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The most spine-chilling picture I know of (as a preacher) is a 19th-century painting of a young girl asleep in a pew. It is entitled 'My Second Sermon'. It encapsulates the tragedy of preaching failure. How can we improve ?

We find exhortations in the Bible to 'preach the Word,' and to 'encourage others by sound doctrine,'. In an image-dominated culture we need to be reminded that the Word is more fundamental than appearance. By the word of God the visible creation came into existence and new creation comes about. The primacy of God's word is not to be set aside.
So, what makes a good sermon? There is a mystery about real preaching, for in it God speaks. But we must not make it so much of a mystery as to mystify ourselves into despair. Let me suggest that there are ten simple essentials which make up a worthwhile piece of expository preaching.

1 Prayerful preparation.

Anything that is spiritually worthwhile is born out of prayer. In the introduction to Old Testament Evangelistic Sermons, Mrs. Lloyd-Jones is quoted saying: 'No one will ever understand my husband until they realise that he is first of all a man of prayer and then an evangelist.' It is possible to produce Biblical but secular sermons - they are academically accurate, but the touch of heaven is missing. They have not been prayed into being.

2 Arresting introduction.

There are a thousand and one things buzzing around the minds of our friends in the pews. Many of them are legitimate concerns. ' Am I on the creche rota next week?', ' I've got to face my boss tomorrow.' So, preacher, you have to get them to lay aside their distractions, and make them sit up and listen.
Start where the people are. If you are prayerfully sensitive to a congregation, you can sometimes voice doubts or even complaints which have remained unspoken in people's minds. That startles folk into listening. Stories intrigue people into attention. Alternatively the unexpected will often make listeners prick up their ears. Consider the way the Lord Jesus starts his Sermon on the Mount, which is such a contrast to traditional wisdom. 'Blessed are the poor! What is he saying ?'

3 Exegetical accuracy

We have to understand our Bible passage properly before we can preach it. There are four areas which are vital.
The first is grammar. We need a faithful and clear Bible translation. The second is context. The same words can having different meanings depending on how they are being used. We are told: 'do not love the world,' 1 John 2.15, whereas 'God so loved the world.'
The third is genre. The Bible is one book made up of many different types of books. There is law, history, poetry, and apocalyptic to name but a few. These use language in different ways. We must be alive to this. The fourth area is redemptive history. The Bible tells a story and unfolds a body of truth which was revealed over many hundreds of years. 'Where does our passage fit into the time line?' The answer to that question can make all the difference to our understanding. In particular the Old Testament must be interpreted in the light of the New.

4 Doctrinal substance

The key to personal transformation is the renewing of our minds. The Genesis story is not an interesting diversion, it is meant to shape the way we think about the world, God and humanity. The nativity accounts are not primarily meant to generate warm, 'Christmassy' feelings, but to teach the truths of love of God and the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
The idea of 'sound doctrine' is unfashionable, but it is doctrine which makes people spiritually 'sound', that is, healthy. When our minds are changed our lives are changed. People need to go away from the sermon having learned or relearned some substantial Bible truth and felt its implications.

5 Clear structure

Paul's concern in preaching was to make things clear. The preacher is not there to give a display of eloquence. Clear, direct thought and simple language wherever possible are the order of the day. Generally people can grasp a message from the Bible better if they can see a clear structure.
Often Bible books and passages have their own natural structures. Deuteronomy has the structure of a covenant treaty. The Psalms of Lament (like Psalm 3) have six sections in the typical order of Address, Complaint, Trust, Deliverance, Assurance, Praise. It is most helpful to use these natural divisions as the scaffolding on which to build our sermon.
But, then, sometimes it pays to bring our own creativity to structuring a passage. For example, here is the way Archibald Naismith set out a message on 'Four men' from the middle verses of 2 Timothy 4.

Luke - began well and ended well.
Demas - began well and ended badly.
Mark - began badly and ended well.
Alexander - began badly and ended badly.

It may lack finesse but it certainly makes the point. The structure itself, shouts the challenge: 'What kind of person are you ?'

6 Vivid illustration

Illustrations act like windows as they often throw new light upon the truth (and they can give a congregation a necessary mental breather from closely argued exegesis as the sermon proceeds).
It is worth studying how Jesus used illustrations in his Sermon on the Mount: cities set on hills, salt, rain, sunshine, hypocrites, thieves, lamps, birds of the air! Then there are the parables, where the whole message is an illustration and a conundrum with a surprising twist. Here too is the place to use 'real life' stories and experiences to illustrate God's truth. Personal testimony of God's dealings rescues a preacher from an air of the theoretical and brings a vital reality to his message. This faith of ours works! It is worth remembering how often Paul mentions personal experience, either his own or that of others, in his letters (Romans 7; 1 Corinthians 2; 2 Corinthians 11 & 12; Galatians 4; Philippians 2 & 3, etc.).

7 Reasoned argument

God made our world and made us to be rational beings who value 'common sense.' In his Institutes, Calvin argues that as it distinguishes us from the animals, the human ability to reason is a chief part of the image of God in us. Reasonable people need a religion which makes sense, and the preacher needs to exploit the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ makes sense of life as nothing else can. Reasoned argument from the Scriptures speaks to the image of God in people and brings the force of logic to bear on people's hearts and consciences.

8 Spiritual urgency

It is Enlightenment philosophy which keeps truth at the level of the cerebral. Biblically, truth must affect our whole life and personality. Therefore a passionless preacher of good news is an anachronism.
George Whitefield, the great revival evangelist of the 18th century, often quoted Thomas Betterton a famous actor of his day. 'Mr. Betterton's answer to a worthy prelate,' said Whitefield, 'is worthy of lasting regard. When asked how it was that the clergy, who speak of things real, affected people so little, and the actors, who speak of things imaginary, affected them so much, replied, 'My Lord, I can assign but one reason: We players speak of things imaginary as real, and too many of the clergy speak of things real as though they were imaginary.' Yet, it was no affectation when Whitefield's tears fell like rain in the pulpit. It was not for rhetorical effect that he threw himself into impassioned pleadings with his impenitent hearers. By the Spirit of God, he meant it and he felt it and they felt it too.

9 Pointed application

Our messages as preachers must go through the mind to the very hearts of people. Without this we are lecturing rather than preaching. Our aim is not simply to inform people, but to transform people. Our listeners need to leave the sermon with change having either taken place in their lives, or at least beginning to be born in them.
So we must spell out what the truth means to them in their situation. 'Warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak.' 1 Thessalonians 5v14. We need to see that everyone does not have the same personality, or is in the same spiritual condition, so a variety of applications is appropriate. Some are downright rebellious and need a rebuke. Some are willing but just ignorant and simply need to be trained in what is required of them. Some are unconverted, others are backsliders.

10 Decisive conclusion

A sermon must travel. It needs to start where people are and take them to God and to a clear, practical and Biblical conclusion. 'Choose this day..' People need to be left in no doubt about what God is saying to them and what their response ought to be.
Here, then, are ten simple ingredients for sermons. But having said all this, we must come back to the overarching need for prayer. It is true that only the Holy Spirit can give the power and wisdom which awakens the spiritual sleeper as we preach and teach the word of God.

JEB

In writing this I need to acknowledge my debt to Stuart Olyott of Liverpool with regard to many of the thoughts on preaching expressed here. The quotation from George Whitefield comes from Anecdotes of George Whitefield, by J. B. Wakeley, 1879.

The essential elements of expository preaching