Looking Like Your Audience

Looking Like Your Audience We turn now from considering the use of humor in your sermons, as in these last few posts, to a consideration of something most preachers learn the hard way.  Looking like your audience is important.  If you don't,…

Great Sermons Reflect Practice

Great Sermons Reflect Practice The past series of posts dealt with illustrations.  Now we turn to the key to moving your sermon from good to great: practice.  Great sermons reflect practice by the one delivering it. Car Buyers' Remorse I…

Make Sure You Illustrate Well When Preaching

Make Sure You Illustrate Well When Preaching I've addressed the need for good illustrations earlier in this blog.  You can check  out posts here and here.  However, my recent reading has included some reflection on what makes a good illustration.…

How to Love Your People For Better Preaching

How to Love Your People For Better Preaching In the last post we saw that loving your people makes preaching better.  In this post we consider how to love your people for better preaching in your ministry. Let Them Know You Love Them I've…

Loving Your People Makes Preaching Better

Loving Your People Makes Preaching Better It seems to be a rather obvious statement: loving your people makes preaching better and easier.  But a question comes up rather quickly: how do you love the jerks?  Your church has them, I'm sure.…

Watch Your Language When You Preach

Watch Your Language When You Preach In the last couple of posts we've looked at the Curse of Knowledge and how to overcome it.  In this post we are going to consider one of the ways that you might become a victim of the curse of knowledge.…

How To Overcome the Curse of Knowledge

How to Overcome the Curse of Knowledge In the last post we identified a major obstacle to effective preaching, the curse of knowledge.  In this post we are going to consider how to overcome the curse of knowledge in your preaching. A Reminder Let's…

The Curse of Knowledge for Preachers

The Curse of Knowledge for Preachers In this post we are turning away from the subject of the past several weeks, new maps for sermon making, to a challenging subject: the curse of knowledge for preachers as they present their sermons. What…

The Importance of Being Yourself When You Preach

The Importance of Being Yourself When You Preach This post is about the importance of being yourself when you preach to a congregation. One of the most engaging preachers in my geographical area became a professor of preaching.  He was…
types of self-care

How To Take Care Of Yourself

How To Take Care Of Yourself In the last post I made some suggestions as to why this is indeed a stressful time, so you need to take care of yourself.  In this post, we're going to look at how to do that, how to take care of yourself in times…