God is a good communicator. That conviction is critical for effective preaching, but so many build a preaching ministry without this conviction in place.

Perhaps we would do better to be astonished by the profound crop of the good soil instead of trying to count every sprout as part of the harvest.

Whether you have been preaching for a couple of years or half a century, there are hidden explosives that can do untold damage to your ministry.

It is not about me but Him. It is not about my responsible effort but my response to Him. Spending time with the lover of our souls is no chore but a privilege..

We can so easily think it is enough to hear, to read, to know, to understand, even to believe … but Jesus said that we need to actually do what He says.

The last time I preached the whole Bible in a single message, what text proved pivotal?  It came from Leviticus.  

Every Psalm points to God’s character, which is an excellent focus for your heart.

The kind of “evangelization” the Pope is advocating for in Praedicate Evangelium is something utterly distant from the biblical meaning of the word.

Whichever approach you take, be sure to keep diving in, looking to know Jesus more and growing in your appreciation of God’s heart towards you.

Deuteronomy never lets us settle for an outward conformity. In relationship with God the core issue must be the heart.

Being around Christians and using Christian language is not enough. Without a vital personal relationship with Christ, they are merely running on the fumes of Christianity.

You have to think through the situation: who is preaching, to whom, what are they used to, what is the preacher capable of doing, what is the subject matter, etc. 

The book of Philemon reminds us that the Gospel speaks of how we can be saved and how we can navigate the messy complexity of human relationships.

The preacher will have a lot more material after the exegesis than they are able to present in the sermon.

In the sermon, remember that some details need no more than a passing comment, while others are critical and central to the passage.

The ongoing impact of Jesus’ explosion of life continues to reverberate in this world of death. 

We have to fight against the flatness in our preaching to be as engaging as possible.

We would be continually more marked, shaped, stirred, and matured, as we fix the gaze of our hearts on the wonder that is Christ himself.

Preaching goes way beyond clarification of the meaning of words. But it won’t go anywhere if it bypasses this critical element of the task.

The spiritual gravitas and countless other personal and ministry benefits only come from diligent exegetical labour.

You are one of them. It would be good to prayerfully consider what this might mean for how you present yourself and the message,

The Christian life is not covered by a one-day seminar, it is a lifelong journey of preparation for eternity to come.

Hélder Favarin, evangelist and pastor in Spain, addresses some of the challenges of preaching to both Christians and non-Christians.

By reinforcing and reviewing a Bible book, the series allows for the teaching to sink in and be applied more effectively.

Let’s continue to read His Word and be gripped by who He is. We could rejoice in the reality that far surpasses all our dreams and yet opposes all our fleshly pursuits.