Articles

Get encouraged & inspired through a variety of topics from ministry life to church leadership development to trending ideas for church growth.

Zwingli: Reformation through preaching

One of the key figures of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, Huldruch (Ulrich) Zwingli understood the effective proclamation of the Word of God to be central to any meaningful religious reform...

Preaching and Pastoral Care<br/>First of a five-part series

Wayne E. Oates

For most of Christian history, preaching and pastoral care would not be spoken of with a plural verb. Preaching and pastoral care were seen and practiced as a singular experience. The earliest formulations of p...

Build a Foundation for Effective Evangelistic Preaching

Lewis A. Drummond

Evangelistic proclamation has for centuries assumed a major role in the communication of the church. But the contemporary moment has witnessed an attenuation of the evangelistic thrust in many pulpits. Some eve...

Finding Sermon Illustrations in Nature

Gerald Walton Paul

On a sunny March morning near Canada's capital city I sauntered along a deserted railway line enjoying the journey immensely. I watched tree sparrows picking weed seeds, melt water trickling towards the river, ...

Sermon Writing and Preaching Is a Process of Individuation

John Mundy

Sermon writing and preaching have become for me, and perhaps other ministers, something more than just another function of church life. It has become, in fact, a whole process of self-examination, spiritual gro...

Come on, preacher, stand up and preach

Lynn P. Clayton

Come on, preacher, preach.Don't coddle me, don't just stroke me beyond credibility, don't insult me by thinking I'm stupid. Don't try to pass off as the message from on high cheap, unprepared remarks. Don't jus...

The Triple Brain Test of a Sermon

Ralph Lewis

When you stand to preach, what happens? Are all your parishioners docile receivers waiting with open hearts? Is all resistance melted? Does all indifference and hostility evaporate when the congregation enters ...

From the Mouths of Babes: Tips on Preaching to Young People

Joan Martin

Our newly acquired daughter-in-law had not been raised in a Christian home. She joined in Sunday worship with a vigor and interest that thrilled us. Each Sunday after and during dinner she questioned us about t...

Apathy in the Pew: Preaching to the Uninvolved (Part Two)

Don M. Aycock

A. Challenge the Assumptions They Live ByAll of us live out of our assumptions and presuppositions about life. One way to hook my interest, if not my anger, is to challenge or attack the presuppositions I live ...

Awake O Thou That Sleepest!

Calvin Miller

I love gospel lecture films. The cameras play the audience, who are eager, smiling in rapt attention, waiting for the glorious gospel truths that are funny and sad, tearful but joyous beyond belief.Each of my "...