In Preaching Articles: "Following Jesus"

You Cannot Out-Dream God

By Marshall Segal on Jul 12, 2023

We tend to think our dreams were too big when we were young, say when we were six, and too small as we get older. But maybe our dreams never reach high enough.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Corinthians 10:33, Isaiah 43:7, Matthew 4:8, Psalm 49:16-17, Matthew 6:19-21, John 5:44, John 12:43, Matthew 6:1, Psalm 115:1, Deuteronomy 8:3, Psalm 16:11, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 2:5, 1 Timothy 4:7, Matthew 19:29  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Dreams, Materialism, eternal perspective, Following God's will

7 Keys To Increasing Your Church's Footprint

By Jim Morgan on Dec 22, 2021

Jesus modeled discipleship and community engagement as an example for His Church to follow. He felt a small number of highly effective disciples would cover much more ground than a slew of casual followers.

Tags: Outreach, Missional, Make Disciples, local church purpose

How To Preach Jesus Using The Psalms

By Jason Hood on Feb 12, 2025

The Psalms reveal Jesus as sufferer, king, shepherd, and conqueror, inviting believers to see both Christ and themselves in the prayers he fulfilled and continues to shape in us.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:21

Tags: spiritual formation, Spiritual Formation

How To Preach Jesus Using The Psalms

By Jason Hood on Oct 8, 2024

Luther, Spurgeon, and Bonhoeffer saw Jesus as one of the chief subjects of the Psalms. Do you?

Scripture: Psalm 41:1-3, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: preaching, Psalms, Praise, Preaching, Meekness, church fathers, Prayer Adoration  (view more)  (view less)

What It Means To Preach Jesus As Lord

By Ed Stetzer on Oct 29, 2020

Can we rise above T-shirt and bumper-sticker sloganism? These are radical words.

Tags: Missions, Preaching, Lord, Jesus, Outreach  (view more)  (view less)

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

By J.d. Greear on Sep 12, 2025

Surveys show more than 50% of people have prayed a sinner's prayer and think they're going to heaven even though there is no detectable difference in their lifestyles from those outside of the church.

Tags: Jesus, Salvation, Preaching, sinners prayer, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

How Would Jesus Respond Online?

By Michael Kelley on Dec 18, 2021

We are probably more responsive today than ever before, partly because we now have the tools to respond publicly to anyone or anything, and at any time we see fit. We can post, like, tweet, and retweet, and we are delighted to do so. We love to respond. No, we need to respond.

Scripture: Luke 23:9, Matthew 27:12-14, Isaiah 53:7

Tags: Jesus, conflict, Silence, fixing eyes on Jesus

Promote Jesus: Not Personality, Professionalism, Or Brand

By Joe Hoagland on Jan 18, 2022

The church can learn a lot from worldly business and marketing trends but many times churches and church leaders end up promoting the wrong thing.

Tags: Jesus, focus on GOD, Pastoral Character, church marketing

Not A Fan: The Hard Words Sparked A Church-Wide Revival

By Kyle Idleman on Jan 13, 2025

A preacher’s honest reckoning with crowd-pleasing sermons led to a bold call for true discipleship, sparking repentance, revival, and hundreds of unexpected baptisms.

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Love, Baptism, Jesus, Church, Commitment, Discipleship, church, love, Gospel call, Revival, Gospel Call, Preaching, Disciples, revival, Church Growth, follower, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Finding God In The Ambiguity

By Jonathan Martin on May 17, 2021

God is bigger than our tiny little systems of certainty. He is revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth, who is real enough to touch us in our own ambiguity.

Tags: Jesus, God, Jesus Christ, Certain, ambiguity  (view more)  (view less)

How God Became A Man: What Jesus Did For Thirty Years

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 1, 2022

Don’t begrudge God the glory of your long, arduous maturation process. In it you are tasting the growing pains that Jesus knows very well. And he stands ready to help you persevere until God’s process is complete.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:26, Hebrews 5:7-9, Matthew 17:27, John 11:14, John 1:47, Luke 3:23, Matthew 2:1-23, Luke 2:8-51, Luke 2:52, John 4:18  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Jesus, Ordinary, Christian growth, incarnation of Jesus

Three Foundational Passages For Growing Disciples Of Jesus

By Ray Hollenbach on Jul 17, 2025

"Try to imagine talking about your subject every single day for two years. If the idea still thrills you, you've found your topic."

Tags: Disciples, gospel, Jesus, Gospel, Growth, Discipleship  (view more)  (view less)

Jesus Preached To Doubters--You Can, Too

By Ed Cyzewski on Jul 26, 2025

When Jesus called his disciples, there wasn’t a single one who understood that he was the Messiah or Son of God.

Tags: doubt, Jesus, Preaching, preaching

Is Your Leadership The Moses Model Or The Jesus Model?

By Ray Hollenbach on Apr 16, 2025

"He was the shepherd, they were the sheep—and sheep do not morph into shepherds."

Scripture: Hebrews 3:1-6

Tags: preaching, Preaching

You Can Love Ministry And Miss Jesus

By Marshall Segal on Dec 20, 2021

What captivates your heart more: what God does through you, or what he has done for you?

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:4-5, Philippians 3:7-8, Philippians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, Luke 10:3, Matthew 10:7-8, Luke 10:17-20, Colossians 2:15  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Jesus, priorities, loving God, Christian Priorities