One evening after pulling into the parking lot of a local restaurant I saw a new set of reserved spaces. Close to the main entrance, next to the handicapped spaces were two additional specialized spaces. They were marked with a sign which read, "Parking For Takeout Orders Only!" Those spots set me to thinking. Shouldn't the parking spaces in our church lots carry similar signs?
I want you imagine all the parking spots in our church lots labeled, "Reserved For Takeout Sermons." I do not mean to imply the worshipper leaves his car running, runs into the church, grabs his pre-ordered sermon, then leaves.
What exactly is a takeout sermon? It is a sermon our listeners remember after the worship service into the work week. It is a sermon they remember days, weeks and longer into their lives. It is not that they simply remember that sermon and what you said. That sermon has affected the way they live, worship, pray and live their relationship with their Savior. They remember the sermon and are living the sermon in their walk of faith. That is what we want to accomplish each time we preach. And that is a tall order!
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The fact of the matter is we do not want people merely to listen to us when we preach. If we are passionate about the task of preaching God's word we want our people to take our sermons with them into their work week. Our goal is to preach takeout sermons not because we want our people to remember what we've said, but because we want them to live what the Scriptures say!
If we preachers do not accomplish that takeout task our sermons may be entertaining and eloquently worded but little else. One of the marks of an effective sermon is that people take it home into their lives when they leave. If our sermons don't leave the sanctuary in the lives of our people I believe we haven't fully accomplished our task as preachers. We've ordered in and our people have left with nothing of our sermon in their minds and lives. So then, what steps might we take to ensure we are preaching takeout sermons?
When I pick up a takeout order I always check to be certain I'm leaving with the correct order in hand. The times I've gotten home with the wrong order are the times someone didn't check it before I grabbed it and left the restaurant. I think it prudent we preachers do the same with our sermons. I think it best to discover any problems with the sermon "order" before we deliver to our people. As I check my takeout order in the restaurant so also we need to check through our sermons while still in our studies.
We want to be sure our people are getting a real takeout sermon and that their order is correct. We certainly don't want our listeners leaving the worship service empty handed. So, how do we go about checking our takeout sermon? What areas of our sermons do we need to examine if we are seeking to preach takeout?
I think the first thing to look into is the main idea of your sermon. Does your sermon have a central, unifying, clear main idea? Your listeners have ordered one to go. Takeout sermons contain well defined, memorable sermon ideas you can state in one sentence. If you can state the main idea in one sentence those listening will be able to do the same. And, take the idea with them when they leave.