In Preaching Articles: "Avoiding Trouble"

How To Talk About Money In Church

By Jamie Munson on Jul 30, 2020

"If we are avoiding the subject or trying to make it more palatable, we are doing our congregations a huge disservice."

Scripture: John 4:14

Tags: Money, Preaching

The Ultimate Character Test Any Great Leader Passes

By Carey Nieuwhof on Nov 14, 2023

Moral failure takes out more leaders than it should. But real success is deeper than just avoiding the ditch.

Tags: Leadership, pastoral leadership, church leadership, First Things First, Leadership Failure, True Success, e, leadership, Character, Faithfulness, Home Life, Integrity, Popularity  (view more)  (view less)

Doing Ministry Without Losing Your Soul Part 1

By Lance Witt on May 13, 2024

"There is nothing worse than trying to inspire people to be passionate about God when you have little or no passion yourself. There is nothing more empty feeling than trying to connect people to God when you feel disconnected from God."

Tags: soul care, avoiding burnout, church ministry, Growing in Faith, Christ's Love for Us, Healthy Ministry, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry  (view more)  (view less)

Doing Ministry Without Losing Your Soul Part 3

By Lance Witt on May 22, 2024

When pastoring is your job, it adds complexity to simply loving Jesus. To live and lead from a healthy soul, we must learn the art of separating our own personal pursuit of loving Jesus from our “ministry” of leading in the church.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Tags: soul care, avoiding burnout, Putting Christ First, Sincerity with God, church leadership, time with God, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry  (view more)  (view less)

Top Three Mistakes In Preaching Genesis

By Peter Mead on May 13, 2021

The rest of the Bible is built on the foundation of Genesis, and so preaching it enough and preaching it well are very important. Here are three errors to avoid.

Tags: Preaching, mistakes, teach

Deliver Me From Distraction

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 28, 2022

Since the fall of man, people have had trouble staying focused, but we live today in an age of unprecedented distraction. Since you’re already reading this on some electronic device, I don’t need to elaborate.

Scripture: Romans 8:28, Romans 12:6, Romans 8:1, Luke 12:48, Galatians 5:22-23, Matthew 6:13, Romans 8:20-23, Luke 10:41-42, Psalm 27:4, Ephesians 5:16, Ephesians 5:20  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Heart, Humility, distractions, idolatry, Distraction  (view more)  (view less)

Top 13 Preaching Mistakes

By Bob Hostetler on Jan 13, 2025

A practical guide outlining 13 common preaching mistakes, with tips to avoid them and deliver sermons that are clear, Christ-centered, and spiritually nourishing.

Tags: Preaching, Homiletics, preaching tips, Pastoral Ministry, Expository Preaching, Sermon Preparation, preaching, expository preaching, sermon preparation, Preaching Tips  (view more)  (view less)

10 Mistakes Churches Make At Christmastime

By Jonathan Howe on Dec 21, 2024

Unfortunately stress can lead churches to plan poorly and make unnecessary mistakes. Here are ten such mistakes to avoid in your church this Christmas.

Tags: focus on GOD, Christmas Gospel, church priorities, church leadership, Christmas, Advent, Holidays, prepare  (view more)  (view less)

The 10 Commandments Of Preaching

By Tyler Scarlett on Feb 8, 2025

Everyone makes mistakes, but for all the mistakes preachers can (and do) make, here are 10 that we should do our best to avoid at all costs.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:21, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, 1 Timothy 3:15

Tags: Commandments, Preaching, preaching

11 Common Preaching Mistakes That Distract From God

By Jared Moore on Jan 5, 2026

Avoid 11 common preaching mistakes that shift focus from God to yourself. Learn how to preach Christ-centered sermons that point hearers to God’s truth.

Tags: preaching tips, Expository Preaching, expository preaching, Preaching Tips, Preaching Mistakes, Biblical Communication, Christ Centered Sermons  (view more)  (view less)

Do You Know Your Pulpit Blind Spots?

By Sherman Haywood Cox on Feb 13, 2023

Are you preaching the same thing over and over again but don't know it? Sherman Cox offers practical steps to avoid this often overlooked preaching rut.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:13

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Courageous Conversations - Part 1

By Lance Witt on Sep 4, 2023

When it comes to correction, rebuke, or confrontation, to say it’s uncomfortable is a massive understatement. The truth is, pastors avoid it at all costs. That has certainly been true of me.

Tags: Communication, Courage, Confrontation, pastoral leadership, communication  (view more)  (view less)

Top 10 Healthy Ways To Handle The Church Critic

By Charles Stone on Aug 17, 2022

“Two things you can’t avoid in ministry are…people late to the service and … church critics.” In this short post, I suggest 10 ways to handle the church critic.

Tags: church ministry, loving enemies, Disarming, criticism, Criticism, patience, offense, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry  (view more)  (view less)

Keep The Momentum In Your Preaching

By Peter Mead on Feb 24, 2025

Does your sermon keep building momentum as you progress or does it stall out in the middle or end? Peter Mead offers encouragement for preachers to avoid the common pitfalls to message momentum.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:13

Tags: Communication, Preaching, momentum, Communication Speech, communication, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

A Novel Idea For Preaching Christmas

By H.b. Charles, Jr. on Dec 1, 2018

We assume our congregations know the biblical story and doctrinal meaning of Christmas. So we avoid major texts and look for something new or novel to say about the old, old story.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:12-15

Tags: Christmas, Preaching, Birth of Jesus, storytelling