When preparing for an upcoming sermon (or sermon series) I tap into the power of Google. For example, this past Sunday I preached a sermon called The Secrets of Attraction (in a series we're doing on the book of Song of Solomon). By creating a news alert for "attraction" Google was emailing me articles on that subject for weeks leading up to last Sunday. One of the articles gave me some great intro material to work with. Referencing the article I said "Here's the world's wisdom on what you ought … [Read more...]
Share the Preaching Calendar
You should not be the only one preaching at your church. Here are some of the drawbacks: It's bad for you. You will wear yourself out by preaching every week. It's bad for the people. If you're the only speaker your people will be robbed of hearing from multiple perspectives. It doesn't allow for contingencies. If you're the only one speaking you'll never be able to miss for vacation or being sick. And here's some of the benefits of sharing the preaching calendar: The quality of your … [Read more...]
You Get What You Preach
One of my mentors once taught me "You get what you preach" and it's true. A couple years ago I taught on tithing. We saw a $19,000 a month increase after that message. Today Andrew is preaching on water baptism. Guess what people are doing after each service? Signing up to be baptized! When I teach on evangelism leading up to Easter guess what our people do? They invite their friends! I could go on but I think you get the point. You get what you preach. If I'm not seeing people get saved … [Read more...]
The Key to Writing
The key to writing is rewriting. I usually type out the first draft of my sermon on Tuesday. After preaching the message to my staff on Thursday, I rewrite it in light of the feedback I received from my team. After reviewing it 1-2x on Saturday I rewrite again. After reviewing it Sunday morning I rewrite again. Then I break each point down into a blog post which makes me rewrite each section yet again. Why do I go through all this? Because each time I rewrite, it gets better. In Jeremiah 36:2 … [Read more...]
The Preacher as Herald
In 1 Timothy 2:7 the apostle Paul writes, "...I was appointed a preacher..." That English word "preacher" literally means "herald." Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that "...we preach Christ crucified..." Again, in this instance too, "we preach" literally means "we herald." So a preacher is a herald. The herald was a messenger who conveyed the words of the king. In the same way, a preacher is a messenger who conveys the words of the King ( who is Jesus). The herald doesn't make up the … [Read more...]
The Preacher as Steward
In 1 Corinthians 4:1 Paul said of himself and Apollos "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." As preachers, Paul and Apollos were stewards of God's Word. The same is true of any preacher today. In Paul's day the master would entrust the steward with the responsibility of feeding the household. The faithful steward would take food from his master's pantry and feed the household with it. In the same way, God has entrusted the preacher with … [Read more...]