Here are some notes and take-aways from the article, here, by the same title.
Just like a good meal needs a quality, and not skimpy, dessert, a sermon needs a sweet conclusion.
“The goal of preaching is not ultimately to provide people with memorable information but transformational inspiration. If we preachers have done our job during the sermon, people will know more information about the Bible, to be sure. But when it comes to the dessert, the sermon’s conclusion, end with the sweetness of inspiration not merely the spinach of information.”
- Avoid summarizing. Avoid, ‘tell em what you told them.’
- Don’t manipulate. alter call or the bait and switch alter call.
- Land the Plane. The conclusion will determine how the listener perceives the entire sermon. Think through the finish. Make it concise and compelling. Land the plane quickly when the strip is in sight, rather than hovering.
Written by: Lenny Luchetti is the lead pastor of Woodland Church (Battle Creek, MI) and the author of Preaching Essentials: A Practical Guide and Preaching with Empathy: Crafting Sermons in a Callous Culture .
