Do you ever get that post-sermon, anti-climactic feeling that all of your research, all of your writing, all of your preparation just got burned up in a single half-hour shot? It would be far more ideal to leave church on Sunday believing there was still much to come...
There are certain elements that must be included in every single sermon you ever preach. They are non-negotiable. To put it another way, every sermon you preach has three key components. Understanding them and helping them to play well together is half the battle of...
Jesus rose from the dead. Nobody else has ever done that. At least, not without Jesus’ help. And Jesus’ resurrection has changed the world. It has changed history. It has changed me, and millions of others. It’s a big deal. If you’re a pastor...
This stand-alone one-week message examines the character of Judas, the biggest mistake he made, and the way Jesus chose to respond to Judas’ betrayal. Download It Now This stand-alone Easter sermon uses a non-traditional text to discuss the power of Jesus’...
If you’re a pastor, you’re a motivator. In fact, motivational preaching is one of the most powerful and persuasive tools for change our culture knows. W. A. Criswell, one of my own preaching heroes, defined preaching as “seeking to move a man’s...
What’s in a name? Well, in the name Immanuel, a lot! When Jesus was born on earth, he was God, coming to live among us. This four-part Christmas message series is really just starter material. It includes four brief outlines to jog your thinking. Feel free to...
As I write this, it’s the morning after a dozen police officers were shot, five of them fatally, sacrificing themselves to defend the freedom of people to protest. It’s been a terrible few days for America. Ironically, before any of this began, I had begun...
Preaching, as a Pastor, is hard. It’s not hard to get up and say something inspirational. It is hard to get up and rightly divide God’s Word, build a bridge from an ancient culture to our own, and then to call people to an appropriate response to...
Jesus was more than a mere prophet – he was the sinless Son of God, the human-divine sacrifice for our sins. But he is a prophet nonetheless, and the greatest prophet the world has ever known. We like to think of Jesus in any kind of role except that of preacher...
I’ve spent the last month or so mapping out the next year of preaching. That doesn’t mean I’m preparing a year’s worth of sermons in detail or that I won’t make changes along the way. Sometimes a congregation experiences unexpected...
