Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #13

Don't Waste Your (Rural, Southern) Funeral

The funeral you preach could be the best chance you will have to reach many people in your area. Here are three reminders to keep you from wasting the opportunity.Read More

Maybe you do not live and minister in a small town or rural area of the southern United States.But I suspect that there are other parts of the world where these observations are equally valid. Members of a community will attend a funeral who have never in their lifetime darkened the door of your church. Attending the funeral of a deceased member of the community and paying respects to the deceased person may be a part of the local culture. Non-attendance may not only earn the disapproval of the community but may subject the non-attender to the ill-will and malicious activity of the deceased person's ghost or spirit. As a consequence of non-attendance those who do not attend the funeral may be shunned or avoided by other members of the community.

Must-Dos With the Biblical Text in Every Sermon [Podcast]

Okay. We’ve studied the text. What next? In this episode, we look at what we must do with the text in order to preach powerfully. Listen Now

How To Preach Practical Holiness

John Piper draws four guidelines from 1 Thessalonians to help preachers bring holiness to life. Read More

3 Keys to Preaching with Confidence [Video]

Free Video Preaching Workshop with Bryan Chapell. Learn More

How to Effectively Plan a Year of Preaching

How do we plan sermons well for a calendar year? What I’m going to share isn’t the only right way. It’s simply my way. Here are some key principles that I always follow. Read More

Seven Deadly Sins in the Pulpit

In 604, Pope Gregory wrote about the “Seven Deadly Sins,” which included pride, gluttony, envy, lust, anger, greed and laziness. In the spirit of the Pope’s top seven, here’s my list of “Seven Deadly Sins of the Pulpit.” Read More

What Does a Good Sermon Cost?

Good Christian preaching and teaching requires regular, and at times enormous, self-sacrifice. In the preparation. In the moment. And outside the pulpit. It’s often a quiet, private, behind-the-scenes mantle the preacher’s wife and children see, but the congregation does not. It is not heavy lifting physically, but it can be unusually taxing spiritually and emotionally. It is a burden good preachers gladly bear, and yet it is a burden. Read More