Z to Alpha: Sermon Prep for Tomorrow

🧠 Think Formation Over Information

• Shift from “what do I want to say?” to “what kind of person is this forming them into?” (moving from “me” to “we”) 

• Gen Z and Alpha are saturated with content. They don’t need more info—they need meaning, purpose, belonging, and identity.

• Prep with a formational lens: How will this shape their heart, their habits, their imagination?

🧵 Weave in Storytelling

• These coming generations will be more story-driven, not just fact-driven.

• Use narrative preaching: frame your points in stories (both biblical and current).

• Share real struggles, not polished perfection—authenticity IS currency.

🧰 Get Interactive

• When possible, break the fourth wall. Ask questions. Pause for reflection. Let them respond. They are used to interaction in school and youth groups, so embrace this in the “big room” setting.

• Sermon isn’t just a lecture—make it more like a conversation or an invitation to discover.

🪞 Name What They’re Feeling

• Address anxiety, loneliness, injustice, burnout, and disconnection.

• Don’t gloss over hard topics. Be willing to name pain, and point to Jesus as a companion, not just a solution.

📱 Engage Their Digital Reality

• Use references from TikTok, YouTube, gaming, meme culture, etc.—but only if it’s natural to you. Forced relevance ALWAYS backfires.

• Best…redeem those spaces—talk about how faith shapes the way we live in and with our digital selves.

🌐 Preach a Big, Beautiful Gospel

• They want a faith that matters in the real world.

• Move beyond individual salvation to include justice, reconciliation, creation care, community, AND vocation. This generation needs to hear an invitation to a gospel-focused vocation and even to consider what vocational minsitry might look like?

• Show how Jesus brings healing and hope not just to them but through them to the world.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Invite Them Into the Story

• Gen Z and Alpha want to participate, not just spectate.

• Include moments where you commission them to act, pray, serve, or reflect during the message.

✍️ Collaborate in Sermon Prep

• Invite young people into parts of your prep: ask questions, test ideas, get feedback.

• You’ll gain insight, and they’ll feel seen and heard.

🎯 Focus on One Clear Takeaway

• Don’t overload with too many points. Gen Z especially prefers clarity over complexity.

• Aim for one powerful truth, well-illustrated and applied.

🙏 Root It All in Jesus

• Trends come and go, but the living Christ is compelling when presented authentically.

• Highlight Jesus’ character, compassion, wisdom, and radical grace.