In Preaching Articles: "Tensions In Ministry"

Change Your Ministry: Ten Books, Ten Months

By Ray Hollenbach on Jun 25, 2025

The well-rounded preacher draws from multiple sources. How wide is your reading?

Tags: Ministry, inspiration, book, writer, ministry  (view more)  (view less)

Is Modern Church Leadership Tilting Toward Bivocational Ministry?

By Hugh Halter on Feb 12, 2024

"The goal of our existence is to learn how to leverage everything God has given us."

Scripture: John 21:15-17, John 21:15-22

Tags: Ministry, Church, bivocational, leverage, mobile, ministry, church  (view more)  (view less)

From Desiring God Ministries: The Essential Secret Of Preaching

By Tony Merida on Dec 6, 2025

The key to effective preaching is not mastering certain techniques, but being mastered by certain convictions.

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Should I Leave My Current Ministry Position?

By Josh Reich on Feb 25, 2021

Too many pastors work at churches they would not attend if they didn’t get paid to be there. Think about this: If you work at a church, would you attend it if you didn’t get paid to be there?

Tags: Job, Preaching

9 Bad Habits That Limit A Church's Ministry Capacity

By SermonCentral .com on Mar 14, 2024

It’s not about church growth. Or working harder. It’s about doing smarter ministry with our church’s current resources.

Tags: Lay Leadership, hindrances to prayer, ministry vision, Capacity, capacity  (view more)  (view less)

Eight Indicators That Pastors Are Expected To Do Most Of The Ministry

By SermonCentral .com on Apr 21, 2021

Contrary to most of the indicators today, the Bible says the laity (saints) are to do the work of ministry. Most of the ministry should not be in the hands of pastors, but in the hands of the church members. Unfortunately, we often reverse the biblical truth. We expect ministry to be done by the pastors and staff. Here are eight indicators of that reality.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-12

Tags: Laity, Church Health, attacking the pastor, High expectations

One Question You Must Never Ask In Ministry

By Joe Mckeever on Sep 7, 2023

Disciples of Jesus Christ must never try to calculate the cost/benefit of some act of ministry.

Scripture: Colossians 3:23-24, Luke 18:8, Ecclesiastes 11:6

Tags: Faithfulness, Leadership General, questions, measuring success

Passion, Prayer, And Planning Ministry: Building The Nehemiah Way

By Todd Brown on Mar 11, 2022

Working with hundreds of churches over the last 35 years, I have observed three common elements of successful building programs and all three are characteristics displayed by quality leaders.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:13

Tags: Nehemiah, Prayer, strategy, Church Building

5 Ways Ministry Leaders Start The Journey To Failure

By Ron Edmondson on Aug 1, 2022

One of the hardest things I do in ministry is interact with those who are no longer in ministry, but wish they were. They’ve been derailed. They messed up and either they got caught or the guilt got the best of them and they confessed. Watching this process over the years there appear to be some common reasons failure occurs. It doesn’t start at the failure. It starts months – and, perhaps years – prior. My hope is if we expose some of them we can catch a few people before it is too late.

Tags: leadership, pastoral leadership, avoiding trouble, avoiding burnout, church ministry, Leadership Failure, Exposing Blindspots, e, Leadership  (view more)  (view less)

5 Ministry Killers Every Pastor’s Wife Faces

By Charles Stone on Aug 21, 2025

Eight in ten pastors’ wives say they feel unappreciated or unaccepted by their husband’s congregations. Charles Stone and his wife give insight into how to protect your spouse and your marriage during the sometimes difficult calling of pastoral ministry.

Tags: Ministry, stress, Marriage, wife, family, Stress, relationships, priorities, home, Difficulties, pastoral care, Spouse, Church Body of Christ, Marriage General, church leadership, ministry, marriage support, Church Leadership, Pastoral Care, Ministry Health, Pastors Wife, Marriage Support  (view more)  (view less)

The Best Way To Avoid Ministry Burnout That You Keep Forgetting

By Eric Bryant on Aug 5, 2024

Exodus 18 exposes leadership myths that exhaust pastors and shows how shared leadership restores health, disciples others, and strengthens God’s people.

Scripture: Exodus 18:1-27, Numbers 11:16-17, Deuteronomy 1:9-13, Acts 6:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Team Development

Fruit Over Size: What Jesus Really Measures In Ministry

By Mike Breen on May 14, 2021

Church success is often measured by size, but Jesus measured fruitfulness. Discover why disciple-making and spiritual reproduction matter more than growth metrics.

Scripture: John 15:8, Matthew 28:19, Luke 10:1, Acts 2:42, 2 Timothy 2:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Tree, Fruit, Reformation, lead, Movement  (view more)  (view less)

Digging Deep: How Do You Define The Ministry Of The Word?

By Peter Mead on Jul 4, 2025

"The ministry of the word is stewarding and heralding God's word in such a way that people encounter God through his word."

Scripture: Psalm 37:4-5

Tags: Ministry, Preaching, God's Word, blackaby, ministry, preaching  (view more)  (view less)

11 Reasons To Protect Your Spirit From The Demands Of Ministry

By SermonCentral .com on Jan 8, 2021

Pastoral ministry can be hazardous to our spiritual health. But it doesn’t need to be.

Tags: Preaching

Six Terrible Ways To Recruit Ministry Volunteers In Your Church

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 28, 2021

Sometimes I think church leaders take the most negative approaches in an attempt to encourage more people to get involved in ministry in the church.

Tags: Prayer, Spiritual Gifts, Lay Leadership, Recruiting