More Pointers for Preachers: Five Articles

How to Design a Message Series for Unchurched People

Can you craft a message series for unchurched people and still be faithful to scripture?

Absolutely.

Can you preach to a room full of churched people and unchurched people at the same time with the same message and help them both take a step in their faith?

Without a doubt, yes.

The question is how.

While a short article can’t exhaust the subject, let’s get started and tackle the biggest issues in creating a message series that connects with unchurched people: angle. Keep reading

Preaching on Holiday Sundays

When patriotic holidays come along, many pastors, including myself, fall into a question and dialogue of, “should I or should I not recognize this patriotic holiday? If so, how do I celebrate the holiday without funneling praise to it that only belongs to the Lord?”

Ours should be a position of “recognize but not amplify.” What I mean is that we should recognize whatever holiday it is but not amplify that holiday and all that is associated with it above the praise of the Lord during the worship service. We should frame the holiday through the lenses of the gospel rather than allowing the holiday to superimpose itself on the gospel. Let me suggest a couple of ways to wrestle with but not exhaust this issue. Keep reading

3 Rules to Make Your Church Man Friendly

We all understand how important it is to reach men in our churches today, but how we reach them is a bit more difficult. I want to share three simple things that I, as a pastor, do to attempt to create a “man friendly” church. Keep reading

When the Bishop Shows up in the Middle of Your Sermon. Yikes!

One Sunday morning, many years ago–I must have been in my mid-30s– as I rose to preach, Dr. Ed Young, pastor of the enormous Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, sat in the congregation to hear my sermon. (I was pastoring the FBC of Columbus MS.)

Was I surprised? Discombobulated? Nervous?

Nah. Not in the least.

I didn’t let it faze me but went right on as though he were not in the house.

I didn’t know he was in the house.

He told me about it years later. (Not sure how I would have handled it had I known. Smiley-face here.) Keep reading

Sermon Research Matters

Preaching is an important part of pastoral ministry, but preparation can be stewarded better with the right kind of help. Keep reading