There are three basic elements to a sermon: explanation, application, and illustration. At any given point of the sermon, you are doing one of these three things. Explanation is the foundation of a biblical message. The goal is to explain what the text means by what it says. However, interpretation without application is abortion. You must explain the text and exhort the congregation to do what it says (James 1:22). But your work is not done there. The effective preacher must also work to clarify meaning, make ideas stick, and call the listener to action. To this end, Illustrations are...

It was a great, long weekend. Saturday morning, we had our 33 Series Men’s Bible Study, corporate prayer meeting, and New Members Class. Our Bible Study Fellowship groups began a new semester yesterday. I resumed my study of 1 Timothy. I taught on the spiritual qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Some things never change, as I did not finish the lesson. Part 2 next Sunday. We celebrated the Lord’s Supper and welcomed in our new members. I was good to have our guests in worship. I continued my new series called, “Family Matters.” I preached a message that I...

Saturday Shout-Outs is my weekly bulletin board of news & articles that catch my eye over the course of the week. Thanks for reading my blog. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. I greatly appreciate your prayers and expressions of concern for my nephew, Myles, who was shot last weekend. He is home now and recuperating. Please continue to pray for the Smith family. Make sure you check out my interview with Dr. Fred Luter, Jr. More than Flunkies: 10 Keys for Associate Pastors by H.B. Charles, Jr. Should Young...

Have you noticed how people refer to the singing in church as "worship time," as if the other parts of the service are not part of our worship? This is troubling, because Christians should recognize that prayer, saying the creeds, giving, and especially the sermon, are all part of our worship of God. But I wonder if one of the reasons why people do not know this is that preachers have forgotten to worship God when they preach. We may deliver carefully crafted sermons, but if we ourselves are not worshiping God when we do, then that element will be...

It has been a long, blessed weekend. We kicked off a new session of the 33 Series mens' Bible study Saturday morning. We got off to a good start. Looking forward to the next 5 weeks. The 2013 JAX Pastors Conference was fantastic. I really needed David Jeremiah's message on the Prodigal Son. Dr. Al Mohler's message on heaven was phenomenal as well, and it was great to hear Dr. Fred Luther Dr. Brunson graciously invited me to speak Saturday afternoon, I am grateful for the honor. Thankful to Trey Brunson and the entire First Baptist staff as well for...

I stood, called my text, and began to preach. There was a weird response by the congregation. Something strange was happening, but I didn't know what. I couldn't catch the vibe. The congregation, to whom I had preached several times before, was tentative throughout the entire message. But I couldn't figure out why. After I sat down, it all became clear. Someone leaned over to me and told me the speaker who had opened the meeting several nights before preached the same text and/or message. For some reason, this news made me nervous. At the same time, I was at...

It struck me one day in a Christian bookstore that most of the "church growth" books I picked up in that store were not books on vision but on image. They hadn't been published to help me see the world in a particular way but to help the world see me - were I a megachurch pastor - in a particular way. They were books that enticed the pastor of limited self-image to be like somebody else the world admired. What a cul-de-sac of emotional poverty this is. These books were published to serve the idolatries of megapastor wannabes. -...

Today concluded our 2013 Prayer Emphasis Week at Shiloh. It has been a rich week. We prayed for daily targets this week. There were daily prayer meetings at noon. And we had all-night prayer meeting Friday night. Thanks to staff and volunteers for the labor and sacrifice this week. You make it happen! Glad to have all of our guests in worship today. Shout-out to our music department. You did a great job today! I preached from Romans 10:1-4 about "Praying for the Lost." Sermon Point: The most important thing you can pray for someone is that he or she may...

Happy Saturday! Thanks for reading my blog this week. You can sign up for email updates of future posts under the picture to the left. We have had a great Prayer Emphasis Week at Shiloh Church. And last night's All-Night Prayer Meeting was tremendous. You can now preorder my upcoming book, It Happens After Prayer: Biblical Motivation for Believing Prayer  Don't miss the JAX Pastor Conference next weekend! Russell Moore: Why I Hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (and Why I Love It Too) Kevin DeYoung: Why Pastors and Elders Need Your Prayers  Jemar Tisby: 5 Factors in the Rise...

What is a bishop? This is a often asked question I get. It’s a new question about an old term. The word “bishop” is biblical. Different churches and denominations have used it to refer to church leadership and government throughout church history. Yet I often get questions about this term, as it has invaded Baptist ranks. Local churches within self-governing Baptist congregations have become consecrated bishops. As far as I can tell, this trend began with the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship – a loose denomination of Charismatic Baptists. At least, this is when I caught wind of it. It...

One of my former professors preached for me one Sunday morning. As we chatted between services, he asked me about an upcoming speaking event announced in our newsletter. I was scheduled to speak the next five nights at a state convention meeting. It was a rare opportunity. My professor and I joked about the challenges of preaching to preachers. Then the conversation turned. I admitted that, although I was grateful, honored, and excited about spending a week ministering to pastors and church leaders, I was very nervous. Prof assured me that all would go well. I agreed, because I had...

Today we began our 2013 Prayer Emphasis Week at the Shiloh Church. You can download our PEW13 prayer guide here. Each day this week, there will be a one-hour prayer meeting at noon at Shiloh. We will have an all-night prayer meeting Friday night to Saturday morning. We baptized three persons today – two men and one woman. Praise God! As always, it was good to have our guests in worship today. Our children’s choir sung today. Cool. The special music before the message today was a solo of “Is Your All On the Alter?” What a blessing! I preached...