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...

https://player.vimeo.com/video/397527818 Good day, Shiloh Church family. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. – 2 Peter 1:2 We are in the midst of a critical and unprecedented national emergency, because of the outbreak and rapid spreading of COVID-19, or the Coronavirus. With the consultation of elders and staff, I have made the difficult but prayerful decision to cancel in-person worship services this week. It is a biblical duty to meet together publicly and corporately for worship. However, for your safety and protection, in submission to the recommendations of government...

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.  Preachers learn to preach three ways: (1) Preachers learn to preach by studying preaching. (2) Preachers learn to preach by preaching. (3) Preachers learn to preach from other preachers. Every preacher needs homiletical heroes to learn from. In this episode, we will discuss the learning to preach by listening to and learning from other preachers. What should you look for in selecting a preaching hero? Real Preaching Heroes Personal Preaching Heroes Multiple Preaching Heroes Sound Preaching Heroes Dead Preaching Heroes Diverse Preaching Heroes Godly...

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. I am a proponent of having a preaching calendar. Pastors are busy. We need to spend the time we have to prepare in actual preparation, rather than looking for something to preach. A preaching plan helps the pastor develop a healthy and balanced diet of God's word for the congregation. And a preaching calendar can be a tool with which you shepherd the worship life of the church. What should you include in your preaching plan?    Bible Books Thematic Series Christian...

When I meet new people, initial conversations often raise the same questions. It begins with my name. Yes, my name is H.B. No, it does not stand for anything. I don’t know. My father did it to me, and I did it to my son. The next set of questions is about the church I serve. The detail that typically captures attention is that the church I serve is in Florida. The conversation turns to whatever the person thinks about Florida, good or bad. Then I am asked if I was raised in Florida. I answer that I have lived...

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, I want to talk to you about how long it should take to prepare a sermon. Some pastors spend their entire week in sermon preparation. This cannot be a good thing. If you spend all week in sermon preparation, you are neglecting other important pastoral duties. Others spend virtually no time in preparation, cramming on Saturday night to find something to say on Sunday morning. How long should it take to prepare a sermon?  Time to pray. Time to...

Each year, during the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference, we pay tribute to a preacher that should be known and remembered. This year, we paused to remember the life and ministry of Warren W. Wiersbe. Warren W. Wiersbe was a preacher's preacher. He was also a laymen's preacher, who made the word of God plain and clear for any person to understand. Above all, Warren Wiersbe was the Lord's preacher, a man of God who served the Lord in his generation and moved upstairs to his final reward on May 2, 2019. Wiersbe was a pastor, serving several churches...