In Preaching Articles: "Reading Gods Word"

How To Powerfully Preach A Narrative Passage

By Brandon Kelley on Feb 17, 2021

People love stories, and that is what narrative is. When we can powerfully preach a narrative passage, we’ll see people not only respond to the message, but they’ll become more in awe at God’s word!

Tags: Preaching, preach, Narrative Passage, preaching

Isn’t Hell An Overreaction To Sin?

By SermonCentral .com on Oct 28, 2022

"Ask yourself, do you deserve the wrath of God forever? If your mind right now is saying, “I don’t think so. I think that hell would be an overreaction to what I’ve done and the kind of person that I am.” If that’s the way your mind is working right now, let me just have you consider four things."

Scripture: Ephesians 3:10, James 2:10

Tags: God's Wrath, Theology, Biblical truth, God's justice, sin against God, Sound Doctrine, consequences of sin, Theology of Sin  (view more)  (view less)

Preaching Can Be Bad News, Too

By Sherman Haywood Cox on Sep 2, 2021

The fact of the matter is that the Kingdom of God is near. It is not good news to those who do not wish to give up all for the kingdom.

Tags: Preaching, Good News, Kingdom of God, bad news, kingdom of God, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Constant Explanations From God Wouldn’t Allow For Our Faith Or Trust

By Randy Alcorn on Dec 9, 2022

The God of providence weaves millions of details into our lives and into all the lives around us. Maybe He doesn’t have one big reason for bringing a certain person or success or failure or disease or accident into our lives; in fact, He may have hundreds of little reasons. In order to understand God’s explanations, we would have to be God.

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Faith, Trust, Sovereignty, Surrender, sanctification, Will of God, personal holiness, sovereignty of God  (view more)  (view less)

Do You Pay Attention To God's Voice While You're Preaching?

By Mark Moore on Feb 1, 2024

We pay attention to our well-crafted manuscripts and outlines. But, honestly, how many of us are paying attention to the voice of God while we are preaching?

Tags: God, Preaching, voice, preaching

Seven Deadly Statements Of Church Members

By Thom Rainer on Oct 13, 2022

"Words have meaning. And if church members start articulating words consistently, those words begin to reflect the priorities and passions of the church."

Tags: conflict, relationships, Church worship, pastoral leadership, church membership, Pastoral Ministry, church ministry, shepherding, Shepherding  (view more)  (view less)

How To Preach Repentance Like It's Good News

By Ray Hollenbach on Jan 4, 2020

"Repent" is the first word of the good news. Belief comes as we help our listeners rethink a way of life based upon what God has already done.

Tags: repent, repentance, Good News, grace

The Post-Sermon Bible Test

By Peter Mead on Jan 11, 2024

We preach hoping and praying for the message to mark and transform lives as it is preached. But what about after the sermon is over?

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Study, Preaching, the word, BIBLE STUDY, Bible Study, bible study, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Deal-Breakers: 7 Ways God May Tell A Pastor To Leave A Church

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 18, 2022

Long-term pastorates are almost always good for the church and the pastor. But when these things happen, it's time to go.

Tags: Discernment, Resignation, Knowing God's Will, church ministry

Real Love Encourages Others To Do The Right, Most God-Glorifying Thing

By SermonCentral .com on Jun 8, 2022

Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love, not to withhold the truth in love. Real love doesn’t quit or give up; it will offer help and point to Jesus Christ as the only true source of healing and forgiveness.

Scripture: John 1:14, Ephesians 4:15

Tags: Abortion, friendship, Real Love, speak truth in love

Hope And Perspective When We’re Dealing With Doubt

By Randy Alcorn on Dec 3, 2022

"In times of doubt, difficulty, and trials, our fundamental beliefs about God and our faith are revealed. So how can Christians find faith in the midst of doubt? How can they trust God’s plan when their lives seem out of His control, and prayers seem to go unanswered or, sometimes it feels, even unheard?"

Scripture: Romans 10:17, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, 2 Timothy 3:16, Job 23:10, Isaiah 43:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: doubt, Perseverance, suffering, tragedy, Promises of God, Genuine Faith, Test of Faith, sovereignty of God  (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)

Is Your Preaching Less Than Christian?

By Peter Mead on Oct 12, 2021

You need more than someone in the pulpit holding a Bible. Peter Mead warns us off of three "sub-gospel" habits.

Tags: Sin, God, Preaching, Fail, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

Does Preaching Really Matter?

By Lance Witt on Sep 12, 2019

Like most pastors, I will never forget the first sermon I preached. Basically, we had to hold people at gun point to get them to listen . . .

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:21, 2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Corinthians 9:16

Tags: Preaching, God's Power, Bartimaeus, calling

How Leaders Defeat Discouragement

By Charles Stone on Apr 15, 2021

Somebody once said there are two things in life we can’t avoid, taxes and death. I’d like to add a third, discouragement. Church leader or not, you will face it. It’s an inevitable part of life. Here’s how I’ve learned to defeat discouragement.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 30:6

Tags: Discouragement, rest in god, Rest, Encouraged