In Preaching Articles: "Listening To God"

What Makes A Sermon Good?

By Duane K Kelderman on Aug 2, 2024

Great sermons are clear, biblical, and transformative. They communicate well, faithfully proclaim Scripture, and lead listeners toward deeper obedience and faith.

Scripture: Ruth 3:1-10, 1 Chronicles 1:1

Tags: Worship

How I Learned To Preach–and What I'm Learning Still

By Doug Paul on Jul 15, 2020

Most effective teachers do not start original. They learn through listening, imitation, and practice before discovering a voice that is truly their own.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:1, 2 Timothy 2:2, Proverbs 22:6, Hebrews 13:7

Tags: leadership, Preaching, spiritual formation, Leadership, preaching, Spiritual Formation  (view more)  (view less)

Facing These Questions Can Improve Any Preacher

By Charles Stone on Jun 7, 2021

The time we invest in sermons and the time people invest in listening to them should make us pause to evaluate our efforts.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:17-20

Tags: Preaching, invest, Improve, questions, biblical preaching, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Your Congregation Needs An Arc Of Hope, Not A String Of Pearls

By Nathan Aaseng on Nov 5, 2021

In our information-saturated age, your listeners have all the gems of wisdom they need, far more than they can process.

Tags: Parable, Hope, Preaching, string of pearls, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Preaching The Messy Way

By Chris Surber on Apr 24, 2025

The greater the distance between you and your listeners, the easier it is to preach at them. Sharing life with them leads you to preaching the messy way.

Scripture: John 6:66-71

Tags:

The Problem With Both Talent And Charisma

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 11, 2022

Talent and charisma aren’t bad. They’re good. They’re gifts to be stewarded.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:16

Tags: Daniel, Humility, Integrity, charisma, Patriarchs Joseph, Relationship to God, Pastoral Character  (view more)  (view less)

Jesus Didn’t Wake Up This Morning Depressed By The Size Of Your Church

By Karl Vaters on Apr 18, 2022

Jesus knows what happened and didn’t happen in church last Sunday.

Tags: Depression, Marriage Faithfulness, Church Attendance, God's perspective, e, church attendance  (view more)  (view less)

Why Illustrations Make Preaching Unforgettable

By Dr. Larry Moyer on May 22, 2020

Illustrations turn speakers into communicators. They clarify truth, reveal the preacher’s understanding, awaken attention, and help listeners see biblical realities clearly.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, John 6:44, Matthew 13:34, Proverbs 25:11, Psalm 78:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Preaching, illustration, sermon prep, Sermon Prep, preaching, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

You Can Tell The Story, But Preach The Points

By Sherman Haywood Cox on Aug 3, 2020

Stories captivate listeners, but faithful preaching must also guide understanding. These approaches help preachers honor the biblical story while making clear points.

Scripture: Mark 4:33-34, Luke 8:22-25, Daniel 3:16-28, Nehemiah 8:8, Matthew 13:34-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, preaching, teaching

Not Every Exhortation Is Necessary

By Peter Mead on May 9, 2024

It is important to discern when an exhortation needs to be given, and when the listener is already aware of their need for growth and working hard by faith to become more like Christ.

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, exhortation, Preaching Help, effective preaching, Effective Teaching, Know your audience, preaching, teaching  (view more)  (view less)

4 Deep Changes Your Preaching Should Produce

By Peter Mead on Sep 2, 2025

God's work is transformational. Is our preaching doing God's work?

Tags: Preaching, Character, Transformation, conduct, deep change, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

The Prayer I Have Prayed Most

By SermonCentral .com on Aug 24, 2022

I suppose, in my little prayer nook in my study, where I have a little prayer bench that I built in 1975, as I’ve bent over that bench thousands of times, the most common prayer has been, “Lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from evil (see Matthew 6:13). Keep me. Keep me. I feel so utterly unable to do the next thing. My kids are at the breakfast table. I have nothing. I’m supposed to model joyful fatherhood, and I’m so depressed I can hardly remember their names. Help me.”

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8, Psalm 16:1-5, Romans 11:36, Romans 8:16, Jude 1:20, Matthew 6:13  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Faith, Perseverance, Prayer, Depression, God's Strength, continue in faith, Power of the Spirit, By faith  (view more)  (view less)

The Post-Sermon Bible Test

By Peter Mead on Jan 11, 2024

Good preaching doesn’t end when the sermon ends. It equips listeners to return to the text, understand it, desire it, and handle it for themselves in the days ahead.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Discipleship, Preaching, preaching

8 Ways To Hook Your Congregation Into Your Message

By SermonCentral .com on May 12, 2020

Your sermon text is central, but it doesn’t always need to come first. Strong hooks help listeners connect their lives to Scripture before exposition begins.

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:8, Luke 24:27, Ecclesiastes 12:10

Tags: Bird, Preaching, Anxiety, Field, flowers, preaching, anxiety  (view more)  (view less)

Do You Preach Around The Text, Or Do You Preach The Text?

By Dr. Scott M. Gibson on Dec 16, 2024

After listening to sermons all these years, I have concluded preachers either talk before the text or talk around the text but rarely talk about the text.

Scripture: Hosea 4:1-6, Psalm 30:1

Tags: Preaching, preaching