In Preaching Articles: "Front Lines"

Great Preacher = Great Leader? Not So Fast

By Adrian Pei on Mar 16, 2023

When a leader admits his or her weaknesses in front of an audience, I think to myself, "That's great ... how will you follow that up?"

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7-10, Matthew 21:18-22

Tags: Maturity, skill, great leader, preaching, Preaching  (view more)  (view less)

6 Do-Or-Die Roles For Every Senior Leader

By Michael D. Warden on Jun 4, 2020

Do you know where to draw the line between your role as a top-level leader and everyone else's role in the church?

Tags: leadership, Preaching, Leadership General, Leadership, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Preparation And Trust: A Preacher's Tug Of War

By Todd Hahn on Oct 24, 2024

There's a natural tension between preparation and trust, but one line we should never cross is trusting in our own preparation.

Scripture: John 19:28

Tags: Tug Of War, preaching, Trust, Preaching, preparation, Tension  (view more)  (view less)

The Chase Scene Of The Cross

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 15, 2024

Great preaching follows a line to its climax. Hal Seed points to the glory of the cross and resurrection as the climax of God's story with humanity.

Tags: Easter, Preaching, Cross, Hal Seed, preaching, Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Do We Preach A Grace That's Too Small?

By Ray Hollenbach on Nov 30, 2024

We've lined up the chairs in neat little rows and called it grace. We never noticed: it has broken free.

Scripture: Numbers 4:1-4

Tags: preaching, Grace, Preaching, King, Tyrant, too small, grace  (view more)  (view less)

6 Messy Truths About Your Church—and 3 Helpful Realities

By SermonCentral .com on Nov 6, 2025

"I was taught never to wrestle with difficult truths in front of the congregation. Give them simple three-point, alliterated answers to life’s problems."

Tags: preaching, bible, Bible, Preaching, messy truth, efficient, confusing  (view more)  (view less)

The Whisper That Made Me Leave My Church

By Tod Bolsinger on Sep 10, 2021

I would hear that line echoed in my mind long after each conversation was over: "Why didn't seminary prepare me for this?"

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:1-25

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

Five Ways To Turn Off Younger Listeners

By Adam Ramsey on Nov 7, 2024

If you're still in your first 5 years as a preacher, don’t give up! God has this wonderful way of drawing straight lines with crooked sticks.

Tags: God's Love, Laughter, Young people, good advice, young people, preaching, Preaching  (view more)  (view less)

What Not To Say When Someone Dies

By Joe Mckeever on Jan 3, 2024

There is a danger turning faith into fairy tale for our own comfort. At the same time it may help us to approach someone with biblical truths after we understand their line of thinking.

Tags: Death, Comfort, Preaching, Funeral, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

The Reverse Altar Call

By Greg Stier on Aug 2, 2023

Sometimes the words “altar call” trigger images of sawdust trails and endless verses of “Just as I am” with preachers prodding, pushing and persuading sinners to come forward down the aisle in front of God and everyone.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:2

Tags: Evangelism, strategy, Evangelism How To, Evangelism The Lost, evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

46% Of Us Adults Now Unchurched

By Michael Duduit on Apr 6, 2024

Barna makes these observations: “Attracting churchless people to corporate faith usually requires more than a few incremental refinements in outreach strategy and tactics. This is about more than improved marketing and having greeters at the church’s front door."

Tags: Change, Unchurched, Church Attendance, Change in America, church attendance  (view more)  (view less)

6 Sermon Myths We Need To Bust

By Carey Nieuwhof on Jan 13, 2021

Preaching is one of the most demanding tasks required of communicators. You’re not just giving a ‘talk,’ you’re communicating the Word of God—faithfully (you trust). And you do this in front of groups of people who have more communication options and sources than at any point in human history. Not an easy task.

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Let’s Keep Reaching Consumers. Aka, Lost Sheep.

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 29, 2021

“The American church is so consumeristic!” It’s a common line uttered by the religiously fed-up, and of course, there’s a lot of truth in it. Some churches in America do tend to cater to the consumeristic mentality of our culture. But I think, on the whole, most churches don’t, and that’s actually part of the problem.

Tags: Missions, lost sheep, Unchurched, Spiritual Maturity

Pastor? Or Christian?

By Lance Witt on Jan 8, 2022

If you have been in ministry very long, you know how easy it is to get the two intertwined. When you feel called and when you have great passion for ministry, the lines between person and position can get fuzzy. You move from simply being a Christian to now being a professional Christian.

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