In Preaching Articles: "Know The Truth"

Preach A Funeral Like You'll Never Be Invited Back

By Chris Surber on Jul 13, 2025

A crowd of non-churchgoers just gathered in a church. Call me crazy. I don't know much. But perhaps you should tell them about Jesus?

Scripture: Matthew 28:19-20

Tags: Christ, Preaching, Funeral, preaching

Shut Down The Bus Tours: What Older Members Should Really Be Doing

By Carey Nieuwhof on Aug 8, 2023

What if this one generation actually just sacrificed for the sake of another? What if they gave up their preferences in music, style and taste so that others could come to know Christ?

Tags: God's family, Life Mission, mission, Intergenerational

10 Tips Every Rookie Preacher Should Hear

By Peter Mead on Sep 22, 2025

Sage advice we all wish we had heard when we were just starting out. Do you know a young preacher who might benefit?

Scripture: Jude 1:1-25

Tags: discriminate, preaching, Preaching, rookie, glory thief  (view more)  (view less)

8 Reasons Churches Should Partner With Secular Community Groups

By Karl Vaters on May 4, 2022

How can we reach our communities if they have no idea we love them? And how will they know we love them if we don’t work alongside them?

Tags: Service, Humility, Culture, community outreach, culture  (view more)  (view less)

How To Be A Strategic Pastor And See Your Church Grow

By Hal Seed on Aug 28, 2022

You make a dozen decisions a day. How do you know what’s the right decision? What moves your church forward? What’s wasting time?

Tags: church leadership, Leadership, strategy, Retreat, Effectiveness, productivity, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, leadership  (view more)  (view less)

What To Do When You Bombed Sunday's Sermon

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 1, 2021

It’s not hard to get up and say something inspirational. It is hard to get up and rightly divide God’s Word, build a bridge from an ancient culture to our own, and then to call people to an appropriate response to God’s revealed truth consistently week after week.

Tags: Preaching, failure, sermon, Sermon, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Eight Indicators That Pastors Are Expected To Do Most Of The Ministry

By SermonCentral .com on Apr 20, 2021

Contrary to most of the indicators today, the Bible says the laity (saints) are to do the work of ministry. Most of the ministry should not be in the hands of pastors, but in the hands of the church members. Unfortunately, we often reverse the biblical truth. We expect ministry to be done by the pastors and staff. Here are eight indicators of that reality.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-12

Tags: High expectations, Laity, Church Health, attacking the pastor

Unashamed Allegiance: My Tribute To R.c. Sproul

By John Piper on Nov 17, 2022

I love R.C. Sproul. I am sure I owe him more than I can even recall. My reverence for the holiness of God and the truth of his word would not be the same without his influence. I will miss him (for a short while).

Tags: Christ in Scripture, Teacher, Godly Life, preacher, teacher, treasure, Faithfulness, Tribute, Preacher, Godly example  (view more)  (view less)

A Novel Idea For Preaching Christmas

By H.b. Charles, Jr. on Nov 30, 2018

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

All Pastors Plagiarize--Here's Why

By Erik Raymond on Aug 5, 2021

We read, listen, talk, think, integrate, pray and listen. This is what we do. "In one very real sense, pastors don’t know what is original and what is not."

Tags: Steal, Preaching, pastor, Plagiarism, Pastor  (view more)  (view less)

Who Is Lord Of The Church?

By John Macarthur on Jun 15, 2022

The church today is badly in need of reformation again. And Christ’s lordship over His church is still the central truth we must recover, which requires the unleashing of His Word among His people again. We cannot merely float along with the latest evangelical trends and expect things to get better.

Scripture: Acts 10:42

Tags: Church, Body of Christ, Christ the head, Lord Of The Church, church  (view more)  (view less)

Will More Invitations Result In More Salvations?

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 28, 2021

For a long time I’ve wondered if there is a relationship between the number of salvations a church experiences, and the number of times it offers salvation invitations. We’ll never know for sure, but I’m conducting an experiment this year.

Tags: Outreach, challenge, preaching the gospel, gospel invitation, Gospel Challenge  (view more)  (view less)

Does Our Culture Make Kids Feel Ashamed Of Their Faith?

By Focus On The Family on Sep 8, 2022

As Christians, we all know how important it is to equip kids with a sense of joy in reading God’s Word and the confidence to freely express their faith in Jesus. But that goal is becoming more difficult in today’s culture.

Tags: Apologetics The Bible, Training children, Children's Faith

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

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 28, 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

The Power Of Choosing To Be A Touchable Leader

By SermonCentral .com on Jul 4, 2023

I love people, but I need to let them know it. So it requires intentional effort to communicate that I’m touchable and approachable, that I care enough to listen and that I’m a safe place for people.

Tags: leadership, Preaching, Leadership, preaching