Welcome to the On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. A good cook knows what to look for on a dish to determine if the meal is ready to eat. The same is true for good preachers. You have done your word work. You have a good sermon idea. You are eager to get to the pulpit. But is that meal really ready to be served? Here are seven questions to ask before you preach? Why have I chosen to preach this text? Are you burdened to preach this scripture? Is the text...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I interview Mike Gendron, president and featured speaker of Proclaiming the Gospel. Gendron is also the author of "Preparing for Eternity" and "Contending for the Gospel." I first heard Mike many years ago in a seminar chapel. His presentation of the gospel and confrontation of the errors of the Roman Catholic Church were faithful, clear, and compelling. I would later have the joy of meeting him, and inviting him to speak at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville. He was scheduled...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better. Planning your preaching is wise time-management. It enables you to spend the time you have to prepare in actual preparation - not looking for what to work on. Planning your preaching is wise spiritual leadership. To shepherd your congregation well, you need to know where you are going. And planning your preaching is a personal growth tool that facilitates your ongoing growth as a preacher or teacher. The best time to have started working on you 2024 preaching calendar was two months...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I want to talk to you about the priority and practice of the public reading of scripture. In my travels and observations, I note several elements of corporate worship that tell me a lot about a church's health and focus - namely, (1) corporate singing, (2) the pastoral prayer, and (3) scripture reading. Some church services contain no scripture reading. Others read the Bible perfunctorily. Word-centered, word-governed worship services begin with taking the reading of God's word seriously. Until I...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. If my travels, I am asked what advice I would give to a young minister. It is a stark reminder that I am old enough for young preachers to ask this "old preacher" for advice. I often answer by quoting scripture. Biblical advice is the best advice. Good advice is also personal - coming from those who know you best. And the best advice is practical - principles to live by. With that in mind, permit me to give some free advice to...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, we will talk about simple preaching. No, we should not dumb down the message. But we should not strive to be deep, profound, mystical, technical, or academic. We should not talk over the heads of our hearers. We believe in the perspicuity of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Scripture is clear. And the aim of preaching is to be help the hearer understand the truth of scripture. Jesus himself modeled simple preaching. And, throughout church history, strong preachers have been characterized...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, H.B. talks about a process for text-driven preaching. Something drives every sermon. Because the Bible is the word of God, the text of scripture should drive and direct every sermon. How can I prepare and preach text driven sermons? Choose the text strategically. You only have fifty-two Sundays to shepherd your congregation in the truth of God's word, at best. Therefore, you cannot afford to be casual or careless about sermon text selection. Be strategic about planning your preaching. Think...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I want to offer you fifty tips to help you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. These pointers are not in any order of importance. They cover a range of subjects related to personal devotion, sermon preparation, and pulpit ministry. And, of course, this list is not exhaustive. There's a long more to learn about preaching well. But I hope you find some of these words of advice helpful, as you prepare and preach. Let's go for it... Plan your preaching. ...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. What is preaching? What is biblical preaching? What does it mean to preach the word? 2 Timothy 4:1-5 answers these questions in a clear, convicting, and challenging way.  In 2 Timothy 4:1-5, the Apostle Paul issues his final charge to his son in the ministry. He gives this charge “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1). Verses 2-5 record nine biblical exhortations...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. It has been said that you preach to broken hearts, as there is one in every pew. But what should the preacher do when the broken heart is in the pulpit? There are times when the preacher goes to the pulpit with great joy. He cannot wait to stand to preach. He can barely stand as he preaches. He feels he will float away as the Holy Spirit holds him up in the pulpit.  Those good times in pulpit ministry won’t last forever....

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. It has been my practice to write full sermon manuscripts and then whittle them down to a set of pulpit notes. For the past several years, I have preached from the manuscript. In some ways, I feel like my preacher is improving by preaching from manuscripts. At the same time, there are ways in which I think using sermon manuscripts hinders my preaching. As I said, I have a complicated relationship with sermon manuscripts. What is my current view of sermon manuscripts? Biblical...

This is The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. A faithful, biblical sermon has three basic elements: explanation, illustration, and application. As preachers, we are prone to skip over application or to do it wrong. It is critical that preachers take application seriously and work to do it effectively. How can I practice the ministry of application effectively? Appy the text. Pray for wisdom. Know your audience. Make pastoral applications. Ask probing questions. Craft your application. Illustrate for application. Address different categories. Apply throughout the sermon. Trust the Holy Spirit. BOOK RECOMMENDATION:...