In Preaching Articles: "Behind The Text"

10 Ways To Half-Bake Your Sermon: Part 1

By Peter Mead on Aug 13, 2024

Many sermons feel flat because the text is only half-used. These common mistakes show how preachers drift from Scripture and how to return to full, faithful exposition.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, Nehemiah 8:8, Luke 24:27, Acts 17:2-3, 2 Timothy 4:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Bible, Preaching, Text, preparation, preaching, bible  (view more)  (view less)

5 Places To Find A Sermon

By John Mcclure on May 13, 2020

Preachers rarely stumble into good sermons. They must look for them. Here are five reliable places to find a sermon idea, on the text, behind it, before it, within it, and through today’s moment.

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 10:38-42, Matthew 4:19, John 3:16, James 1:21  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Biblical Interpretation

10 Ways To Half-Bake Your Sermon: Part 2

By Peter Mead on Aug 14, 2024

Preaching suffers when structure is imposed, cross-references take over, application is neglected, or commentary replaces proclamation. Let the text lead.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:2, Nehemiah 8:8, Jeremiah 23:29, Luke 24:32, James 1:22  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Bible, Preaching, Text, preparation, Homiletics, preaching, bible  (view more)  (view less)

4 Things Every Preacher Should Forget Each Sunday Morning

By Leslie Holmes on Aug 23, 2025

When it's time to stand and deliver, we need to leave some things behind.

Scripture: John 14:20-30, Galatians 6:1-10

Tags: Preaching, mistakes, Criticism, Forget, Sins, blue, criticism, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

5 Things Every Pastor Should Have In Check Before Sunday

By H.b. Charles, Jr. on Oct 27, 2025

We may pray that God would hide us behind the cross as we preach. But there is no place to hide in the pulpit.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

Tags: Preaching, preaching

10 Secrets Many Senior Pastors Keep

By Ron Edmondson on Aug 15, 2024

Senior pastors lead with conviction, but many quietly carry pressure, loneliness, fear of failure, and the weight of others’ burdens. These ten realities reveal the heart behind the role.

Scripture: James 5:17, 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Galatians 6:2, Hebrews 13:17

Tags: spiritual health, Spiritual Health

Gird Your Preaching: 10 Supports

By Peter Mead on Nov 14, 2020

Imagine the Bible as a "superstructure." Which texts gird the grand message of the Scripture?

Scripture: Joshua 4:1-9

Tags: Bible, Preaching, important, entire, prevent, preaching, bible  (view more)  (view less)

Three Possibilities Preaching The Psalms

By Peter Mead on Jun 2, 2025

Instead of simply quoting a Psalm once in a while, when's the last time it was the featured text in your message?

Tags: Psalms, Gift, Preaching, teach, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Build Your Sermon Like A House

By Greg Stier on Oct 16, 2024

Greg Stier learned to exegete a text at the same time he learned to swing a hammer. It paid off.

Scripture: Luke 14:22-33

Tags: Preaching, House, build, preaching

Pastoring Shouldn't Be This Hard (With 4 Steps To Make It Easier)

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 8, 2021

Our obsession with numerical growth may be the unseen culprit behind a lot of burnt out pastors and unhealthy churches. Here's a short list to help you make the task of pastoring less burdensome and far more joyful.

Tags: Preaching, difficult, Pastoring, shepherding, Shepherding, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Biblical Preaching: Application Vs. Exegesis

By Tim Keller on Apr 4, 2020

Tim Keller, D. A. Carson, and John Piper discuss the importance of digging into the biblical text before application.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:16

Tags: Mount, Preaching, Context, application, exegesis  (view more)  (view less)

Every Sermon Needs A Strategy: What's Yours?

By Peter Mead on May 25, 2024

Peter Mead presents five big questions you should ask after you've studied the text.

Scripture: Zephaniah 1:12-18, Acts 8:26-40

Tags: Preaching, Relevance, God's Heart, main idea, reinforce, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Matt Chandler's Advice To Young Preachers

By Matt Chandler on Jun 17, 2023

"If you can't feel the text, I don't know if you've been called to preach."

Tags: Grace, Preaching, Engage, moment, grace, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Can I Evaluate My Own Preaching?

By Steven Smith on Sep 25, 2024

We do not invent messages; we proclaim truth. So we measure our effectiveness by how faithful we are to the text.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Tags: Preaching, treasure, Faithfulness, Obligation, proclaim, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

We Can - And Should! - Preach Like The Apostles

By Dayton Hartman on Jun 21, 2021

Only 50% of the next generation of Christians have any respect for the text of Scripture. How do you preach the Bible to them?

Tags: Preaching, apostle, Millenial, preaching