In Preaching Articles: "Better Church"

Heads Up, Eyes Open, Everyone Looking Around Weekend Invitations

By Dean Hawk on Aug 3, 2023

I’m curious. When and where did ministers first begin asking people to bow their heads, close their eyes, and secretly raise their hand in a church service if they wanted to accept Jesus? Why do we feel like we need to sneak people into heaven?

Tags: Salvation, gospel invitation, Empowered churches

Passion, Prayer, And Planning Ministry: Building The Nehemiah Way

By Todd Brown on Mar 11, 2022

Working with hundreds of churches over the last 35 years, I have observed three common elements of successful building programs and all three are characteristics displayed by quality leaders.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:13

Tags: Nehemiah, Prayer, strategy, Church Building

The Power Of Concentration For Doing A Little More

By Brandon Cox on Sep 21, 2023

I believe that most of us can do more, need to do less, and that it’s possible to do more and less at the same time.

Tags: priorities, focus, energy, church leadership

Check The Mirror, Pastor – After Five Years, Your Church Looks Like You

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 27, 2021

Show me a spiritually healthy church and I’ll show you a spiritually healthy pastor. Show me a spiritually unhealthy church and I’ll show you a spiritually unhealthy pastor.

Scripture: Hebrews 13:7

Tags: Humility, pastor, spiritual leadership, Pastoral Character, Pastor  (view more)  (view less)

How Does A Pastor Know When It's Time To Make Changes In His Church

By Brian Croft on Sep 15, 2023

Whatever you do, choose battles wisely as if you will be at that church ten years or more. That will give you a different perspective and will help you be patient.

Tags: Wisdom, leadership, Change, Sacrificial love, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

Backyard Bbq Evangelism: A New, True Parable Of Outside-The-Church-Walls Ministry

By Karl Vaters on Sep 29, 2022

"Don't force people to do ministry your way. Help them with the ministry they're already passionate about."

Tags: Evangelism, Outreach, Spiritual Gifts, Body of Christ, Innovation, evangelism barriers, reaching the lost, evangelism planning, Conversational Evangelism, Unique Gifts, evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

The 25 Most Influential Preachers Of The Past 25 Years

By Michael Duduit on Jan 2, 2025

Preaching magazine editor Michael Duduit takes on the challenging task of naming the most important preachers from the recent past.

Tags: Church, leadership, Preaching, pastor, Influence, Circumstance, Pivotal, Leadership General, Pastor, Leadership, preaching, church  (view more)  (view less)

The 5 Most Dangerous Assumptions In Preaching

By Dr. Larry Moyer on Feb 16, 2024

Evangelism specialist Larry Moyer says there are five dangerous assumptions in preaching, and the extent of the damage they do may vary, but the fact that they are costly does not.

Scripture: John 15:5

Tags: Church, Communication, Humility, Preaching, pastor, care, assumptions, Communication General, Pastor, communication, preaching, church  (view more)  (view less)

11 Ways To Make Christmas Your Best Outreach Of The Year

By Carey Nieuwhof on Dec 1, 2019

You may think it’s far too early to start thinking about Christmas, but think again. Whenever I’ve shared these ideas about Christmas, people say “Hey, I wish you’d talked about this earlier.” So we are.

Tags: Christmas, Outreach, Holidays, leadership, invite, pastoral leadership, Christmas Evangelism, church ministry, church leadership, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

We Can Whine About The New Generation Or Worship With Them – But We Can’t Do Both

By Karl Vaters on Apr 26, 2024

We can either whine about how the new generation chooses to worship, or we can worship and minister with them. But we can’t do both.

Scripture: John 7:24

Tags: Perspective, Culture, church culture, Christian Priorities, future generations, church priorities, Generations, e, perspective, culture  (view more)  (view less)

7 Things Preachers Never Say

By Peter Mead on May 7, 2024

Preachers speak, but we don’t talk about everything. If you are a preacher you may read this series and find some encouragement that you are not alone. If you know a preacher you may read this and find some understanding that you did not have before.

Tags: stress, Stress, Overwhelmed, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, church ministry, expectations, church leadership, Ministry Pressure  (view more)  (view less)

Luther And His Significance

By Dr. Stephen Nichols on Oct 5, 2022

Luther’s statement at Torgau on October 5, 1544, must be our watchword: “We can spare everything except the Word.”

Tags: Scripture, Church, obedience, God's Grace, Reformation, martin luther, Reading God's Word, justified by faith, church  (view more)  (view less)

Why Doesn't Every Congregation Respond The Same Way?

By Peter Mead on Nov 15, 2018

Peter Mead reveals eight powerful insights into how to gauge a congregation's responsiveness.

Tags: guest, Unique, Preaching, Congregational, church culture  (view more)  (view less)

Make The Message Memorable

By Larry Osborne on May 10, 2023

"I learned early on that if my preaching was to be powerful, it had to be memorable," says Larry Osborne.

Tags: Preaching, Great, Church Small Groups, preaching

10 Multisite Myths (And Realities)

By Jim Egli on Nov 2, 2020

Some preachers resist the idea of multiple sites. But what if technology increases your effectiveness?

Tags: Growth in Christ, Church, Growth, Missions, Multisite  (view more)  (view less)