As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“…natural theology today is not so much refuted as it is ignored. But those who ignore it should be aware of the fact that nature does not go away just because a human culture chooses to pretend it is not there.” - Credo
“Some people have advocated for short sermons for the younger generation … with the idea being that younger adults have shorter attention spans. Yet only 10 percent of evangelicals under age 40 would prefer shorter sermons at their church.” - C.Leaders
“According to the report…only 7% of respondents want sermons to be shorter, while 85% believe the sermon lengths are acceptable as they are. About 8% percent said they wanted sermons to be longer.” - CPost
“8. Paying attention to the news will challenge you to keep learning. Consider into how many areas reading the news will take you, including politics, sports, arts, health, etc. God has given us a brain to use as we do ministry, and reading the news will stretch that brain every day.” - Chuck Lawless
“Not only can people reveal boredom ‘with the same message,’ but preachers can fall prey to having a desire to say something unique or different…. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself. You can rest in the power of the message that you get to declare.” - Eric Geiger
“Jesus Christ is the final word by which God has revealed His redemptive purposes in the world, a revelation to which nothing can be added.” - DeYoung
When we think of the story of Jesus’s birth in the little town of Bethlehem, we envision a beautiful and peaceful scene with shepherds and wise men gathered around a manger, worshipping the young Christ. But that’s not the whole picture! Matthew reminds us that the birth of Christ was not only associated with happiness and hope but also with feelings of profound sorrow and deep despair.
In his splendid book, How to Preach the Psalms, Kenneth Langley’s burden is not to teach you how to interpret the psalms. Plenty of folks have already done that.
“400 years of American history, coupled with the full history of the church worldwide, provides us with plenty of preaching quotes for Thanksgiving. Here is a small sampling of preaching quotes” - C.Leaders
In this article, I’ll include excerpts from a recent sermon and share some thoughts about sermon preparation and delivery. Every pastor prepares sermons differently. My goal here is a combination of mechanics and approach―how to best capture and communicate what God is doing with what He’s saying, and to deliver shorter, more effective sermons.
All the examples which follow are from a sermon on Acts 8:2-25, titled “Peter and the Magician.”
Discussion