A free guide
How to End a Sermon
Application people can do, a clear call, and a full-circle close
Many sermons die in the last five minutes. Here is how to conclude a sermon so people know exactly what to do Monday morning, from the last steps of the framework in The Sermon That Holds the Room.
You have probably heard this ending, and maybe preached it. The message builds to a powerful truth. Then the preacher says, "So just trust God," or "Apply this to your life," and sits down.
The congregation walks out feeling something. Within a couple of days, nothing has changed, because nobody told them what to actually do. A sermon without application is a diagnosis without a prescription.
The last two steps of the nine-step framework fix that: Application, then the Call to Action. Then you come full circle.
Step 8: Give them application they can do
Lead with a hook
Before you give the steps, tell people that what comes next is for them, it is specific, and they can do it. "Here are three things I want you to do starting this week." That one sentence shifts the room from listening to acting.
Pass the twelve-year-old test
Every application step should pass this test: could a twelve-year-old know exactly what to do after hearing it? "Grow in your faith" fails. "Write down the fear that has been feeding your can't and pray over it every day this week" passes.
Good application is specific. It has a starting point. It connects directly to the solution you just preached. And it is something people can start today, not someday.
Two to four steps
When people leave with ten things to do, they usually do none of them. When they leave with three clear things, they actually do them.
An example
From the book's sermon on Philippians 4:13:
- Stop focusing on what you can't do and start doing what you can. It may seem small, but you have to start somewhere.
- Identify the specific fear or failure that has been feeding your can't. Write it down. Pray over it every day this week and declare out loud, "I can do this through Christ who strengthens me."
- Put your hand to the plow and don't look back. Don't wait until you feel ready. You'll never feel ready. Do it afraid.
Repeat the most important one
After the steps, restate the most important one in a different way. Repetition is not redundancy. It is the difference between something being heard and something being remembered.
Step 9: Make the call to action
Application tells people what to do this week. The call to action asks them to respond right now. It sounds like this:
"If you're here tonight and your life is full of can't, I came to tell you: you can. Through Christ, you can. If there's anybody here who's ready to leave the can't at this altar and go forward into everything God has for you, why don't we come right now and make that commitment?"
Whatever your church's tradition, an altar, a raised hand, a prayer in the seat, a conversation after the service, make the next step clear and make it now. Give people the opportunity to say yes to what God has been doing in their heart for the last thirty minutes.
Then wait
Give them time. Don't rush it. Don't fill the silence. Let the Spirit work. The urge to keep talking in that moment is strong. Resist it.
Slow down and lower your voice
The book calls this a pattern interrupt: pacing. Speed up when you build tension. Slow down when you deliver the solution and the call. Lower your voice. This is not the time for the preacher to be the loudest thing in the room. It is the time for the Holy Spirit to be.
Come full circle
The strongest endings return to where the sermon started. You opened with the can't. You end by calling people away from that exact thing. The last words they hear should echo the first, but now they carry the full weight of everything that came between.
If you opened with a story, finish it. If you opened with a question, answer it. That is why it pays to write your conclusion at the same time as your opening; see Sermon Introduction Ideas.
Give them one line to carry out
People walk out quoting sentences, not paragraphs. Craft the heart of your message into one short line and use it near the end. The book's own closing line is an example: "The sermon that holds the room is the one that tells the truth, builds the tension, and then hands them Jesus."
Ending mistakes to avoid
- "Just trust God." True, and not enough. Tell them what trusting God looks like on Tuesday.
- Adding a new point at the end. The conclusion is for landing the plane, not taking off again.
- Several false endings. "In closing..." three times wears out a room. Know your last sentence before you stand up.
- Rushing the call. If you hurry through the invitation to get to the final song, you tell people it doesn't matter.
For a funeral, the close is different but the principles hold; see How to Preach a Funeral Sermon. For every step that leads up to the ending, see the book and order a copy.
More free sermon guides
- How to Prepare a Sermon — The nine sermon preparation steps, from Scripture to a clear call.
- Sermon Outline Template — A free nine-step fill-in outline with a worked example.
- How to Write a Sermon Step by Step — Blank page to pulpit, one step at a time, even your first sermon.
- How to Preach a Funeral Sermon — A chaplain's complete funeral order of service and four-truth sermon.
- Sermon Introduction Ideas — Four ways to open a sermon so people lean in.
- How Long Should a Sermon Be? — Why structure matters more than the clock, and how to cut.
- How to Preach a Bible Story — The eight-step Hero's Journey for narrative sermons.
- Sermon Illustrations and 22 Preaching Tools — The 22-tool preacher's toolbox and where each tool fits.