Preaching

The Importance Of Doing lowercase ministry In An ALL CAPS World

/ 1 minute of reading

There are a lot of voices yelling at us.

Stop that! Buy this! Do it now!

And it’s all accelerated by the device you’re currently using.

In such a loud, hurried world, it’s tempting to think that the only way to get our message and our ministry heard is to raise our voices above those around us.

It’s tempting to think that the only way to get our message and ministry heard is to raise our voices above the voices around us.
So we yell our message louder, use bigger, bolder colors, and get angrier.

But all that does is make the gospel message appear like part of the problem, not an answer to it.

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The Importance Of Doing lowercase ministry In An ALL CAPS World

/ 1 minute of reading

There are a lot of voices yelling at us.

Stop that! Buy this! Do it now!

And it’s all accelerated by the device you’re currently using.

In such a loud, hurried world, it’s tempting to think that the only way to get our message and our ministry heard is to raise our voices above those around us.

It’s tempting to think that the only way to get our message and ministry heard is to raise our voices above the voices around us.
So we yell our message louder, use bigger, bolder colors, and get angrier.

But all that does is make the gospel message appear like part of the problem, not an answer to it.

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Looking For A Last-Minute Christmas Sermon Idea? Keep It Simple, Keep It Weird

/ 1 minute of reading

The Christmas story is so simple. And so weird.

How simple?

Everyday simple – literally. As in, millions of times every day simple.

A baby is born.

How weird?

Other-worldly weird. Not-even-in-a-comic-book weird. It-can-only-be-a-miracle weird.

That baby is God, the creator of all things, come to this planet in human form.

One of the challenges of preaching for Christmas is holding those two very different truths in hand without falling into one of two traps.

Looking For A Last-Minute Christmas Sermon Idea? Keep It Simple, Keep It Weird Read More »

Looking For A Last-Minute Christmas Sermon Idea? Keep It Simple, Keep It Weird

/ 1 minute of reading

The Christmas story is so simple. And so weird.

How simple?

Everyday simple – literally. As in, millions of times every day simple.

A baby is born.

How weird?

Other-worldly weird. Not-even-in-a-comic-book weird. It-can-only-be-a-miracle weird.

That baby is God, the creator of all things, come to this planet in human form.

One of the challenges of preaching for Christmas is holding those two very different truths in hand without falling into one of two traps.

Looking For A Last-Minute Christmas Sermon Idea? Keep It Simple, Keep It Weird Read More »

4 Steps To Help Pastors Preach To Newbies And Mature Christians Every Week

/ 1 minute of reading

If you ask pastors what their toughest regular assignment is, crafting and delivering a message that ministers to people from multiple backgrounds and various spiritual conditions is at or near the top of the list.

This is something pastors are expected to do – and do well – approximately 50 weeks a year. Sometimes two or three times a week. All while keeping it fresh and new every time.

I’ve been preaching a new message every week for over 30 years myself, with mixed results. It’s still tough, but I’ve become steadily better at it. Mostly by trial-and-error.

While I don’t claim to have mastered the art, I have discovered four simple principles that serve me well.

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Yes, Pastor, You Can Deliver A Weekly Sermon That’s Better Than A TED Talk

/ 1 minute of reading

Pastors face a lot of pressure to perform. Some of it, admittedly, is self-imposed.

One of the main places this pressure is felt is in the demand to research, write and deliver a great sermon every week.

In fact, several times in the last few months, I’ve read blog posts that have suggested that every Sunday sermon should be like a TED Talk. Wow. Talk about adding a little extra pressure.

Pastors face enough challenges without being expected to deliver the near-equivalent of a Pulitzer-prize-winning talk every week.
In today’s post, I’d like to do two things for my fellow pastors that may seem impossible to accomplish simultaneously.

Relieve some of the performance pressure and challenge us all toward something better.

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Pastors, We Need To Stop Expecting Worship Leaders To Do Our Job For Us

/ 1 minute of reading

There are two interesting, but conflicting conversations happening among church leaders right now. Especially, but not exclusively, on social media.

On the one hand, people are decrying the supposed shallowness of today’s worship songs.

On the other hand, there’s a push to keep sermons under 20 minutes long.

It’s not always the same people saying both of those things, but I have noticed a surprising amount of overlap.

Does anyone else see the irony here?

At the same time that many are encouraging shorter sermons, we’re also wanting deep theology from three-minute songs.

Pastors, if the theology being presented in our churches isn’t deep enough, it’s not the worship leader’s responsibility to make it deeper. That’s our job, our calling and our mandate.

A mandate that can’t always be done in 20 minutes or less.

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3 Simple Words That Can Help Your Sermons Stick

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Impact.

It’s what every pastor wants from our Sunday sermons (or talks, messages, homilies – take your pick).

We want to have impact. We want the message to stick. We want the words we speak to help people follow Jesus more closely.

Sermons aren’t just about Sunday. Preaching God’s Word is supposed to help people live better lives Monday through Saturday.

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Know Your Audience: 8 Principles for Speaking Effectively in Any Situation

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“You knew your audience.”

That was one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received in ministry.

It happened after speaking at a Prayer Breakfast at a US Army base in Germany.

So I asked the chaplain why it had been helpful. Then I sat down and reverse-engineered the entire event.

What I discovered were 8 principles that I had fallen in to. Principles that I will now follow with purpose whenever I speak to any group, but especially to a group I’m unfamiliar with.

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