In Preaching Articles: "Local Church Leadership"

Top 10 Tips For Handling Church Critics

By Charles Stone on Aug 8, 2024

Charles Stone encourages pastors to use discernment when receiving criticism with these ten tips.

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Paul's Worst Church: Our Best Model?

By Chuck Warnock on Jul 27, 2020

Chuck Warnock suggests six powerful lessons from we can learn from that much-maligned church: Corinth.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:1-6

Tags: Preaching

The First Step In Bringing Change To Your Church

By John Holm on Jan 23, 2023

Change is difficult under the best of circumstances. Here's how to soften the blow and prepare your people.

Tags: leader, Leader, Guide, difficult, Change  (view more)  (view less)

Why Bible Reading Is Down At Your Church

By Peter Mead on Jul 10, 2025

The most recent research presents troubling results. How does your church measure up?

Tags: preaching, bible, Bible, Study, Preaching, Isolation, fragment, e  (view more)  (view less)

50 Forgotten Days The Church Desperately Needs

By Ray Hollenbach on Feb 8, 2023

The days between Easter and Pentecost are usually an afterthought, yet they can become an opportunity to preach the significance of the resurrection.

Tags: Easter, Resurrection, Pentecost, Preaching, Significance, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

The Whisper That Made Me Leave My Church

By Tod Bolsinger on Sep 9, 2021

I would hear that line echoed in my mind long after each conversation was over: "Why didn't seminary prepare me for this?"

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:1-25

Tags: curriculum, Preaching, prepare, Theology, Seminary  (view more)  (view less)

Why The Church? Six Bold Preaching Points

By Ray Hollenbach on Oct 27, 2025

The bottom line is this: Church is God’s idea, and we ignore it at our peril.

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-15

Tags: Equip, Church's witness, preaching, Forgiveness, Preaching  (view more)  (view less)

What Is The Church's Mission? And Why Does It Matter?

By Carey Nieuwhof on Jan 20, 2021

With the vast majority of churches struggling in some way, it’s time to rethink our future mission.

Tags: Preaching

Why Church Growth Is A Shockingly Inexact Science

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 6, 2021

"There is no surefire method for numerical church growth. Period."

Tags: Preaching, Church Growth, preaching

Are You Giving Everyone A Big Church Welcome?

By John Gilman Ii on Jun 18, 2023

A proper welcome needs to have more than just a greeting. Churches need to create welcome pathways that guide people into more familiarity, connection, and relationship with the church. Creating a positive and effective welcoming strategy has never been more important. There is still time to put a great welcome process in place. Here are six tips to get you started in the right direction.

Scripture: Genesis 1:25-30

Tags: Visitors

Increasing Youth Retention And Involvement In Your Church

By John Gilman Ii on Mar 23, 2021

Families have long been the cornerstone of church congregations. Parents bring their children to church every Sunday. At a certain point, it becomes the children’s choice and responsibility to decide if they want to continue going to church every Sunday or not. That’s why it’s so important to show your children God’s grace and make Him a priority in their life from an early age.

Scripture: Malachi 2:15, Proverbs 22:6

Tags: Youth, Small groups, Equipping Disciples, Youth Ministry, paying attention  (view more)  (view less)

4 Keys To Increasing Giving In Your Church

By Jim Morgan on Jul 16, 2023

Redefining members (not pastors and staff) as the “church” and the community (not members) as the “customer” would reverse the lens through which churches evaluate nearly every decision they make today.

Tags: Money, Giving, Generosity, Perspective, perspective  (view more)  (view less)

The Three Most Common Sentences Of Dying Churches

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 30, 2022

If churches could speak, what would their words be on their deathbeds?

Tags: God's Power, pastoral care, stagnant, Dying Church

This Killed Kodak And It's Coming To Your Church

By Karina Kreminski on Apr 10, 2024

It saddens me that some people see the need for change in the church, yet God’s people keep doing the same thing as if minor tweaking will stop the decline of the Western church.

Tags: Transformation, Culture, Missional, church culture, culture  (view more)  (view less)

How The Church Can Experience Revival Today

By Brandon Cox on Mar 27, 2022

Most Christians I know want the church to experience revival. We just don’t all agree on what revival looks like.

Tags: revival, Church revival, God hears prayer