In Preaching Articles: "Love Others"

10 Tips For Better Preaching Pt.1

By Jim Martin on Apr 13, 2020

Faithful week-in, week-out preaching depends less on clever ideas and more on habits of love, clarity, restraint, identification, and genuine passion. These ten simple practices help preachers serve their congregations with messages that are understood, valued, and taken to heart.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 1 Peter 5:2-3  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, Homiletics, preaching, teaching  (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)

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Pastors Make On Sundays (And What To Do About Them)

By Charles Stone on Jun 18, 2024

For pastors, Sunday can be the most draining day of the week. Intense people interaction, teaching or preaching, seeing our critics, trying to remember names, and attempting to put our own problems aside to listen to other peoples' problems add up to a stress-filled day. The very day we want to be at our best requires more from us than any other day. As a result, we can easily make one or more of the 5 biggest mistakes pastors make on Sundays. Evaluate this list to find out how many you make.

Tags: Preaching, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, Sunday Morning, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Preach Better With SermonCentral And Accordance

By Rick Mansfield on Jan 23, 2021

SermonCentral and Accordance Bible Software make for a great sermon prep and preaching combination. Sermons and other content from SermonCentral can be imported into Accordance User Tools and User Notes for sermon prep, live preaching, or archived for later reference.

Tags: Accordance

A Simple Formula For Effective Preaching

By Jonathon Woodyard on Jan 1, 2022

So here it is in a single sentence: After you have gone to the Bible and it has yielded sweet and glorious truths, you must take time to think over how to tell others what God has shown you, and how it applies to their lives.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:19-21

Tags: Bible, Spirit, Preaching, effective preaching, e, preaching, bible  (view more)  (view less)

3 Simple Questions For Better Church Outreach

By Kevin Harney on Mar 18, 2025

Churches often pray, plan, and invest in outreach efforts, yet see little evangelistic fruit. These three diagnostic questions reveal whether a congregation truly has the biblical conviction, the gospel-driven love, and the sacrificial willingness needed to cultivate an outreach-shaped culture.

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 11:1-30

Tags: leadership, Leadership

The Secret To God’s Power In Your Life And Preaching - Part 2

By Lance Witt on Jun 13, 2023

If you read last week’s article you know that we talked about holiness not just being a legalistic set of rules. True holiness always starts with relationship. And the highest motive for keeping ourselves pure is our love for God, not the fear of consequences.

Scripture: Acts 20:35

Tags:

4 Thoughts On Finding A Mentor

By Ron Edmondson on Jun 25, 2024

"I have had many mentors who have invested deeply in my life. I am who I am partly because of the intentionality of others pouring into my life. They have made me a better leader, better husband, father, friend, and person."

Scripture: Proverbs 15:22

Tags: Character, Grow, Personal Growth, Mentor, Godly Leaders, mentoring, personal holiness, Disciple  (view more)  (view less)

On The Shoulders Of Giants: Sermon Preparation Resources For Pastors

By Matthew Redder on Sep 10, 2025

In this article, we’ll explore how pastors work with others—both living and long gone—to craft sermon content. We’ll reflect on the value of community, the discipline of study, and the humility that comes when we realize that our sermons are enriched by the wisdom of many.

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1

Tags: Preaching, pastor, Commentary, sermon, Pastor, Sermon, preaching, sermonprep, commentary, biblical dictionary, sermoncentral, sermonmaker  (view more)  (view less)

Unashamed Allegiance: My Tribute To R.c. Sproul

By John Piper on Nov 18, 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: treasure, Faithfulness, Tribute, Preacher, Godly example, Christ in Scripture, Teacher, Godly Life, preacher, teacher  (view more)  (view less)

Do Churches Talk About Money Too Much?

By Kent Woodyard on Mar 13, 2021

“This is just a hugely distasteful example of the American money obsession gospel which us non-Americans find nauseating.” I stared at my inbox and read the response twice. Then three times. Somewhere, in some other country, some nameless person with an @hotmail.com email address was very upset with me.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:10, Matthew 10:17-27, Luke 21:1-4, Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 18:21-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Money, Giving, giving generous, Jesus and money

5 Ways Christian Leaders Can Approach The Rapidly Changing Moral Culture

By Carey Nieuwhof on Mar 15, 2021

So as a church leader – as views on sexuality, family, parenting, drugs, finance and other values change – how do you respond? What do you do when the world for which you trained—maybe even the world where your approach was once effective—is disappearing before your eyes?

Tags: Morality, strategy, Unchurched, Cultural Change, e  (view more)  (view less)

Sticks And Stones Part 2

By Lance Witt on Oct 17, 2023

Pound for pound, nothing is as powerful as your tongue. As pastors, we count on God to use our tongues as His instrument. In last week’s article, we talked about using our words to bless and speak life into others. This week I want to add 2 additional strategies for the wise use of words.

Scripture: Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 10:19, Proverbs 17:28, Psalm 19:14  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Communication, leadership, godly speech, POWER OF WORDS, Leadership, communication  (view more)  (view less)

3 Tools Small Group Leaders Need To Succeed

By John Gilman Ii on Aug 8, 2024

Small groups help churches grow because they help strangers become great friends. People stay at churches where they find friends because friendship covers a multitude of sins. Small groups involve us in others’ lives and really invest us in the church. These friendships eventually turn into deep, meaningful connections that can last a lifetime.

Tags: friendship, Small groups, church organization

Pastor And Prophet

By Lance Witt on May 11, 2024

"When it comes to our preaching, we live in the constant tension between pastor and prophet. On one hand, as pastors we want to encourage and care for the sheep. So, in our preaching we want to be uplifting and hopeful. On the other hand, as prophets we must sometimes say the hard things that the sheep don’t want to hear."

Scripture: Jeremiah 5:30-31, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Galatians 1:10

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, Pride, People pleasing, pastoral leadership, selfish ambition, Pastoral Ministry, Pulpit Ministry, preaching, teaching  (view more)  (view less)