In Preaching Articles: "Community And Testimony"

Use Humor Like A Hammer (Plus 4 Other Great Preaching Tips)

By Chris Foster on Feb 5, 2024

The average attention span has dropped from 12 minutes to 5 minutes. If this is true, what does that mean for you as a communicator of the Gospel?

Scripture: Exodus 3:7-17, John 14:26

Tags: preaching, Preaching, humor, social media, storytelling  (view more)  (view less)

8 Easy Ways To Plan Now For New Vbs Families To Stick

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 8, 2021

In my experience, churches put on a stellar VBS and just hope that the fourth goal of retaining new families from the community will take care of itself.

Tags: Unchurched, VBS, families, relational leaders, Outreach  (view more)  (view less)

Is Your Church Lying?

By Greg Stier on Jan 15, 2025

When it comes to evangelism, a mission statement can turn from big black letters on a church marquee to a little white lie that the church is telling the community.

Scripture: Acts 4:31

Tags: Evangelism, Church, Gospel, Honesty, Church General, Evangelism How To, evangelism, gospel, church  (view more)  (view less)

How To Preach A Stressful Sermon

By David J. Lose on Jun 29, 2021

What might our personal and congregational lives look like if we took Jesus' words more seriously at home, work, school and in our communities?

Scripture: Luke 18:31-34, Proverbs 17:1-5

Tags: stress, Preaching, Stress

8 Ways To Make Your Church More Accessible

By Rod Arnold on Mar 14, 2025

Here are some smart, practical things you can do to connect with more people in your community and give them a chance to get to know your church.

Tags: Love, Forgiveness, Church, Compassion, Preaching, Together, Church General, Evangelism How To, preaching, church, love  (view more)  (view less)

Has Mission Become Our Idol?

By Skye Jethani on Jul 29, 2024

Skye Jethani: "While a vision for serving God is needed, and the desperate condition of our world cannot be ignored, there is a higher calling that is going unanswered in many Christian communities."

Scripture: Psalm 62:1-6

Tags: Preaching, pastor, Fire, Pastor, evangelism, preaching, Evangelism, Missions  (view more)  (view less)

Sorry, Pastors – The Growth Of The Church Is Not Up To Us

By Karl Vaters on Jun 5, 2024

"Preaching the Word, training disciples and ministering to the community may or may not increase the number of people who sit in front of me from Sunday to Sunday. But it will produce a healthy church."

Tags: pastoral leadership, call to discipleship, church leadership, Church Growth, Surrender, Healthy Church, God's Church, God in control  (view more)  (view less)

4 Keys To Increasing Giving In Your Church

By Jim Morgan on Jul 17, 2023

Redefining members (not pastors and staff) as the “church” and the community (not members) as the “customer” would reverse the lens through which churches evaluate nearly every decision they make today.

Tags: Money, Giving, Generosity, Perspective, perspective  (view more)  (view less)

Getting An Approachability Checkup

By Ken Sande on Mar 6, 2025

An expert in conflict management, Ken Sande brings his expertise to pastors and leaders to help them relate better with their congregation, co-workers, and families.

Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 18:12-14, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, Mark 10:42-45  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Church, Peace, leadership, pastor, conflict, relationships, counsel, Communication General, Leadership General, Pastor, Leadership, church  (view more)  (view less)

Pulpit Humour: Five Pointers

By Peter Mead on Jul 23, 2022

5 Tips on how to avoid landmines when using humor in the pulpit.

Tags: Humility in Teaching, e, preaching, teaching, Teaching, Preaching, humor, Pastoral Ministry, Communication skills, Pulpit Helps  (view more)  (view less)

These Six Questions Reveal How Well You Are Engaged In Your Neighborhood

By Karina Kreminski on Jun 3, 2024

"What does it look like to keep ourselves accountable to joining with God on his mission in our neighborhood?"

Tags: Inviting others, open to others, Reaching out, Loving the lost, Outreach, neighborhood, reaching the lost, community outreach  (view more)  (view less)

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)

3 Things Our Culture Is Doing To Bible Reading And Discipleship

By Mary C. Wiley on Jun 24, 2024

"We live in a microwave meals, listen-to-podcasts-in-double-time world. We want more with less; work smarter not harder. However, the move forward or get left behind mentality of today is not a good transferrable principle for discipleship. Mostly because discipleship is all about people, and people can’t be boiled down to a series of tasks. People are messy and their needs aren’t linear."

Tags: TEACH THE BIBLE, call to discipleship, training disciples, guard the truth, Study the Bible, Discipleship, spiritual growth, church community  (view more)  (view less)

Stop The Revolution. Join The Plodders.

By Kevin Deyoung on Jan 24, 2022

It’s sexy among young people—my generation—to talk about ditching institutional religion and starting a revolution of real Christ-followers living in real community without the confines of church.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:21, Romans 16:8

Tags: Church, Commitment, endurance, Faithfulness, church  (view more)  (view less)

Does Your Church Have A Negative Reputation? You Can Reverse It

By Ron Edmondson on Feb 6, 2023

"Not that I seek the approval of man, but I wanted to be part of a church that would truly make a difference in our community, so much so that if we were gone, people would miss us."

Tags: church, Church, Preaching, negative, reputation, ron edmondson, preaching  (view more)  (view less)