In Preaching Articles: "Cultural Discernment"

5 Ways To Make Your Preaching More Practical And Relevant

By Rick Ezell on Jan 30, 2025

Practical preaching requires more than exegesis of Scripture. These five steps help you exegete your people—making sermons clearer, warmer, and more genuinely relevant.

Scripture: Acts 17:16-34, Romans 10:4

Tags: Preaching, Culture, Self, Relevance, audience, application, preaching, culture  (view more)  (view less)

3 Reasons Pastors Don't Connect With Millennials

By Tyler Braun on Sep 9, 2020

Millennial faith is declining, but blame is not the answer. Real change begins with relationships, honesty about doubt, and personal engagement.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Matthew 11:3, Mark 3:14, John 13:35, Jude 1:22  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Youth, Preaching, Relevant, church culture, preaching, Church Culture  (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 25, 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)

Get To The Point: Preaching Truth In An Age Of Tolerance

By Michael Catt on Sep 8, 2024

In a culture that prizes vagueness, faithful preaching must speak clearly. Biblical preaching challenges, confronts, and comforts with truth rooted in God’s Word.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:7, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 4:2, Acts 20:27, James 3:1  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Truth, Preaching, Culture, church leadership, preaching, culture, Church Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

In The Spirit Of Screwtape--20 Ways To Poison The Little Monsters

By Jared Moore on Jul 31, 2025

News Flash: Sixty years later Jared Moore has discovered another Screwtape-type letter.

Scripture: Genesis 45:14-21

Tags: Preaching, Culture, CS Lewis, screwtape letters, heretic, preaching, culture  (view more)  (view less)

Onramps To Connect Listeners To Your Sermons And Scripture

By Ed Stetzer on Feb 22, 2022

This article is the last of six in a series on preaching in light of cultural shifts and biblical illiteracy.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, Culture, sermon prep, sermon, Sermon Prep, Sermon, preaching, teaching, culture, culture shifts, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

5 Ways Christian Leaders Can Approach The Rapidly Changing Moral Culture

By Carey Nieuwhof on Mar 14, 2021

So as a church leader – as views on sexuality, family, parenting, drugs, finance and other values change – how do you respond? What do you do when the world for which you trained—maybe even the world where your approach was once effective—is disappearing before your eyes?

Tags: Morality, strategy, Unchurched, Cultural Change, e  (view more)  (view less)

Slaves In Your Church’s Backyard

By David Batstone on Dec 13, 2022

Modern slavery hides in plain sight. These stories reveal how trafficking thrives worldwide and even locally, calling Christians to seek justice with persistent, sacrificial love.

Tags: Compassion, Culture, Slavery, Justice, traffic, injustice, Human Trafficking, abolition, culture, Modern Slavery, Abolition  (view more)  (view less)

Insights From Keller On Contextualizing

By Ed Stetzer on Jan 18, 2022

This article is the second of six in a series on preaching in light of cultural shifts and biblical illiteracy.

Tags: Preaching, Culture, Context, insight, sermon prep, Sermon Prep, preaching, culture, context, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

Escape The Sermon Series Trap!

By Calvin Miller on Nov 10, 2020

Not every sermon series deserves completion simply because it was announced. Wisdom requires discernment, editing, and congregational awareness.

Scripture: Acts 20:27, Ecclesiastes 12:12, Colossians 4:6, 2 Timothy 4:2, Proverbs 25:11  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Series, Preaching, boring, Appropriate, redundancy, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Grappling With The Fears Of Technological Change

By Tim Challies on Apr 15, 2023

Technologies are good in that they allow us to carry out our God-given mandate (Gen. 4). But every technology also brings risk; it brings change. Innovations subtly shift our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Tags: Fear, Communication, Technology, Cultural Change, communication  (view more)  (view less)

25 Truths This Preacher Needs To Fight The Enemy's Lies

By SermonCentral .com on Aug 20, 2021

"The things you need to hear repeatedly in your walk will probably vary from mine, but these are truths I cling to."

Tags: World, Truth, Preaching, Culture, enemy's lies  (view more)  (view less)

When The Church Exists For Itself

By Joe Mckeever on May 10, 2022

Churches do programs and ministries which no one will ever partake of except themselves.

Scripture: Acts 13:1, Acts 11:19-20, Acts 8:1, Mark 5:19, Romans 10:14, Luke 14:14  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Evangelism, Outreach, Persecution, church culture, evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

Why Doesn't Every Congregation Respond The Same Way?

By Peter Mead on Jun 26, 2025

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

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

At Least 10 Things Great Churches Are For

By SermonCentral .com on Apr 19, 2021

The church has often, intentionally or not, been branded as a community of people who are angry and therefore are against everything not church-y. This is especially true when we so vocally voice our protests and gang up to boycott every business that doesn’t look conservative-Christian-friendly enough. I’ve listened to too much lately. From all sides. Some opinions I agree with and others I don’t, but what I’ve concluded is ultimately this: If I’m going to be known or listened to, I want it to be because of what I’m FOR, not what I’m against.

Tags: Grace, Community, reputation, church culture, community, grace  (view more)  (view less)