P.J. Smith writing over at the resurgence has a punchy short article on 5 ways to get the most out of a sermon.
1. Get in range regularly
2. Be expectant to receive
3. Understand it
4. Mix with faith
5. Actually do it
To really understand what he is getting at, why not have a read of the full piece on the resurgence website http://theresurgence.com/2010/11/08/5-ways-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-sermon