Spoiler alert: I wish I knew the secret of getting excited about every sermon.

I felt the need to say that because the title of this post borders on click bait (a new phrase I learned earlier today).

I completed Richard Cox’s book, Rewiring your Preaching: How the Brain Processes Sermons.

Some highlights of the book might follow later, but for now here’s a question he asks at the end in: Checklist for Sermon Preparation.

Does this sermon excite me…?

An interesting place to start.

For years I’ve said that great expository sermons require great Texts, but not all pastors and parishioners consider every Text a great Text. It’s one of the tough realities of preaching through books of the Bible.

So, what can we do to “get excited” about our Preaching Portion for Sunday, especially if it doesn’t grab us right from the first read? Here are some thoughts:

• Remember that the corporate nature of our Sunday gatherings means that virtually every sermon sounds more exciting to some than all. I can get excited about the fact that someone will be excited about this Text. Or, you might prefer it worded this way: I can get excited about the fact that God will speak to someone from this Text.
• Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to excite you from this Text. Ask God to speak to you in the study before you speak to them in the service. We should be doing this every week anyway, right?
• Place the sermon in the larger context of the worship service. Worshiping God should excite us (exclamation point). I’m guilty of forgetting that all kinds of worship is taking place before I get up to teach the Word. Sunday morning is an exciting time for our faith-family.

Before Sunday, ask if the sermon you are developing excites you so that God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal