In Preaching Articles: "Difficult Text"

How To Be Thankful As A Leader

By Josh Reich on Jul 9, 2023

Most of the time on blogs like mine or other leadership and ministry blogs you read about how tough ministry is, how difficult people can be and how hard it is to be a leader. All those things are true.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalm 103:1-5

Tags: Marriage, Thankfulness, gratitude, Pastors

The Post-Sermon Bible Test

By Peter Mead on Jan 10, 2024

Good preaching doesn’t end when the sermon ends. It equips listeners to return to the text, understand it, desire it, and handle it for themselves in the days ahead.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Discipleship, Preaching, preaching

8 Ways To Hook Your Congregation Into Your Message

By SermonCentral .com on May 11, 2020

Your sermon text is central, but it doesn’t always need to come first. Strong hooks help listeners connect their lives to Scripture before exposition begins.

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:8, Luke 24:27, Ecclesiastes 12:10

Tags: Bird, Preaching, Anxiety, Field, flowers, preaching, anxiety  (view more)  (view less)

10 Preaching Mistakes Everyone Can Avoid

By Jared Moore on Jun 8, 2020

If you want people leaving your sermon focused on God, avoid these common preaching mistakes. These ten pitfalls distract hearers from the text and diminish exposition.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, Nehemiah 8:8, James 1:21-22, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Psalm 19:7-10  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Preaching, mistakes, preaching, Preaching Mistakes

Better Ingredients, Better Preaching

By Peter Mead on May 31, 2020

Even slight shifts in tone, focus, or structure can distort a sermon’s flavor. Guard the gospel, preach the text, and let Scripture, not your outline, set the menu.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Nehemiah 8:8, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Romans 1:16  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Pastoral

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)

15 Quick Tips For Better Christmas Preaching

By Peter Mead on Dec 6, 2024

Christmas texts don’t need gimmicks. Preach familiar passages freshly, stay with the writer’s emphasis, honor tradition carefully, and drive home the incarnation’s present relevance.

Scripture: Mark 1:1-13, John 1:1-18, Galatians 4:4-5

Tags: Christmas, Preaching, Tip, biblical theology, preaching, Biblical Theology  (view more)  (view less)

A Novel Idea For Preaching Christmas

By H.b. Charles, Jr. on Dec 7, 2025

We assume our congregations know the biblical story and doctrinal meaning of Christmas. So we avoid major texts and look for something new or novel to say about the old, old story.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:12-15

Tags: Christmas, Preaching, Birth of Jesus, storytelling, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

5 Places To Find A Sermon

By John Mcclure on May 12, 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

7 Ways To Make A Graceful Exit And Leave Your Church Well

By Charles Stone on May 27, 2024

"Unless you stay at the same church your entire life, you will leave one ministry or church and go to another, perhaps several times. I’ve learned that leaving is more of an art and is often difficult. Here are 7 insights I’ve learned that have helped me make a graceful exit."

Scripture: Acts 24:16, Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:15, Colossians 3:23, Proverbs 22:1, 1 Kings 1:27, Acts 20:35-38  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Moving Forward, Integrity, pastoral leadership, let go, overcome bitterness, Transitions, church leadership, Pastoral Transition  (view more)  (view less)

How Much Is Enough? The Only Safe Rule For Giving

By Kent Woodyard on Jan 4, 2024

Working in business development for a church giving platform, I am asked often if there is a Biblical precedent for churches using digital technology to accept tithes and offerings. Any scriptural evidence that text-2-give is acceptable to the Lord? I’ll save you a concordance search: there isn’t.

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Tags: Money, Giving

Running The Race With God Beside Me: Eric Liddell’s Journey Of Faith - Part 1

By Duncan Hamilton on Mar 25, 2024

For all of us it can be difficult to grasp a sense of something when it is actually happening; often comprehension comes only when it is over. Not, though, for Eric Liddell. He could always identify precisely when his life changed forever. It was April 6, 1923. The time was shortly after 9pm. On that day and during that hour, Liddell became a public speaker for God.

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