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...

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....

  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...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  So, how did it go this Sunday?  This is the instinctive question preachers ask one another on the other side of Sunday. Answers may address church attendance, the offering, and service elements. But it eventually gets down to the sermon. How did the sermon go? We are prone to get this self-evaluation of our sermons wrong. We think it went better than it actually did. Or we think it went worse than it actually did. Here are five objective but spiritual principles for evaluating 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 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....

  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...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I interview Brian Croft. Croft is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church and Founder of Practical Shepherding. He is also the Senior Fellow of the Mathena Center for Church Revitalization at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has written or contributed to over twenty books on pastoral ministry. He is married to Cara, and they have four children. I am most encouraged these days by men who have a high view of the church. I am especially encouraged by...

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 preaching narrative sermons. The vast majority of the Bible is narrative. The drama of redemption is told through the story of people whose lives were invaded by God. If we do not preach narrative texts, we rob our hearers of a key element of the whole counsel of God. How can you preach narrative sermons effectively?  Do your homework. Feel the tension of the text. Teach the story. Build the message around one...

  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...