5 Elements Every Sermon Needs

A great sermon isn't just a well-researched talk — it's an experience that helps people encounter truth in a way they'll actually remember and act on. Over years of working alongside preachers and creative teams, Ben Stapley has landed on five elements that show up in nearly every message that truly connects: scripture, skin, story, symbol, and step.

This framework isn't only for the person behind the pulpit. It's just as useful for the graphic designers, videographers, and program directors helping build out a series — everyone is working from the same blueprint.

Here's how to think through each element as you build your next message or series.

1. Scripture: Make the Plain Thing the Main Thing

Every sermon starts with the text. Before you build anything else, get clear on two questions:

• What is the primary biblical text for this message?
• What are your supporting scriptures, and do they actually reinforce the main point — or distract from it?

The goal is to make "the plain thing the main thing." That means checking your outline for logical flow and being honest about whether you've included the right amount of supporting scripture — enough to build the case, not so much that the central passage gets buried.

If you want a more structured process for getting from blank page to finished manuscript, How to Write a Sermon: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide walks through the full process, and 12 Time-Saving Sermon Preparation Tips for Busy Pastors is a good next stop if prep time is your biggest constraint.

2. Skin: The Visual Experience Around the Message

"Skin" is everything congregants see and feel around a sermon series — stage design, series graphics, video bumpers, and worship backgrounds. It's the packaging that tells people, at a glance, "this is what we're talking about right now.

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A strong skin does three things:

• Provides context — visual choices orient people within the series before a word is spoken
• Aids engagement — a cohesive look helps people track where they are in a longer arc
• Encourages organic sharing — people share what looks good

A few guidelines for building yours:

• Keep the messaging positive
• Maintain intrigue and curiosity rather than giving everything away in the graphic
• Preserve some ambiguity — reveal enough to spark interest, not the whole outline
• Document specifics (fonts, colors, tone) in a creative brief so the whole team is working from the same page
• Aim for a 4-6 week series length — enough room for depth, short enough to keep both the audience and the creative team from running out of steam

If you're mapping out your next series and need a starting point for themes and structure, Sermon Series Ideas To Boost Church Engagement & Community Outreach is worth a look, and Developing and Implementing Your Church Brand is a good resource for keeping that visual identity consistent series after series. When it's time to actually source the graphics, video bumpers, and worship backgrounds, Tithely Media gives your team a library of ready-to-use church media so you're not starting from a blank canvas every series.

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3. Story: What People Actually Remember

Here's an uncomfortable truth: few people will remember your scripture reference by chapter and verse, but nearly everyone will remember your stories. That's not a knock on Scripture — it's just how memory works. Story is what makes truth stick.

A helpful rule of thumb is one story for roughly every 10 minutes of preaching. You generally have three options for where that story comes from:

• Your own story — intimate and credible, but risks feeling self-centered if it's not handled carefully
• Someone else's story — brings in a different perspective and experience than your own
• Inviting someone to share their story live — highly intimate and powerful, but harder to plan around and more time-intensive

Whichever route you choose, the story should serve the point you're making — not just entertain on its own.

4. Symbol: Giving Truth Something to Hold Onto

A symbol gives an abstract idea a physical or visual anchor. There are two basic types:

• 2D symbols — on-screen images, often easy to source from a stock photo library
• 3D symbols — physical objects on stage that visually connect the audience to a concept

Think of a phone held up to represent staying connected to God in prayer, or a baseball bat used to illustrate parental discipline. When you're choosing a symbol, weigh visual impact, whether it will actually be visible from the back row, how clearly it connects to the scriptural point, and whether it's practical to manage on stage.

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5. Step: Give People Something to Do

A sermon that only stirs emotion and stops there is incomplete. The last element is the step — a clear, concrete action that moves people from hearing to doing.

Steps can look like:

• Accepting salvation
• Joining a group
• Volunteering
• Giving or tithing

For a step to actually work, it needs to be clear, given adequate response time, measurable, and supported by the right tools to follow through — a card to fill out, a QR code to scan, a group to sign up for on the spot. If the step is "join a group" or "start giving," make it as frictionless as possible: connect it directly to your church's giving page or group sign-up so people can act in the moment, not three days later after the motivation has faded.

Bringing It All Together

Scripture gives a sermon its foundation. Skin gives it context. Story makes it memorable. Symbol makes it tangible. Step makes it actionable. Leave any one of them out, and a message can still be true — but it's less likely to be transformative.

If you want to keep sharpening your delivery once the message itself is solid, 10 Practical Preaching Tips to Become a Better Preacher This Year is a solid next read.

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