How to design our Sermons for Learning ?

This little piece of work is a side effect of my tryst with creating, assessing, analysing, and sometimes overanalysing learning and teaching. 

Faithfulness to the Truth and being Intentional about learning need not be competing priorities. 

Some people seem naturally gifted at writing sermons. The rest of us have to learn the craft, practise deliberately, and keep improving. I belong to the latter category!

I am grateful that my journey as a learning designer, working with both adults and children in different contexts, has helped me see preaching as a learning experience. 

Drawing together what I have learned and understood, I have put together a simple evaluation matrix to help us craft more effective sermons.

The focus here is learning and application and not "hermenutics or communication".  I am not attempting to evaluate how we interpret Scripture, or how we communicate it. Rather check if our biblical truth has all the dimensions so that there are no learning gaps.

These five dimensions are informed by evidence-based learning models. The framework is my attempt to apply these ideas to sermon preparation; it is not a framework generated by AI.

Knowledge: Have I made the biblical truth clear?

Skills: Have I shown listeners how to practice it ?
Motivation: Have I explained why it matters?
Habits: Have I identified behaviours to change or cultivate?
Environment: Have I considered the practical circumstances that affect their response?

These dimensions need to be woven throughout the sermon, not necessarily presented as one point after another. They can also be revisited and reinforced at different points in the preaching.

My suggestion is to keep the checklist handy as you prepare your sermons. Use it to think through how you will help people understand the truth, respond to it, and put it into practice. Once you have preached, listen to a recording of your sermon and evaluate yourself using the same matrix. Also, ask a trusted friend to listen and score you against the same criteria. Use it to identify patterns, recognise what is working, and choose one or two areas to improve.

With regular reflection, feedback, and deliberate practice, I believe we can all grow in the craft of teaching with intention.

If you'd like I can show you a few examples of how these are woven in a few sermons.