What Makes A Sermon Good?

By Duane K Kelderman on Dec 1, 2025

Venture International

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Great sermons are clear, biblical, and transformative. They communicate well, faithfully proclaim Scripture, and lead listeners toward deeper obedience and faith.

Scripture: Ruth 3:1-10, 1 Chronicles 1:1, 2 Timothy 4, Hebrews 4, James 1 (view more) (view less)

Tags: Worship

Transformational Power: Preaching That Changes Lives

What Makes a Sermon Good?

When people describe what makes a sermon good, their answers tend to fall into three categories: clarity in communication, faithfulness to Scripture, and spiritual transformation. A sermon must be understandable and compelling, anchored in the biblical text rather than personal opinion, and used by God to shape lives and deepen obedience. Preaching that pursues only one or two of these aims falls short; good sermons require all three, joined with prayerful dependence on the Spirit. What follows explores how these elements work together to form preaching that is meaningful, faithful, and life changing.

For the past couple of years I’ve been asking adult education classes I’ve been conducting on sermon-listening, What makes a sermon a good sermon? I explain that I’m not looking for “the right answer.” Rather, I want to know how thoughtful listeners honestly evaluate the sermons they hear week in and week out. The answers I’ve been hearing are very helpful. They fall into roughly three clusters.

Communicational Excellence: Winning a Hearing

The first cluster of answers defines a good sermon in terms of communicational excellence: “A good sermon is a sermon I can follow. The main point of the sermon is clear. The sermon is well-organized. The preacher doesn’t speak over my head. The preacher doesn’t repeat the same point over and over. The preacher uses images, stories and ways of speaking that keep me listening and move me.”

Indeed, today’s listeners are constantly exposed to the internet, television, and movies that sizzle communicationally. Some preachers used to say, “My job is just to preach the Word. It’s the people’s job to listen.” Few preachers talk that way today because preachers know they must prepare sermons that are not only biblically based but also carefully designed to win a hearing. Communicational excellence is an absolute requirement of effective preaching today.

Biblical Faithfulness: Proclaiming God’s Word

A second way people define a good sermon is in terms of its biblical faithfulness: “A good sermon is rooted in the Bible. It teaches me something from a text of the Bible. A good sermon is not the opinion of the preacher, it’s a Word from God that has authority because it’s from the Word of God.”

Preachers and churches run into trouble when they forget that preaching is first and foremost a proclamation of Scripture. Pity the preacher whose congregation is satisfied with just hearing a communicationally excellent speech. Congregations must also clearly expect their pastor’s sermons to set forth the Scriptures. And pastors dare not speak, except to proclaim a Word far greater than their own words.

Transformational Power: Preaching That Changes Lives

The third way people define a good sermon is in terms of its transformational power: “A good sermon changes me. It challenges me to a deeper obedience. It stretches me. A good sermon brings mecloser to God. It deepens my faith. It makes us a better church. A good sermon makes me a better, more loving person. A good sermon makes me a better kingdom citizen.”

Indeed, preaching that doesn’t call for and lead to transformation is only a noisy gong and a clanging symbol. A good sermon is not the same as an enjoyable sermon. This transformative purpose of preaching reminds me of one of Fred Craddock’s lines: “There are two kinds of preaching that are difficult to hear: poor preaching and good preaching.” Good sermons call us to the cross and invite us into a new life in Christ.

Spiritual transformation of course is not just the work of preachers and worshipers. It is the work of God. Preaching doesn’t change people. God changes people through preaching. Preachers and worshipers must approach the sermon filled with awe, humility, and expectancy that the Holy Spirit will do a great work through this sermon. This involves intense prayer and spiritual preparation on the part of preacher and worshiper without which transformational power is sure to elude everyone.

Why All Three Marks Matter

I find these three criteria for evaluating sermons helpful. And the challenge today is to apply not just one or two but all three criteria as we preach or listen to sermons. Preachers can’t get by with saying, “I think I’ll shoot for two out of three of these marks of a good sermon.” Two out of three does not a good sermon make. In the same way, only when worshipers understand that a good sermon involves all three of these marks are they in a position to evaluate whether the sermon they have heard is a good one. This is another way of saying that worshipers cannot simply sit back and dare their preacher to wow them with a great sermon. Worshipers must lean forward and be active participants in the proclamation of God’s Word, urgently seeking out what word God has for them on this particular Sunday.

I have never heard of a church that didn’t rank good preaching as the most desirable qualification of its pastor. Only as preachers and congregations do everything they can to make the preaching event meaningful and life changing will we be able to speak of “good sermons” in their church.

Scriptures: 1 Chronicles 1:1, 2 Timothy 4, Hebrews 4, James 1, Ruth 3:1-10

Duane Kelderman (website: Venture International)

View all articles by Duane Kelderman

Over the past 35 years Duane K. Kelderman has served as pastor of three congregations for 25 years and most recently as Vice President for Administration and Associate Professor of Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary for 10 years. He has just become a Partner at Venture International LLC, a consulting firm that helps a wide range of organizations, including congregations and non-profits across the country.

Talk about it...

Dr. Luke Kauffman

commented on Aug 17, 2011

As a Homiletics professor, I totally agree with Dr. Duane. Most sermons give answers that are not on the mind of the listeners.

John E Miller

commented on Aug 17, 2011

A good article with good teaching. I feel challenged by it and caused to examine myself. "Good sermons call us to the cross and invite us to a new life in Christ". That message is scarcer than it should be. Thank you Duane Kelderman.

Derrick Tuper

commented on Aug 17, 2011

Good way to narrow it down to these three aspects. The three componants mentioned are the key to making a great sermon. It also helps to know your congregation. This will help me to tailor a message that is congruent with what my flock is struggling with or needing to hear. You will engage your listeners when you are hitting on something they're dealing with in the moment. When you get the "I needed to hear that one today", then you know you've given them something they can process and apply, thus producing the changes we seek when presenting God's word. We need to present the truth in accuracy, in clarity and in relativity.

Sterling Franklin

commented on Aug 17, 2011

Good guidelines -- be understandable, be rooted in the text (faithful/responsible), and be transformative -- all relating to hearing the heart of God for His people and being led by His Spirit in proclaiming it. Thanks!

Fernando Villegas

commented on Aug 17, 2011

I agree that there is not ONE specific thing that makes a sermon good. It is an interplay between different element, and I think the three mentioned by Mr. Kelderman are a very good overall summary. Of course, it is good for us to be reminded that there is another element at play, one over which we have no control and of which we are not always even aware, and that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are listening to us. Though we do our best to preach good sermons, and it is necessary to evaluate our sermons as much as we can, we must never forget that what may seem "good" to us is not always so in the eyes of God. It is also comforting to remember that even when our sermon may seem bad, God can still use it to speak to his people!

John Martin

commented on Aug 18, 2011

I found Duane's article very encouraging. I am a teacher, and my profession has improved enormously as we have reset our focus from the teacher to the learner. So I would like, humbly, to suggest that the "the most desirable qualification of the preacher" is not good preaching, but effective learning. This will help you to see that ONE-WAY communication should increasingly give way to multiple communication, which, in our generation, is made easy. The synergy of the Spirit, the teacher and the learner will revive the making of disciples. Have we not omitted the "one anothers" and the "let us" passages of the Scriptures?

Edwin Montufar

commented on Sep 26, 2015

Thanks Duane: if every church, every Sunday would it have there messages being impart in the way you described it, our nation would feel the presence of the people of God. the genuine born again Christians.

Eric North

commented on May 31, 2018

One of the most helpful pieces of advice I ever received was from my wife. When you're speaking (or better, preparing) think like a listener. Putting yourself in the audience's place gives you a very different take on how effective your message is.