Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. I have recently concluded preaching through the Gospel of Mark. I started the study before the COVID-19 pandemic. It took me a few years to get back to it, preaching it in sections, as I preached other short series. The series consisted of eighty-seven sermons. I have around fifty commentaries on Mark's Gospel. I have read through each of them in my preparation for every message. That list of Mark-specific commentaries does not include study Bibles, multi-book commentaries, and other Bible study...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. For the last several episodes, H.B. has answered questions about sermon presentation and delivery. One more time, we will tackle some questions about how to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. We hope you find these questions and answers beneficial. You can contact us to get your questions answers in a future episode of the podcast. If your preaching doesn't eventually offend everyone, you're likely guilty of favoritism or cowardice. Don't pull punches to please people, it's not safe for them or good...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, H.B. continues to answer questions about preaching. Royland Kirkwood joins H.B. again in this episode to ask him questions. We hope you find the answers helpful. In the future, we will dig into the On Preaching mailbag to respond to questions. Send us your questions, and it may end up on a future episode. HBC2 RESOURCES:  On Preaching by H.B. Charles Jr.  On Pastoring by H.B. Charles Jr.  On Worship by H.B. Charles Jr.  It Happens After Prayer by H.B. Charles Jr.  The...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode of the podcast, H.B. is joined by Royland Kirkwood (Associate Pastor of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church), as he answers questions we have received about sermon preparation and delivery. Send us your questions, and they may be selected for a future episode of our On Preaching Mailbag. Get a new website, unlimited custom graphics, & full-service podcast production services at Increase Creative.   HBC2 RESOURCES:  On Preaching by H.B. Charles Jr.  On Pastoring by H.B. Charles Jr.  On Worship by H.B. Charles...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. As a young preacher, "Preaching Through a Storm," by H. Beecher Hicks. It is about how the author navigated ministry conflict and the sermons he preached during that season. The last chapter is entitled "Storms Keep Coming." As a young man, I thought that was cynical. But, after decades of pastoral work, I'm convinced he's right. Storms keep coming! You are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or heading into a storm. How do you preach through a storm?...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. My first preaching professor, James Borror, challenged his students to be like roots, not pipes. Water passes through pipes without any positive effect on the pipe. In fact, the pipe rusts over time. But as water passes through the roots, the roots get stronger. Preachers should be like roots, not pipes. One way to keep your roots deep and strong is to have a daily quiet time with God. In this episode, H.B. gives practical advice for the preacher's devotional life. Separate...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. The weekly call to preach is a sacred trust, one that demands our utmost diligence and care. As the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 10:10 reminds us, true effectiveness comes not just from expending great effort, but from sharpening our tools: "If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed." In the context of sermon preparation, this wisdom translates into adopting strategic practices that streamline our process and amplify our...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In 2 Timothy 4:5, Paul charges Timothy (and, thus, the Lord Jesus Christ charges the church and its ministers) to "do the work of an evangelist." We do not know if Timothy had the gift of evangelism. But he had a sacred duty to do the work of an evangelist. As we preach, there are two groups of people in the congregation: true believers, false believers, and unbelievers. We should always be sensitive to the unbelievers who may be present, so that...

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15 I often say that I don’t want God to speak to me in the pulpit. I concluded this after hearing the story about the unprepared preacher who walked to the pulpit begging God to speak to him. To his surprise and dismay, the Lord spoke to him and said, “You should have studied.”  Get it?  If that’s how the Lord speaks, I don’t want the Lord to speak to me in...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. "Preaching and praying go together," It is well said. "If there is to be preaching in the pulpit, there must be praying in the pews." I fully agree with these statements. But I would add one point. Not only should there be prayer in the pews, but there should also be praying in the pulpit. The entire process of sermon planning, preparation, and delivery should be seasoned and saturated in believing prayer. What are the marks of a prayer-saturated sermon? Pray for...

When I was a young pastor, I dreaded preaching Easter. It felt like people were only there to show off their new clothes. It seemed like I didn’t have the congregation’s full attention. And I saw people who I hadn’t seen since last Easter and would not see until the next.  At some point, I changed my mind about preaching holidays in general and Easter in particular. If you can’t beat them, join them, I concluded. It is a matter of the stewardship of opportunity. If Easter is the Sunday the most people will come to church and sinners will...

Faithful preachers are growing preachings. We should always be making progress in our preaching (1 Timothy 4:15). The preacher progresses through studying preaching, by preaching, and in conversation with other preachings. In studying preaching, you should read at least one book on preaching each year. Here are 25 books on preaching you should read. (NOTE: This list is not exhaustive. And it is not in any particular order.) 1. Preaching | Michael Reeves  2. 12 Essentials Skills for Great Preaching | Wayne McDill 3. Preaching & Preachers | D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones 4. Anointed Expository Preaching | Steven Olford & David...