In Preaching Articles: "Pastoral Formation"

Becoming An Approachable Leader In Ministry

By Ken Sande on Mar 5, 2025

Approachability is essential for effective pastoral leadership. This guide shows how leaders earn trust, cultivate humility, and gain a “relational passport” with their people.

Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 18:12-14, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, Mark 10:42-45  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Church, Peace, leadership, pastor, conflict, relationships, counsel, Communication General, Leadership General, Pastor, Leadership, church, Relational Wisdom  (view more)  (view less)

Four Subtle Ways Satan Sneaks Into Your Pulpit

By Dr. Larry Moyer on Jan 26, 2025

Satan rarely storms the pulpit—he slides in subtly. These four tactics expose how he targets pastors and how to resist him with clarity, humility, and vigilance.

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 12:21, 2 Timothy 4:2

Tags: Ministry, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Humility, Preaching, Faithfulness, Duty, pastoral leadership, ministry, preaching, Pastoral Leadership, Pulpit Integrity  (view more)  (view less)

Relational Leadership Part 2

By Lance Witt on Nov 7, 2023

Jesus cares just as much about how we treat people along the path to fulfilling our vision as he does if we accomplish the vision.

Tags: vision, leadership, relationships, honoring Christ, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, mission, Others First, Transactional, Transformational, e, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

One Hard Truth Of Leadership

By Ron Edmondson on Sep 2, 2022

There is one truth about leadership every leader must understand, but is difficult to receive by some leaders. The probability is good you won’t like this truth either.

Tags: leadership, church conflict, fear of man, People pleasing, pastoral leadership, Pastoral Ministry, church ministry, good leadership, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

Those Frustrating Times With Church Members

By Joe Mckeever on Dec 13, 2023

"Any pastor can tell you about it. Even when you do your best to serve God by ministering to His people, some church members are not going to forgive you. You didn’t do it their way, weren’t there when they called, didn’t jump at their bark." So how do you handle these kinds of situations?

Tags: conflict, pastoral leadership, church membership, Pastoral Ministry, church ministry, ministry struggles, Difficult People, Love like Christ  (view more)  (view less)

3 Big Problems With Running A Church Like A Business

By Karl Vaters on Oct 3, 2022

"We’re always decrying the rise of the consumer culture within the church. But how should we expect people to act when pastors act like CEOs marketing Jesus as a product?"

Tags: Jesus is Lord, pastoral leadership, church and business, Pastoral Ministry, avoiding burnout, church ministry, Lord Of The Church, shallow church  (view more)  (view less)

If Jesus Gave A Ted Talk Principle 5—stimulate Long-Term Memory (Durability)

By Charles Stone on May 31, 2024

Stimulate Long-Term Memory is the fifth instalment of an 8 part series on how neuroscience can improve your preaching.

Scripture: Luke 2:49

Tags: Teaching, Preaching, pastor, sermon prep, Pastor, Sermon Prep, neuroscience, preaching, long term memory, teaching, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

Thinking About Expository Preaching—part 1

By Ed Stetzer on Mar 1, 2022

Expository is the best form of preaching, except for the other good styles, too.

Tags: pastor, Preacher, sermon prep, sermon, Expository Preaching, Pastor, Sermon Prep, Sermon, preacher, expository preaching, Sermon prep  (view more)  (view less)

4 Types Of Stress

By Full Strength on Feb 27, 2024

In this article we explore 4 common types of stress experienced by pastors and leaders.

Tags: Ministry, stress, Church, Leader, leadership, Stress, Anxiety, pastor, sermon, Pastor, Leadership, Sermon, ministry, church, leader, anxiety  (view more)  (view less)

15 Ways To Preach With Greater Clarity

By Peter Mead on Jul 23, 2020

If Scripture is clear, our preaching should be too. These fifteen practical factors help preachers communicate God’s Word with confidence, precision, and accessibility.

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:8, Psalm 119:130, Habakkuk 2:2, 1 Corinthians 14:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:15  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Preaching, Clarity, Communication General, Pastoral Ministry, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

The Way A Leader Is Expected To Respond – Determines The Response They Receive

By Ron Edmondson on Dec 29, 2021

The way others expect you to respond often determines the way they respond to you.

Tags: Communication, Perception, Leadership General, pastoral leadership, communication  (view more)  (view less)

Promote Jesus: Not Personality, Professionalism, Or Brand

By Joe Hoagland on Jan 17, 2022

The church can learn a lot from worldly business and marketing trends but many times churches and church leaders end up promoting the wrong thing.

Tags: Jesus, focus on GOD, Pastoral Character, church marketing

Without Accountability, Confession And Friendship, ‘we’re Going To End Up Out Of Ministry’

By Michael Duduit on Jan 27, 2022

My friend Clayton King, who has never served as a senior pastor (and had not expected to), suddenly found himself leading one of the nation’s largest congregations as interim pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina.

Scripture: James 5:16

Tags: Spiritual Warfare, Isolation, Leadership General, pastoral leadership

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

The Battle Against Burnout

By Peter Walters on Feb 8, 2022

I think we don’t take seriously enough the fact that taking care of our bodies is a spiritual issue.

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:4-6, Mark 6:31, Leviticus 25:4, Exodus 20:8, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Proverbs 23:2, 1 Corinthians 6:12  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Body Temple, Rest, Commandments Sabbath, Pastoral Character