With the sermon ended, comes the time to live the Words declared & put them into practice. Let the spoken Word be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path (Psalm 119:105). And: Philippians 4:7.