Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. We are in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. The general consensus is that social-distancing is essential to slowing down the spread of the Coronavirus. Most of us are in places where we have been ordered to do so. Many churches have chosen to suspend everything during this period, which is understandable. Others have chosen to stream messages or record them to play online. This is what our congregation has done. It seems this will be the way it is for weeks to...

In this video, I discuss the importance of having a system of sermon preparation. Likewise, I share three essential elements every sermon preparation system should include. Enjoy!

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better When you study a text to preach or teach for the first time, you should do a good job and take good notes. You should read widely, record diligently, and reflect prayerfully on every text you study to preach. I personally make a study file for each sermon text I study. In my study files, I keep the following documents... Scripture Document Observations Notes Context & Background Commentary Sermon Ideas Sermon Outlines Sermon Skeleton Application Grid Photocopies What study notes do you keep...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. Many preachers do not ever preach sermon series. Some have never tried. Some have tried and did not like the outcome. Some do not preach series for philosophical reasons. There are reasons for not preaching sermon series. But there are more and better reasons for preaching sermon series. Here are ten benefits of preaching sermon series... It relieves pressure. It saves time. It prioritizes discipleship. It provides direction. It maintains balance. It builds momentum. It encourages invites. It inspires creativity. It facilitates teamwork....

I am often asked about African-American preaching voices you should know. I often refer questioners to Karry D. Wesley, founding pastor of the Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas. As a young pastor, I wanted to preach through the book of Jonah for the first time. I asked my pastor to recommend resources. He told me I needed Karry Wesley’s book on Jonah. He loaned it to me. But demanded it back as soon as I was done. I found Wesley’s book helpful, and commended it to others. But I did not investigate his ministry further. Later, I was...

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 marks of good sermon outlines. Some preachers disregard the structure of the sermon.  Others are more concerned with the outline than anything else. Both extremes are wrong. Sermon outlines should serve the preacher, the text, and the congregation. Here are practical tips to help develop effective sermon outlines... Remember who the sermon outline is for. Let the text shape the outline. The outline serves the text. Support the main idea of the sermon....

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, we will talk about preaching on giving. Some preachers preach about giving every week, no matter the text. Others never preach about giving. Both are unhealthy extremes. To feed your congregation a healthy and well-balanced diet of the word, you must teach your people what scripture teaches about financial stewardship. Here are seven tips for preaching on giving... Do not apologize for preaching on giving. Preach stewardship as discipleship. Preach on giving at set times. Don’t just preach on giving....

    Thanks for your prayers for Cutting It Straight!  Yesterday was the closing day of Cutting It Straight. Gary Williams Jr., a faithful, longtime pastor in Jacksonville started the day by challenging us to stand and fight when things are difficult, rather than giving up.During our final round of workshops, I taught a class on the basic tips for effective sermon delivery. I am not an expert on sermon delivery. But I take the subject seriously. There are three types of preachers: ones you can listen to, ones you cannot listen to, and ones you must listen to. You...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. This episode is a first. During this episode, I will draw from the "mailbag" to answer questions about sermon preparation and sermon delivery. Over the years, I have learned to preach by three means: (1) Study, (2) practice, (3) and conversation. You can learn a lot about preaching by talking to other preachers about preaching. I hope this episode will serve you in that way. I am not an expert or scholar. But whatever I know about preaching from my decades of...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. Sometimes pastors struggle in preaching because they don’t take their pulpit work seriously. Others struggle in preaching because they struggle alone. But good preaching is a partnership between pastor and congregation, pulpit and pew, the one who preaches and the one who listens. The pastor preaches to help those in the pew. But the congregation can and should help the one in the pulpit, as well. Here are seven ways the pew can helpt the pulpit... Pray for your pastor. Give your...

  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...

  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...