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 about crafting effective sermon outlines. Sermon outlines are not absolutely necessary. But there is value in crafting and presenting formal points in your sermon. Outlines provide support and structure. They help the preacher preach with purpose, unity, and movement. And they help the congregation follow along and remember what is preached. Sermon outline points should be textual, diverse, and strategic. How can I craft sermon outline points for effective communication? Alliteration Narrative Headings Parallelism...

Following Christ with Great Expectations

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  

  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 about effective sermon transitions. Planes are in the most danger during take-off and landing. Car accidents most often happen as drivers turn or change lanes. And sermons most often crash during transitions - from introduction to the main body, from one point to the next, from outline to conclusion. How can a preacher make effective transitions in the sermon?  Be clear about the main idea of your sermon. Unite the sermon elements around the main...

Living a Fruitful Life

    Pastor L.A. Kessee has served as pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles for the past twenty-five years. A graduate of the legendary Bishop College in Dallas, L.A. Kessee was roommates with E.K. Bailey and served a local church with Melvin V. Wade Sr. during his college years. Kessee is known around the country for his dynamic preaching and leadership. I met Pastor Kessee when I was a boy preacher in Los Angeles. He invited me to preach for him on a Sunday morning. I remember two details about that day. There was a rug...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In the previous episode of the podcast (#079), we talked about where you should do your sermon preparation. In this episode, I want to talk to you about when you should do your sermon preparation. This subject is about more than whether you prefer to study in the morning or at night. It is also about more than what days a week you use for sermon preparation. It is about being a good steward of your time for sermon preparation. When should...

Good Reasons for Sticking with Jesus

   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   Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference exists to train, model, and promote expositional preaching. Expository preaching is that preaching in which the point of the sermon is rooted in, is in alignment with, and flows out of the selected scripture. It is preaching in which the sermon in shaped by the content and intent of the sermon text. In short, expositional preaching is biblical preaching Expository preaching...

  A friend and I had a long conversation. It was a typical discussion that happens when pastors get together. We tried to fix all of the problems in the church and the world before we got up from the table. As is typical, nothing changed when we finished our conversation. After an extended debate about transitions and succession, we considered our own future retirements from pastoral ministry, God willing. “When I retire, I’m not going to church anymore,” my fried joked. “I will do like my members and just watch the services via livestream.” My friend assured me that...

  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 where you do your sermon preparation. There seems to be two obvious answers to the question about where a preacher does his sermon preparation: at home or at the church.  But the the question is bigger than just a geographic location. Where should you prepare to preach?  Prioritize concentration. Go to your secret prayer closet. Turn your "Office" into a "Study." Work where you tools are. Not in an ivory tower. Work...