In Preaching Articles: "Great Commandment"

2 Rules For Transparency In The Pulpit

By Brady Boyd on Feb 21, 2025

"I think it is great when pastors are candid about their own struggles. But there are times when the pastor can share way too much information and actually cause people to stumble."

Tags: Preaching, Honesty, Authenticity, Struggles, Transparency, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Effective Pastors Never Do These Deadly 5 Things

By Joe Mckeever on Jan 11, 2021

Great advice from Joe McKeever: "Don’t ever resign your church in a fit of passion. In a rush of anger. That’s a huge no-no for preachers."

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Has Your Emotional Brain Hijacked Your Leadership?

By Charles Stone on Dec 1, 2023

Great ministry leaders keep their emotions in check. Unfortunately, when we don’t keep them in check, our emotional brain can hijack clear thinking and good leadership.

Scripture: Romans 10:10

Tags: Emotions, leadership, Brain, memory, Decision making, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, church ministry, Leadership, brain  (view more)  (view less)

5 Mistakes Most Preachers Make

By Carey Nieuwhof on Aug 2, 2022

"So maybe you’re a preacher, or you listen to preachers (or stopped listening to preachers). Almost everyone has a perspective on what makes or doesn’t make for a great sermon."

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, Simplicity, effective, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, preaching Christ, Effective Teaching, preaching, teaching  (view more)  (view less)

Pastoral Transition: Setting Your Church Up For Ministry Success After You're Gone

By Karl Vaters on Oct 20, 2023

Following a long-term, successful pastorate is one of the hardest callings in ministry. Every pastor should do everything we can to make it as easy as possible for the next pastor and the church to do great ministry after we leave.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-12

Tags: leadership, servant leadership, Pastoral Transition, Decentralize, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

Doubt Busters

By Lance Witt on Jun 28, 2024

"One of the things I love about the Bible is how honest it is. The pages of Scripture don’t gloss over the flaws and sins and weaknesses of people. Even the great heroes of the faith are not airbrushed or photo-shopped to make them look superhuman."

Scripture: Psalm 77:4-14, Isaiah 40:26

Tags: Faith, doubt, Remember, Trust, God's Character, God's faithfulness, doubt and fear, Crisis Of Faith  (view more)  (view less)

Preach Better With SermonCentral And Accordance

By Rick Mansfield on Jan 23, 2021

SermonCentral and Accordance Bible Software make for a great sermon prep and preaching combination. Sermons and other content from SermonCentral can be imported into Accordance User Tools and User Notes for sermon prep, live preaching, or archived for later reference.

Tags: Accordance

New Year, New Adjective: "Christ-Exalting”

By John Piper on Dec 27, 2022

My aim here is to encourage you to make “Christ-exalting” the featured adjective in your prayers. Let me explain what I mean. Then I’ll give you three reasons why I think this would be a great New Year’s resolution.

Scripture: Philippians 1:20, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Tags: Prayer, Resolution, Personal Growth, exalting christ, daily prayer, new years, Christ Centered, New Years Resolution  (view more)  (view less)

6 Faith Qualities Every Leader Should Embody

By Charles Stone on Feb 22, 2021

Hebrews 11, one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible, offers leaders profound insight about faith that we must believe and embody to effectively lead. Every leader must lead with great faith. Those who have gone before us model what it means to lead with such faith.

Scripture: Job 38:1-21, Hebrews 11:1-40

Tags: Faith, Preaching, preaching

Why Didn't The Disciples Ask Jesus How To Measure Success?

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 27, 2024

Imagine this scenario. Jesus is meeting with the disciples. He’s been training them for three years. He’s died, risen again and walked with them in resurrection power for almost 40 days. As the day of his ascension draws near, he gathers them together to reiterate The Great Commission.

Scripture: Luke 14:23, Luke 15:7

Tags: Disciples, success, Church Growth, Measure success

What Kind Of Old Person Do You Want To Be?

By Lance Witt on Mar 4, 2024

What kind of old person do you want to be? It’s a question you never think about in your twenties, rarely in your thirties, and only occasionally in your forties. But at least in my case hitting the big five-zero caused me to ponder that question with great frequency.

Scripture: Leviticus 2:1

Tags:

Will The Real Jesus Stand Up? Part 1

By Lance Witt on Dec 28, 2023

"It may be that the great sin of the church in our generation is the trivializing of God. The Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of deity dwells, is not to be boxed in, airbrushed, made over, tamed, explained or explained away. I am deeply convinced that the way you live will be a direct consequence of how you see God."

Scripture: Hebrews 12:28-29, Colossians 1:15-17, Jeremiah 23:23

Tags: Jesus is Lord, Deity of Christ, christian testimony, authority of Christ, Identity of Christ, False View of God, God of the Bible  (view more)  (view less)

3 Tools Small Group Leaders Need To Succeed

By John Gilman Ii on Aug 8, 2024

Small groups help churches grow because they help strangers become great friends. People stay at churches where they find friends because friendship covers a multitude of sins. Small groups involve us in others’ lives and really invest us in the church. These friendships eventually turn into deep, meaningful connections that can last a lifetime.

Tags: friendship, Small groups, church organization

Brokenness In A Pastor’s Life

By Charles Stone on Jun 29, 2023

As I enter the sixth decade of my life and reflect over the brokenness I’ve faced as a pastor, I’m beginning to see its great value. It still hurts and I’d prefer not to face it. Yet, I’m experiencing the fruit of brokenness: inner peace, joy, and a purpose that supersedes ‘ministry success.’

Scripture: John 12:24

Tags: Healing, Rejection, brokenness, success in ministry

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.

Tags: