In Preaching Articles: "Courage In Ministry"

The Pastor’s Wife’s Greatest Ministry

By Joe Mckeever on Nov 8, 2022

"A pastor’s wife’s greatest ministry is to her husband first, and her children second."

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:5, Luke 14:14

Tags: Support, Godly Women, Godly Wife, admonish one another, Wife's Role, pastor's wife, Encouraging Wife, Speak the Truth  (view more)  (view less)

Ed Stetzer: Do Pastors Really Hate The Ministry?

By Ed Stetzer on Mar 26, 2025

Ed Stetzer shares insights from a new study that reveals what pastors really think about the ministry.

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Change Your Ministry: Ten Books, Ten Months

By Ray Hollenbach on Jun 24, 2025

The well-rounded preacher draws from multiple sources. How wide is your reading?

Tags: Ministry, inspiration, book, writer, ministry  (view more)  (view less)

Is Modern Church Leadership Tilting Toward Bivocational Ministry?

By Hugh Halter on Feb 11, 2024

"The goal of our existence is to learn how to leverage everything God has given us."

Scripture: John 21:15-17, John 21:15-22

Tags: Ministry, Church, bivocational, leverage, mobile, ministry, church  (view more)  (view less)

From Desiring God Ministries: The Essential Secret Of Preaching

By Tony Merida on Dec 5, 2025

The key to effective preaching is not mastering certain techniques, but being mastered by certain convictions.

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Should I Leave My Current Ministry Position?

By Josh Reich on Feb 24, 2021

Too many pastors work at churches they would not attend if they didn’t get paid to be there. Think about this: If you work at a church, would you attend it if you didn’t get paid to be there?

Tags: Job, Preaching

9 Bad Habits That Limit A Church's Ministry Capacity

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 13, 2024

It’s not about church growth. Or working harder. It’s about doing smarter ministry with our church’s current resources.

Tags: Lay Leadership, hindrances to prayer, ministry vision, Capacity, capacity  (view more)  (view less)

Eight Indicators That Pastors Are Expected To Do Most Of The Ministry

By SermonCentral .com on Apr 20, 2021

Contrary to most of the indicators today, the Bible says the laity (saints) are to do the work of ministry. Most of the ministry should not be in the hands of pastors, but in the hands of the church members. Unfortunately, we often reverse the biblical truth. We expect ministry to be done by the pastors and staff. Here are eight indicators of that reality.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-12

Tags: Laity, Church Health, attacking the pastor, High expectations

One Question You Must Never Ask In Ministry

By Joe Mckeever on Sep 6, 2023

Disciples of Jesus Christ must never try to calculate the cost/benefit of some act of ministry.

Scripture: Colossians 3:23-24, Luke 18:8, Ecclesiastes 11:6

Tags: Faithfulness, Leadership General, questions, measuring success

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

By Todd Brown on Mar 10, 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

5 Ways Ministry Leaders Start The Journey To Failure

By Ron Edmondson on Jul 31, 2022

One of the hardest things I do in ministry is interact with those who are no longer in ministry, but wish they were. They’ve been derailed. They messed up and either they got caught or the guilt got the best of them and they confessed. Watching this process over the years there appear to be some common reasons failure occurs. It doesn’t start at the failure. It starts months – and, perhaps years – prior. My hope is if we expose some of them we can catch a few people before it is too late.

Tags: leadership, pastoral leadership, avoiding trouble, avoiding burnout, church ministry, Leadership Failure, Exposing Blindspots, e, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

8 Ways To Bust Leadership Discouragement

By Charles Stone on Sep 27, 2022

"Discouragement is a universal experience for ministry leaders and the word actually self-defines itself…dis-courage meaning no courage. Some of the Bible’s greatest characters faced it: Moses, David, Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, and the apostles. Nehemiah, the great Old Testament leader faced it when he led the Jews to rebuild the wall. Yet, his response offers us hope when we face it."

Scripture: Psalm 77:11, Nehemiah 4:10-21

Tags: Nehemiah, leadership, Discouragement, thought life, pastoral leadership, Blessings, Burdens, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

5 Ministry Killers Every Pastor’s Wife Faces

By Charles Stone on Aug 20, 2025

Eight in ten pastors’ wives say they feel unappreciated or unaccepted by their husband’s congregations. Charles Stone and his wife give insight into how to protect your spouse and your marriage during the sometimes difficult calling of pastoral ministry.

Tags: Ministry, stress, Marriage, wife, family, Stress, relationships, priorities, home, Difficulties, pastoral care, Spouse, Church Body of Christ, Marriage General, church leadership, ministry, marriage support, Church Leadership, Pastoral Care, Ministry Health, Pastors Wife, Marriage Support  (view more)  (view less)

The Best Way To Avoid Ministry Burnout That You Keep Forgetting

By Eric Bryant on Aug 4, 2024

Exodus 18 exposes leadership myths that exhaust pastors and shows how shared leadership restores health, disciples others, and strengthens God’s people.

Scripture: Exodus 18:1-27, Numbers 11:16-17, Deuteronomy 1:9-13, Acts 6:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Team Development

Digging Deep: How Do You Define The Ministry Of The Word?

By Peter Mead on Jul 3, 2025

"The ministry of the word is stewarding and heralding God's word in such a way that people encounter God through his word."

Scripture: Psalm 37:4-5

Tags: Ministry, Preaching, God's Word, blackaby, ministry, preaching  (view more)  (view less)