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, 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. 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:...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, H.B. discusses why preaching matters. This may seem to be an obvious discussion, especially in a podcast dedicated to the subject of preaching. But the priority of preaching should not be assumed or neglected. You will face times when preaching is "out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2), and the centrality of the preached word will be attacked. If you lose your why, you lose your way. Why does preaching matter? the Bible commands preaching. Preaching honors divine authority. God saves...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preaching you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this first 2020 episode of the podcast, I interview Bryan Samms, Pastor of the River City Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where he has served since 2016. A former youth pastor and professor of preaching, Samms is a faithful and clear preacher of the gospel. During our conversation, he shares parts of his ministry journey, his philosophy of ministry, and his process of sermon preparation. Enjoy! Did you find this conversation helpful? Join the conversation in the comments section.  Recommended...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I want to talk about you about what the preacher should offer to God on Sunday mornings. We readily acknowledge that the congregation should worship as they listen to the preaching of God's word. But we sometimes fail to recognize that we should worship as we preach the word of God to the congregation. The act of preaching is an act of worship. What should the preacher offer to God on Sunday morning?   A Prepared Message A Consecrated...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I talk about preaching and preachers with Steve N. Wagers (Twitter: @BishopWagers), who is the Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church near Louisville, Kentucky. Before leading the Calvary Baptist Church, Wagers served congregations in Virginia, Kentucky, and Florida - spanning some 25 years of pastoral ministry. Steve Wagers is a faithful, dynamic, and compelling preaching of the gospel. He also a prolific author, having written books of expositional messages on Jonah, Ecclesiastes, Joshua, Habakkuk, Esther, & Nehemiah. After he preached our...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode of the podcast, I want to talk to you about how to preach a better sermon next week. We have all had those weeks when we've prayed, "Lord, if you get me through this Sunday, I promise I will do better next week"? How do you keep that promise? Here are seven practical principles to help you preach better this week... Start earlier. Guard your study time. Focus. Strive for clarity. Talk it through with someone. Be content with a B-...