Preaching with a goal of transforming lives through an articulated purpose involves careful consideration of the audience. The importance of the listener, the power of Scripture, and a holistic approach are all components of preaching with a specific purpose.

The dynamics of the preacher-listener relationship have been a subject of debate. In order to engage the listener in any given message, the preacher must connect with his audience in several ways. First, he must know the congregation, both corporately and individually. Although a preacher may not know the details of people’s lives, it is significant for him to know the struggles of individuals, such as health, work, family problems, etc. Knowledge of such situations does not dictate the message, but it should serve as a means of engagement and effective communication. Thomas G. Long asserts that “the congregation’s struggle to be human and faithful to Christ in the contemporary world [should be] the context in which the interpretation of the text take[s] place.” In other words, the circumstances of the listeners are integrated into the purpose of the message, rather than being a consideration during the application at the end of a message.

Keith Willhite concurs with this approach, though with different terminology. He asserts that the method of argumentation engages and connects with listeners by addressing their unspoken, yet real arguments. In the preparation of a sermon, there ought to be consideration of “audience receptivity” which asks how each aspect of the sermon will be received by its listeners. The purpose of the sermon is integrated throughout the message in this approach as it continually interacts with the lives of the listeners.

Such an approach eliminates the monologue mentality and creates an experience of interaction. This interaction has components of a dialogue, as it is inclusive of the lives of listeners and seeks to meet a specific goal of transformation. Truth applied to people has a specific purpose to transform and not just inform.

To produce lasting emotional ‘life change,’ you have to enlighten the mind, you have to engage the emotions, and you have to challenge the will. Those three things have to be present in ‘life application’ preaching. There is a knowing element, there is a feeling element, and there is a doing element. This takes a lot of just being sensitive to the people because sometimes they have to be comforted and sometimes they’ve got to be challenged.

This is one of the big weaknesses in our preaching. One of the greatest weaknesses is people who are unwilling to humbly stand before people and challenge their will. A lot of pastors are great at interpretation. They are pretty good at application, but they’re not really willing to stand there and call for repentance.
At the heart of transformation is God’s power through Scripture. Since Scripture is the Word of God, it is dynamic and able to transform. The preacher must listen to what God is saying through His Word to the listeners. This involves the mind and heart, for Scripture addresses issues to which listeners can relate on both of these levels.

Relating to an issue is not enough, however. The listener must not only be engaged in the message, but he must also understand and be convicted to respond to it. Anderson presents a model for integrating engagement through understanding, conviction, and response through a series of questions that need to be addressed within a sermon: So what?, What’s what?, Yeah, but, and Now what? These four questions deal with different aspects of the sermon, but the nature of each question (especially the first and fourth) connects the listener in a purposeful way throughout the entire sermon and does not wait until the end to try to engage the audience.