The first Christmas was no fairy tale. Preach the real Christmas, and give real hope.

Let’s be captured by the grace of God as He chose to step into our messy world. Ponder the journey Jesus took from Bethlehem to the Cross.

Transitions can be treated as automatic, but by neglecting them we miss a vital part of sermonic effectiveness.

Be sure to invest study in the flow of thought and not just the theological meaning of details.

What matters is your personal walk with Jesus, not your success or failure in maintaining a specific habit.

Perhaps you feel that, of all God’s people in this continent, you are the most like Jonah at this time. You should know better, but you’ve drifted too far. God could simply give up on us, but he doesn’t. 

We must never forget that we come to a Bible passage as an outsider. A bit of digging can help us to gain greater insight into all that is being assumed or hinted at in the passage.

As preachers, let’s help people to put back together what should never have been separated at all.

Seek to speak from God’s heart to theirs: sensitively, passionately, directly, and clearly.

You will never have a perfect message, but prayerfully do what you can.

When challenging circumstances come, we see how believers find themselves in unique situations to speak of Jesus. 

In the book of Acts God gives us a blueprint for when traditional church is not possible.

A familiar text may require less exegetical work, but be sure that your listeners are getting fresh preaching because you have prepared your heart as well as your message.

For some of us, time tends to move past quickly and sometimes erratically. It is helpful to figure out where the time actually goes.

Listeners will listen gripped by well organized and well-presented material.

If Jesus is who he claims to be, he is worthy of all your faith, your worship, your love.

How often do we petition Christ for the petty things, while ignoring the far greater gifts that he wants to give us? 

Be personal in your message, but remember it is out there for all.

After adrenaline there is always a settling period. God is the only one who can motivate us to lift our flattened hearts up toward Him.

Speaking to a crowd of people is something that is unnatural for everyone, and fearful for many. 

John 5 underlines to us that Jesus is not passive, nor reactive. He is proactive.

Our culture tends to show in how we preach.  We may accept that premise, but what should we do about it? A six-step action plan.

There are some aspects of our preaching that may be more reflective of our culture than we realize.

 A lot of us preachers remain fairly unaware of how our preaching and communication reflects our own culture.

People need to have more exposure to God’s self-revelation in the Bible, not less.