Why Preaching Matters
The bigger the church gets the more important the pulpit becomes because it is the rudder of the ship. Where else do you get an hour of undivided attention with all these people on a weekly basis? Most pastors do not understand the power of preaching. But even more important than that is they don't understand the purpose of preaching. I've read more than 500 books on preaching, and as I've read them, the vast majority does not really understand that preaching is about transformation, not information.
Putting Power In Your Preaching
The 1992 movie entitled "Prelude to a Kiss" follows the traditional pattern of a romantic love affair. The characters Peter and Rita fall in love and get married. The prelude to the kiss was the giddiness of the newness of falling in love fast and furiously. This is what came before
Expository Preaching That Touches The Heart
Half a century ago Andrew Blackwood lamented that "expository preachers and sermons, rightly or wrongly, have been known for tameness, sameness, and lameness."1 More recently, Christian columnist Terry Mattingly observed: "In most congregations, the word 'sermon' means a verse-by-verse explanation of...
Some Insights about Preaching
Insights into preaching come in the strangest ways. Knowledge that they are true insights comes from a familiar place, that core out of which the preacher creates. Here then are four strange ones. Strange, but true. The first is...
Here Be Dragons
Preaching. In theory, it sounds so straightforward. We engage the text, allowing it to speak to our hearts. We explore the text, understanding its meanings, its context, its nuances, and its history. Then we explain the text, coming up with something called a sermon. Ideally the sermon...
Proclamation of the Church
When my granddaughter Kariss comes to stay at our house, she usually wants doughnuts for breakfast. I am not supposed to buy any doughnuts for myself, but I can hardly say no when Kariss looks at me and says, "Poppy, I want to get some doughnuts." So like a good grandfather, I take her up the