In Preaching Articles: "Know Your Audience"

If You Overpack Your Sermon, Your Listeners Are In For A Bumpy Ride

By Chris Surber on Aug 30, 2025

Perhaps your sermon outline is actually a sermon series. Can you tell the difference?

Scripture: Acts 5:15-25

Tags: Preaching, Content, Logic, Research, central point, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Cut Off Your Hand, Tear Out Your Eye

By Ray Ortlund on Aug 3, 2022

Hard words are not harmful words—when they come from Jesus. The real Jesus loves us enough to accept us freely and confront us honestly.

Scripture: Colossians 2:23, Philippians 3:14, Hebrews 13:21, Matthew 5:6, Titus 2:11-12, Hebrews 12:4, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Matthew 5:29-30  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Righteousness, Theology, soul care, Hard Teaching

Is Your Church Lying?

By Greg Stier on Jan 15, 2025

When it comes to evangelism, a mission statement can turn from big black letters on a church marquee to a little white lie that the church is telling the community.

Scripture: Acts 4:31

Tags: Evangelism, Church, Gospel, Honesty, Church General, Evangelism How To, evangelism, gospel, church  (view more)  (view less)

Understanding Your Capacity

By Steve Smith on Mar 17, 2022

If we do not understand our own limits in this life, we will never be content, satisfied or happy!

Tags: recovery, Rest, soul care, avoiding burnout, Capacity, capacity  (view more)  (view less)

Your Weakness Is Not Meaningless

By SermonCentral .com on Apr 16, 2020

God has given you so many limitations because he loves you.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:4, John 15:13, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19, Ephesians 3:19, Luke 7:47, 1 John 4:7-8, Luke 10:27, 1 Corinthians 12:18, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Romans 12:4-5, John 3:16, John 13:34-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Human Weakness, Love One Another, Christ's Love for Us, Overcome limitations

Preaching: What To Cut, What To Add

By Peter Mead on Sep 24, 2020

Experienced preachers know the real challenge is in what to leave out of a sermon.

Scripture: Exodus 2:1-5

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Preaching: What To Cut, What To Add

By Peter Mead on Oct 8, 2020

Experienced preachers know the real challenge is in what to leave out of a sermon.

Tags: Message, Preaching, develop

Your Preaching Can Help Your Congregation Embrace (Biblical) Change

By SermonCentral .com on Jul 22, 2025

The Scriptures command us to do more than repeat what's already been done, and to look for God to do what He's never done before.

Scripture: Revelation 13:1-18

Tags: Trust, Preaching, embrace, biblical change, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Build Your Sermon Series On The Wonder, Worry And Wishes Of Your Congregation

By Charles Arn on Mar 9, 2024

The most important thing has to do with your sermon topics. They should address people's life issues and questions about the faith.

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34, Job 21:7-34

Tags: Preaching, worry, Wonder, Relevance, Wish, Worry, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Avoid Crashing Your Sermon! Your Checklist For A Strong Sermon Closing

By Lane Sebring on Jan 27, 2020

If the closing of your message is disorganized and unclear, then your listeners will walk away feeling the same way about your message.

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-5, Genesis 1:26-27

Tags: Preaching, crash, Checklist, disorganized, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

You Exegete Your Text, But Do You Exegete Your People?

By Leslie Holmes on Sep 3, 2025

"Bob Easley may not have gone beyond sixth grade, but he taught this quasi-educated preacher that there's a lot more to be learned about preaching than I ever got inside a book."

Scripture: Job 1:1-10

Tags: people, Preaching, Text, exegete, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

What Your Gospel Message Reveals About Your View Of The Gospel

By Ray Hollenbach on Sep 6, 2025

When we preach we plant seeds, but what will grow from the seeds we plant?

Tags: Ministry, Preaching, conflict, redemption, gospel message, ministry, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Connect With Your Listeners: 7 Strategies To Make Your Preaching Relevant

By Peter Mead on Jul 5, 2021

The Bible is relevant. We don't need to "make it relevant," but we do need to demonstrate how it is relevant.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Tags: Preaching

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

Your Congregation Is Fact-Checking Your Preaching (And That's Good News)

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 30, 2023

Up to 38 percent of churchgoing Millennials will do an online search to verify what we say. And many of them are doing it while we’re preaching.

Tags: Internet, Preaching, Search, millennials, Fact Checking, preaching  (view more)  (view less)