I was not prepared for the toll that truly following Jesus would take. And I am not alone. Just read this post I wrote about the difficulty of being a pastor. It struck a nerve! Hundreds of pastors wrote to me saying, “Me too!” If you truly follow Jesus, you will suffer. Whether in a…
What makes a sticky sermon? What makes a message have staying power? As preachers, it should be our goal to teach sticky messages. We want our audience to remember the sermon. Nobody wants to spend hours every week to prepare a message that nobody remembers. So, what makes a sermon sticky? Chip and Dan Heath,…
Is your preaching Jesus-centered? Charles Spurgeon once said about his preaching, “Whatever subject I preach, I do not stop until I reach the Savior, the Lord Jesus, for in Him are all things.” If your sermon never points to Jesus it’s not sermon; it’s just a talk. It is incomplete. Many pastors stand before a…
Ouch! This quote hurts. “If Jesus preached the same message ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.” –Leonard Ravenhill Do you agree? This is certainly not true for every pastor. However, I’m afraid this may be true with a lot of the self-help, prosperity preaching today. If Jesus never said anything controversial, if…
To begin our Preaching 101 series, going back to the basics of preaching, we must start with the Bible. What does the Bible say about preaching? I have heard a lot of debate in recent years about whether or not preaching even matters. I have heard arguments for less preaching and more relationships. Less teaching,…
Where does your inspiration come from? When coming up with ideas for your next message who do you listen to? When writing your next sermon, what is your first step? A lesson from Joshua. When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River and set up camp outside the city of Jericho, he encountered a…
No products in the cart.