Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, we discuss how to structure a sermon. Good, clear, sound and sermon structure is key to effective preaching. But sermon structure must stay in its place. You do not want to preach a jellyfish sermon, with no structure. And you do not want to preach a skeleton, with no life. How should you structure your sermon for effective preaching?  Structure the sermon based on the text. Structure the sermon around one main idea. Structure the sermon for clear communication....

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, we discuss the use of Bible commentaries in sermon preparation. Make friends with several good commentators. Find the best commentaries on individual books of the Bible. Use different types of commentaries. Consult commentaries toward the end of your study. Make strategic use of Bible commentaries. Do not read too many commentaries. Remember that no commentary is the ultimate authority on scripture. View commentaries as a sermon preparation tool. Though shalt not steal! Preach the Word, not the commentary.  ...

  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 what expository preaching is not. Many preachers reject expository preaching, without really knowing what it is. Others seek to practice it, without really knowing what it is. But you should not react to a caricature of expository preaching. And you should learn a craft before you try to practice it. Here are fifteen myths about expository preaching to help the preacher rightly understand and faithfully practice expository preaching. Expository preaching is not whatever...

  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 three essential elements of effective sermon preparation. There are basically two days on the preacher's calendar: Sunday and Saturday. We preach on Sundays and then have to spend another week getting ready to do it again. This is the joyful burden and delightful burden of weekly sermon preparation. To prepare effectively and consistently, you need a sermon preparation system. I call this the essential elements of sermon preparation. What are the essential...

  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 using someone else's sermon material. We've all done it. We've been in a jam and used someone else's work. But this visited place should not be a place where you reside. How do you avoid living off of someone else's sermon material from week to week?  Take your call to preach seriously. Guard your integrity. Recognize you are not original. Give credit where credit is due. Make it your own. Do not...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I want to give you ten principles for preaching the parables of Jesus in the Gospels. How do preach a parable of Jesus?  Understand the nature of parables. Study the context of the parable. Analyze the structure of the parable. Seek the main idea of the parable. Be careful of interpreting the parable allegorically. Let the parable speak for itself. Do not get lost in the details of the parable. Pay attention to the conclusion of the parable. Determine the...

Welcome to the 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 avoiding indecent exposure in the pulpit... To illustrate is to shed light on the subject. Illustrations are like windows in a house. They let the light in. They can also let in voyeurs, seeking to eye the forbidden. There is no place for voyeurism in the pulpit. Sermon illustrations should be like letting sunlight into a window, not like putting a spotlight on a stage. Here are ten guidelines for avoiding indecent...

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 dynamics of Spirit-empowered preaching. I believe there are three characteristics of effective preaching: faithfulness to the text, clarity of the message, and passion in the presentation. When I speak of passion, I do not refer to some fleshly demonstration. Or the deacons in my Dad's church would call, "An outside show to an unfriendly world." I am talking about spirit-empower preaching. What are the dynamics of Spirit-empowered preaching?    Godly Character Doctrinal...

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 passion in preaching. I believe effective preaching involves faithfulness to the text, the clarity of the message, and passion in the presentation. Passion, however, should be the natural outflow and overflow of the preacher's determination to preach faithfully and clearly. What does preaching with passion involve?  Spiritual Devotion Personal Worship Bible Exposition Doctrinal Conviction Shepherd's Heart Believing Prayer Spirit-Infilling   Question What do you think passion in preaching involves? Related Resources  On Preachingby...

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Each year, during the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we share a tribute video about a preacher who should be known and remembered. This year, our tribute video featured my father, the Rev. H.B. Charles Sr. My father was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After his education, he relocated to the West Coast. He served the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles for forty-years, until his death in 1989. My father led the Mt. Sinai Church during the critical years of the Civil Rights movement. He was active in community matters in Los Angeles, being a friend of...

  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. – Colossians 4:2-4   This week (September 18-20, 2018), the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference will take place at the Shiloh Church in Jacksonville (FL), where I am privileged to serve as pastor-teacher. This is the fifth year of Cutting It Straight....