There are few habits that are easier to establish and few habits that are easier to foster than the habit of critiquing the Sunday sermon. There are also few habits that require less skill, that demand less character, and that bring less benefit. But it’s so easy to do, isn’t it? It’s easy to do…
As a Baptist, I’m plenty accustomed to hearing three-point sermons. As a Baptist preacher, I’m plenty accustomed to preparing and delivering them. But as time goes on and I (hopefully) grow in my ability as a preacher, I find myself trying to avoid the use of the word “point” and to replace it with alternatives…
I have enjoyed reading articles by various Aussies as they tell how they prepare their weekly sermons. I always find it beneficial to hear how others set about the task and thought I’d add my voice to the mix. The point in this article and the others is not to suggest that one method is…
It was the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the early days of this movement called The New Calvinism and this conference was meant to introduce all of these enthusiastic young Calvinists to the old guard, to those few men who had been faithfully preaching these truths for many, many…
It takes two ingredients to deliver a message that really sticks. It takes the right message and it takes the right time. Matt Chandler’s 2012 sermon “God is For God” is an example of this kind of timely message. When I announced this Great Sermons Series, it did not take long for a whole lot…
If you were one of the 40,000 students at the Passion One Day conference in Memphis, Tennessee back in May 2000, just one little word may well have changed your life. You know the word, don’t you? Shells. Yes, shells. Seashells. It was the most memorable illustration and the most powerful sermon from one of…
Today I am kicking off a new series of videos I’m calling The Great Sermon Series. The premise of the series is finding and examining modern-day sermons that the Lord has chosen to use in unusually significant ways. What we will find, I think, is that the Lord uses sermons to save, stir, and edify…
I went to the Blue Jay game last week. The Rays were in town and I like to go and cheer/jeer for my buddy Ben who plays for the bad guys. “You stink! And thanks for the tickets!” Don’t mention it to him, but at the end of the game he represented the winning run…and…
A few months ago I shared a few lessons I’ve learned along the way–a few things I’ve learned about preaching since I rather unexpectedly found myself regularly standing in the pulpit. I learned that preaching can be discouraging, that preachers are fragile, that success in preaching is difficult to measure, and that preaching is a…
This is an article about preaching that is meant to be read by non-preachers. I am an unlikely preacher, a guy who was paralyzingly shy through high school and college and into later life who rather suddenly found himself speaking at conferences and preaching at churches. As someone who is rather new to the pulpit,…
I think I knew more about preaching before I began to preach. At least I was more sure of the things I was sure of. Now that I preach on a regular basis I have a better assessment of how little I really know about the art or science or whatever it is of preaching…
It has come as kind of a shock to me, now that I am a pastor and preaching on a regular basis, that the vast majority of the sermons I preach will be rather ordinary. I will study hard and pray hard and work hard, I’ll get started early in the week and give it…
I’ve always found the word unction to be a bit of a strange one. I see it as a part of the Christian lexicon since, in my experience, we are pretty much the only ones who use it. We typically use it in prayer, asking that God would give unction to a man who is…
Wednesday July 18, 2007 Du Jour: Carolyn McCulley is waiting for a match in what sounds like a great opportunity to serve others. Creation: The Times has an interesting article about an “Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World.” Weird: Plans are underway in Nazareth to build the world’s largest cross. The Nazareth…
Tuesday July 3, 2007 Jobs: If you are a programming geek, Desiring God may just have a job for you. Interview: Trevin Wax has a fresh interview with Caedmon’s Call. Du Jour: Russell Moore has posted a good commentary dealing with creationism, the gap theory, and reconciling Scripture and the scientific data. Music: Bob Kauflin…
Two months ago, Suzanne Sataline published an article in the Wall Street Journal. The article was cleverly titled “Veneration Gap: A Popular Strategy For Church Growth Splits Congregants” and dealt with churches that had been split apart through the attempts of their leaders to convert them to the Purpose Driven paradigm. Last month I wrote…
As I read Marsden’s biography of Jonthan Edwards last week, I was stopped short several times by Edwards’ wisdom. Constantly surrounded by conflict, and often facing people who sought to undermine his ministry, Edwards had every opportunity to reflect on the task of a minister. During his ministry, one conflict involved whether sermons should primarily…
It is a mild, grey morning at the cottage. My daughter is still asleep, so I have been unable to dial-up and do my twice-daily email check (that’s about all I do when I’m on vacation). So I’ve been passing the time by looking through directories of old articles. Among these I found the four…
There are many different types of preaching. Generally they can be divided into five categories, though you must realize that sometimes a single preacher can utilize multiple styles even in a single message. The five main types are: Anecdotal – Preaching based primarily on the recounting of stories which convey a moral lesson. Biographical –…