Weekly Devotional: Understanding Sermon Styles

The different sermon styles are purposeful for different occasions or topics. Learn more about the different sermon styles to study the Bible as best you can.

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Read time 3 minutes

Kate Webber

Published on Oct 17, 2025

Have you ever noticed how different churches preach differently? Maybe the content is completely different. Perhaps the outline doesn’t follow what you’re used to, but maybe it’s the overall style.

Exposing yourself to different sermon styles can be valuable, as you can see how God is working through the preacher in different ways. However, to understand the best way to learn about God’s word, consider which style you can follow and apply best.

Topical Sermon

This type of sermon is extremely common in modern-day Christian churches.¹Topical sermons are written and preached based on a particular topic. For example, a church going through a series about marriage or forgiveness.

Expository Sermon

An example of an expository sermon could be a sermon about a specific passage, like the Sermon on the Mount or the fruits of the Spirit. This way, scripture gets interpreted with more biblical context, emphasizing the author’s intent.

Devotional Sermon

This type of sermon, which you might hear every now and then, is focused on encouraging the church. This could be seen as a pastor being inspired by worldly events to preach about a certain subject.

Liturgical Sermon

An Easter or Christmas sermon is classified as a liturgical sermon, which creates a message focused on an event in the church calendar. Liturgical sermons can be given all year round, though, as long as they emphasize the importance of the church calendar.

What’s The Difference?

These four styles are the most obvious to detect in the modern church. Each style of sermon can be chosen based on a specific audience or a specific topic needing to be approached. If a church is struggling with stress about the end times, the pastor may choose to do a sermon series through an expository sermon on Revelation. A pastor may choose to do a topical sermon on adultery if that becomes a prominent issue within the church.

Why Does Style Matter?

Sermon style matters because each style has a different purpose. It is important to choose the right one so that the message resonates with the congregation and engages them.

A pastor has the responsibility to shepherd the church in their study of God’s word and provide guidance, so the pastor should pick a style appropriate to the topic. Different topics should be approached with the proper style to best communicate to the congregation.

If you’re struggling to find a home church because you don’t know what sermon style you learn the best from, try these tricks:

Listen to each style through a podcast Bible study.
Do a topical Bible study followed by an expository Bible study.
Think of a sermon that impacted you in the past. That may be the sermon's style for you.
Attend different churches and take notes.

The church exists to lead you closer to God and give you community. Being able to follow a sermon is important to being inspired to make changes in your life that will lead you closer to Christ.

Ask yourself: what style of sermon do I need to hear in order to help me grow in my faith?

Discover the Power of Sermon Styles

Explore different sermon styles and discover what draws you closer to God.

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Kate Webber

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Pew Research Center. (2019, December 16). Why we studied American sermons—and how we did it. Retrieved Sep. 26, 2025.

Approved and verified accurate by the Local Outreach Ministry Coordinator of Spiritual Life on Sept. 9, 2025

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.