In Preaching Articles: "Mysterious Ways"

How To Balance Exegesis And Application

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 13, 2026

D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, and John Piper discuss the importance of preaching in a way that connects to listeners, draws them into the Word, and brings them back to the present day to live out what they've learned.

Scripture: Joshua 1:1-2:20

Tags: Love, Hope, Preaching, difficult, preaching, love  (view more)  (view less)

Preaching Without Cabin Pressure

By Ron Forseth on Mar 13, 2025

Preach about sin? Emphasize God’s wrath? Talk about Christ’s blood? Can that possibly have a positive effect? Most certainly. Ultimately, it’s the only way to have a lasting effect.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:20

Tags: Evangelism, Preaching, Urgency, Evangelism Urgency, evangelism, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

3 Casualties From Unresponsiveness

By Ron Edmondson on Jan 30, 2021

People will feel they’ve not been listened to, no one cares, or even they are unloved. They’ll take it personal enough to leave the organization. It should never be because we simply chose not to respond in a timely way.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 20:1-16

Tags: Preaching, preaching

4 Ingredients Jesus Used To Hold An Audience

By Peter Walters on Jan 17, 2022

As a preacher, I am always looking for ways to improve my speaking. I study other communicators, for example, if a comedian gets me hooked, I analyze why he was successful and I love to read books on communication.

Scripture: Job 1:1-10, Luke 6:46, Matthew 13:16, Luke 12:25, Matthew 6:28, Matthew 13:34, Luke 10:30, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 7:1, Genesis 2:10-20, Genesis 1:4-10, Luke 13:4  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Preaching, Following Jesus, jesus parables, Communication Speech, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Update Your First Impression

By Chet Gladkowski on Jun 22, 2020

First impressions still count, but that doesn't mean you have to do the it the same way you did twenty years ago. Here are three areas to polish up in your church to make an impression that's warm and memorable.

Tags:

Five Steps To Respond To A Hurtful And Hateful Email

By SermonCentral .com on Jul 7, 2022

“You have no business being the pastor of our church. All you are interested in is getting your own way and changing all the good things we have going. People are saying you should be fired. I agree with them.”

Scripture: Proverbs 15:1

Tags: church ministry, Difficult People, Facing Controversy, criticism, Leadership, Perseverance, leadership, conflict, Criticism, loving people, pastoral leadership  (view more)  (view less)

Growing Grace In God's Garden: The Church

By Ray Hollenbach on Mar 22, 2023

We have created a Christendom where we can choose churches the way most people choose restaurants: according to our individual tastes. How can we grow in grace when we a free to wander from one family to another?

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32, Ephesians 2:5-10

Tags: Preaching, preaching

When People Compare Pastors

By Charles Stone on Mar 27, 2021

Many pastors secretly struggle with measuring up to very successful pastors and churches. It’s tough, but it comes with ministry. People compare pastors. In this post I suggest a few ways to deal with this “measure up mentality.” I begin with one pastor’s experience.

Scripture: Psalm 62:5

Tags: Discouragement, Approval, Comparison, High expectations

When Should We Confess Sins Publicly?

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 9, 2024

That's not always easy to judge. If you commit a sin, it may ripple out in a lot of ways—more than you think—and you may have a lot of tracks to cover. Basically, a public sin or a public consequence of sin is going to need public confession and repentance.

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Say Hard Things

By Marshall Segal on Apr 14, 2021

When was the last time someone told you you were wrong? If you can’t remember, you may have reason to be concerned. Sometimes the most loving thing someone can do for us is point out an error or inconsistency in the way we think or live.

Scripture: Matthew 6:16, Romans 12:3, Galatians 5:22-23, Galatians 1:6-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 13:7, Galatians 2:11-14, Acts 10:28, Acts 15:11, 2 Chronicles 7:14-19, Matthew 6:18, 1 Peter 1:10  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Love, Humility, Confrontation, Grace and Truth

Three Types Of Bad Preaching (And Their Remedies)

By Chris Pascarella on Jun 9, 2022

What if there was a way to identify bad preaching? Having grown up in church, I have probably listened to over 1,000 sermons in my lifetime. In all my time listening to (and now delivering) sermons, I have heard three types of bad preaching:

Scripture: Luke 12:22

Tags: preaching tips, Preaching Help, Pastoral Ministry, effective preaching

The Benefit Of A Church Crisis

By Josh Reich on Feb 16, 2021

Nobody likes a crisis. No one likes bad news or being disappointed or being uncomfortable. We like when things work, when things are easy, when things go our way. Yet if you are a leader, at some point you will walk through a crisis with your church.

Scripture: Acts 12:1-10

Tags: Preaching, crisis

Will The Real Jesus Stand Up? Part 1

By Lance Witt on Dec 28, 2023

"It may be that the great sin of the church in our generation is the trivializing of God. The Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of deity dwells, is not to be boxed in, airbrushed, made over, tamed, explained or explained away. I am deeply convinced that the way you live will be a direct consequence of how you see God."

Scripture: Hebrews 12:28-29, Colossians 1:15-17, Jeremiah 23:23

Tags: Identity of Christ, False View of God, God of the Bible, Jesus is Lord, Deity of Christ, christian testimony, authority of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

The Word Nobody Likes… Part 2

By Lance Witt on Dec 5, 2023

One of the reasons the word accountability gets a bad rap is because of the way some people have carried out accountability. Holding people accountable is not using your position as a club to embarrass, humiliate, mistreat, belittle or shame people. Our accountability of people should make those on our team better not bitter.

Scripture: Daniel 6:1

Tags: church ministry, Empowering Others, Effective Leadership, Leadership, leadership, relationships, Accountability, Performance, Feedback, Pastoral Ministry, Humility  (view more)  (view less)

Your Great Preaching Is Not Going To Build Your Church!

By Joe Mckeever on Sep 12, 2022

Get out of the office, pastor, and knock on some doors. Later, you can get your people to do it. But first, you do it. Do it by yourself, if you must. Or take someone with you. Do it by appointment or cold-turkey. But do it. That is as profound a way as I know to build a great church.

Tags: Growth Strategy, Building the Church, Out of the Office, Door to door, church attendance, Church Growth, Church Attendance, Personal Evangelism  (view more)  (view less)