We can speak of the meaning of God’s Word with gracious attitudes but also with boldness.

We need to include humility in our hermeneutics as a foundational attitude. The Bible is not subject to us, we are subject to it.

We have shifted from authorities being respected, to not being respected, to being distrusted and even opposed.

The weekly emotional roller-coaster of preaching often has more low points than adrenaline highs.

Perhaps our frustrating experiences are confirmation that our ministry is actually going according to plan.

The experience of life and ministry in some foreign countries may become more relevant to life in “the West” than it would have be ten years ago.

“Youth ministry has to work on areas such as excellence in life, a correct stewardship of time and resources, and a constant dependence on God that generates confidence in economic entrepreneurship”, says Marcos Zapata.

Martin Luther’s famous 95 Theses Against Indulgences was originally a written list academic conversation starters. His questions and statements were like a string of tweets ahead of their time. They were dismissed by the authorities as errant, dangerous and divisive.

Much of ministry can feel like the agony of labour. But let’s remember the good times too. There is nothing as rewarding as seeing lives changed.

When trouble comes, the preacher gets to point people to God’s Word to find the comfort and to stir the response of faith that is needed.

Dig in the text you have, honour the author by doing so, and give your listeners the best you can from this passage.

Let’s resolve, prayerfully and passionately, to always seek to really preach the passage we claim to be preaching.

No matter how well you can communicate or how clever you are, you cannot make the Bible say something better than God made it say.

There are lots of things to be aware of between the beginning of the service and the sermon itself.

So much of our time is spent with entertainment and social media these days; we need to reengage with God’s Great Story not only on Sundays.

There may be some elements of a good movie that might teach us a thing or two about good preaching.

Sermon preparation may be a struggle, even a battle at times, but every moment is a privilege.

It is not possible to avoid every negative motive all the time, but we must beware lest any of these start to fester within and then characterise our ministry.

Does our preaching feel stilted? Do we sound slightly wooden, hesitant?

Our strength to endure obviously comes not from within us, but from someone who is at work in and through us.

Here are some concerning features of that strange authority that may be helpful to ponder.

When we preach, we should aim to use appropriate force for each goal we are trying to achieve.

The Bible has to be in charge of the message, its main idea, its flow of thought, its relevance, its goals.

Too many of us who know God and the truth of His Word are too distracted by the communications of this world to really soak in God’s Word.

Good preparation should lead to more genuine, from the heart, textually solid and sensitively targeted preaching.