In Preaching Articles: "Hidden Work Of God"

Constant Explanations From God Wouldn’t Allow For Our Faith Or Trust

By Randy Alcorn on Dec 9, 2022

The God of providence weaves millions of details into our lives and into all the lives around us. Maybe He doesn’t have one big reason for bringing a certain person or success or failure or disease or accident into our lives; in fact, He may have hundreds of little reasons. In order to understand God’s explanations, we would have to be God.

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Faith, Trust, Sovereignty, Surrender, sanctification, Will of God, personal holiness, sovereignty of God  (view more)  (view less)

Do You Pay Attention To God's Voice While You're Preaching?

By Mark Moore on Feb 1, 2024

We pay attention to our well-crafted manuscripts and outlines. But, honestly, how many of us are paying attention to the voice of God while we are preaching?

Tags: God, Preaching, voice, preaching

3 Things To Do When You’re Stuck In A Sermon Prep And Writing Rut

By Brandon Kelley on Oct 31, 2022

"Sermon prep and sermon writing can be hard. Often times, it can even be painful. Anything seems better to be doing when we get stuck in a sermon prep and writing rut. But we all know that the work is worth it. The pain is worth it. The plodding is worth it."

Tags: Teaching, Pray, writing, Teaching God's Word, Pastoral Ministry, sermon prep, tools, Preaching Rut, Sermon Prep, teaching, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

Deal-Breakers: 7 Ways God May Tell A Pastor To Leave A Church

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 18, 2022

Long-term pastorates are almost always good for the church and the pastor. But when these things happen, it's time to go.

Tags: Discernment, Resignation, Knowing God's Will, church ministry

Real Love Encourages Others To Do The Right, Most God-Glorifying Thing

By SermonCentral .com on Jun 8, 2022

Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love, not to withhold the truth in love. Real love doesn’t quit or give up; it will offer help and point to Jesus Christ as the only true source of healing and forgiveness.

Scripture: John 1:14, Ephesians 4:15

Tags: Abortion, friendship, Real Love, speak truth in love

3 Ways To Collaborate In Sermon Preparation

By Joe Hoagland on Aug 5, 2022

Have you ever considered how you might collaborate in sermon prep?

Scripture: Joshua 1:1

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, Pastoral Ministry, sermon prep, working together, collaboration, Teaching Prep, Sermon Prep, preaching, teaching  (view more)  (view less)

Hope And Perspective When We’re Dealing With Doubt

By Randy Alcorn on Dec 3, 2022

"In times of doubt, difficulty, and trials, our fundamental beliefs about God and our faith are revealed. So how can Christians find faith in the midst of doubt? How can they trust God’s plan when their lives seem out of His control, and prayers seem to go unanswered or, sometimes it feels, even unheard?"

Scripture: Romans 10:17, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, 2 Timothy 3:16, Job 23:10, Isaiah 43:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: doubt, Perseverance, suffering, tragedy, Promises of God, Genuine Faith, Test of Faith, sovereignty of God  (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)

Is Your Preaching Less Than Christian?

By Peter Mead on Oct 12, 2021

You need more than someone in the pulpit holding a Bible. Peter Mead warns us off of three "sub-gospel" habits.

Tags: Sin, God, Preaching, Fail, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Does Preaching Really Matter?

By Lance Witt on Sep 12, 2019

Like most pastors, I will never forget the first sermon I preached. Basically, we had to hold people at gun point to get them to listen . . .

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:21, 2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Corinthians 9:16

Tags: Preaching, God's Power, Bartimaeus, calling

How Leaders Defeat Discouragement

By Charles Stone on Apr 15, 2021

Somebody once said there are two things in life we can’t avoid, taxes and death. I’d like to add a third, discouragement. Church leader or not, you will face it. It’s an inevitable part of life. Here’s how I’ve learned to defeat discouragement.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 30:6

Tags: Discouragement, rest in god, Rest, Encouraged

It’s Time To Get Mean About The Vision God Has Given You

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 1, 2021

Your church is in desperate need of a vision that is informed by God’s Word, inspired by God’s Spirit, and applied passionately and broken-heartedly to your local context.

Tags: Amen

Getting Past Your Past

By Lance Witt on Jun 30, 2023

I know that on Sundays we walk into our churches, we smile, we shake hands, and we make nice. We pastor people and we preach from God’s Word. We are very respectable. But I know myself and I’ve worked with pastors way too long to believe that life is that neat and tidy.

Tags:

Relational Leadership Part 1

By Lance Witt on Nov 6, 2023

What is the key to relational leadership?

Scripture: Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 1:22, Romans 12:10, 1 John 4:21, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, Ephesians 5:2, Hebrews 10:24, Colossians 3:14, 1 John 3:14, John 13:34-35, Matthew 22:37-39  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: leadership, relationships, Ministry Work, pastoral leadership, relational leaders, church leadership, Transactional, Transformational, Leading Like Christ, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

One-Sided Preaching Misrepresents God: How Many Sides Does Your Preaching Have?

By Sherman Haywood Cox on May 11, 2023

"Great preaching recognizes that God has called the preacher to be both a prophet and a priest."

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15-19

Tags: Prophet, Preaching, priest, preaching