Preaching without notes is the opposite of "winging it." In my case at least, it is the result of a highly personalized (OK, maybe even somewhat OCD) process that's built on these three premises: Internalize, don't memorize If you get lost during delivery, you're the...
Yesterday's message ... Reflected my own amazement from Proverbs 1:7 that fools DESPISE (not just ignore or avoid but actively DESPISE!) wisdom and instruction; Reminisced about the role of that verse in filtering false wisdom from true while I was in college; Touched...
A lot of us settle in life. We settle for less than our best when it comes to our relationships, our professions, our hobbies, and even our faith. But why settle when you can savor? Why be content with less when more is not only desirable but available? Throughout the...
We preachers spend a lot of time crafting the opening moments of our sermons. Or, if we don't, we should. Because it is in those moments that you either capture your listeners' attention or lose it. In the opening you either establish common ground with the...
We preachers spend a lot of time and energy trying to bring life to our sermons through what have historically been called illustrations. Donald Grey Barnhouse, longtime pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, compiled the most famous collection of such...
At the 2015 New Room Conference, hosted by Seedbed Ministries, I led a seminar called Series That Pop And Sermons That Stick. So the Seedbed folks recently asked me if I'd do a podcast on the same topic. The result is below, with my friend and Methodist pastor...
As a lot of you know, I write a sermon manuscript virtually every week. I am able to work several weeks ahead, so while I write one almost every week, it’s not the one I’ll deliver that coming Sunday. That one, of course, has been written several weeks earlier. But...
Yesterday's message was one of moderating and not moderating. For example, I originally had a bottom line that contrasted "diapers" and "Disney." But over the last week, Disney became known for the alligator who snatched the two year old boy, and so it just didn't...
I'm not going to lie. I liked yesterday's message a lot. I liked the set up for the sermon -- a song by Don Henley & Trish Yearwood called Words Can Break Your Heart. Don and Trisha weren't with us in person, mind you, but their roles were filled more than...
Do you remember those scenes in old Western movies in which a stagecoach raced across the American plain? While we are grateful for the modern system of interstate highways, the stagecoach's image is nevertheless one of romance, energy, and alignment. All that...