The more closely we look at and observe the text, the easier it will be to accurately learn what the text means.

Seek to define the values of the church and aspire to be a church that God will trust with newcomers and new believers.

What does the text say?  What does the text mean?  What should the text stir?  This is the Bible study process.

We seek to make that main idea so clear, transformative, evident from the text and applicationally earthed, that we will genuinely have preached the text before we sit down.

Learning to think clearly about your own thinking is a critical skill for the preacher. Study more. Study longer. Study humble. Study persistently.

Let’s evaluate our churches and make sure we are not adding any unnecessary barriers for guests that come along.

No matter how clever you are, what you can make it say is not as good as what God made it say.

When we learn to handle the Word of truth rightly, we start to see the richness God has put in our Bibles. 

We live in an age marked by resistance to authority. The idea of submission has fallen on hard times. But don’t miss either the logic or the blessing of this concept.

The Bible offers us salvation, spiritual growth, maturity and equipping for all aspects of life and ministry.

Let’s take stock of how God would want us to use our eyes this year. After all, they are an essential gateway by which we can guard our hearts.

We should preach as professionals in the sense of “to the best of our ability” and as amateurs in the sense of “with the passion of a captured heart”.

God offers so much more than mere amnesty. He has paid the great and humiliating price for true justice.

Why not take the year-end as an opportunity to seek God’s heart about your church, your ministry, and your part in His plans? 

It is true that life change is God’s business and I can’t force it; but let us never grow comfortable with people drifting away from Christ.

The nature of God’s character should flow into our ministry, which will then characterise our connection with the church.

Let’s preach in light of 1 Thessalonians 1 and dare to believe that we are participating in the transformation of lives for eternity.

Keep your relationship with Jesus right at the centre of your priorities: that is the foundation for all Christian leadership.

Perhaps, we would do well to ponder the spiritual attack against the Holy Spirit. I suspect that we would find our hearts drawn to Christ in the process.

Preaching is about exegesis and communication,pastoral care, leadership and discipleship, but it should be preeminently about prayer.

Many of us still live under the spell that says we get saved by faith, but then will grow by self-stirred effort. 

Whatever may be going on around us, Psalm 107 suggests what should be happening inside us.

We must have a more God-given, global and eternal perspective so that what we preach stretches and challenges the small, me-focused world of our listeners.

You may love preaching and want to preach every week, but I think it would be wise to schedule a break here and there.