Pointers for Preachers

A Case for Shorter Sermons

Preachers: longer doesn't mean better.

The most celebrated speech in American history was less than three minutes. Lincoln's address at Gettysburg was only 269 words, but it captured the history, pain, and aspirations of the nation with soaring eloquence and inspiring imagery.

Many forget that Lincoln's speech was not the keynote at the ceremony that day. The featured speaker was Edward Everett, a celebrity orator. His address at Gettysburg was 13,607 words, over two hours long—not unheard of for a gifted speaker in the nineteenth century. After the event Everett wrote to the President saying, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." Keep reading

David Cook on Gospel Preaching [Video]

David Cook helps us think about how we preach the Gospel from John's Gospel. Watch now

See also
Preaching Matters

Preaching Points: Choosing the Right Lens

The congregation who only sees Scripture through one type of lens is missing something, too. Some pastors always look at Scripture with a wide-angle lens. They show their people the big picture of the book they're preaching, or perhaps the grand narrative of redemption history, yet fail to get the nuances, the warp and the woof, the grain of Scripture up close. On the other hand, some pastors are so oriented to a magnifying lens or microscope that their congregations never see the big picture. Keep reading

"The Bible Says" or "Paul Says"? A Response To Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley gave a talk last week at Exponential, a church planting conference in Florida, under the theme of "rethinking preaching." Stanley is a powerful communicator, and his message stimulated a lot of thinking.

I want to summarize Stanley’s message as accurately as possible, and then evaluate the strengths of his approach, as well as some of my concerns. Keep reading