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What were the people in your church doing last Sunday while you were preaching? Listening, of course. At least you hope they were listening! Two days ago I sat with my family and listened as one of the other pastors on our church staff preached the sermon. Kent did a fine job handling the text, relating it to life, and exalting Christ. In addition to the work God’s Spirit did in my own heart through the sermon, I also made some mental observations about listening.

Two days ago, I heard Tim Keller remind preachers about the power of images. He spoke at a conference sponsored by The Gospel Coalition. Taking his cue from Jonathan Edwards, Keller argued that the ultimate purpose of preaching is to make the truth real, not just clear. “The business of preaching is to make knowledge live,” he said. Even Martyn-Lloyd Jones claimed that the primary object of preaching is not to give information but to give an impression.

I’m a big fan of sermon outlines. Having said that, I also believe that sermon outlines work best when they remain hidden. That is, I’m not convinced that our listeners need to see our sermon outlines or remember them in order for a sermon to be effective. Of course, this goes against the grain of a lot of current homiletical practice. In my observation, many preachers still make their outline points prominent. I see this both in churches with a more traditional style and (surprisingly) in churches with a more contemporary style. But I’m not convinced that it’s the best approach.

Friday at Daybreak’s Creative Infusion conference, one of the morning sessions was a discussion between Wes Dupin, senior pastor at Daybreak, and Mark Courtney, creative arts director at the church. They’ve worked together for 13 years, and Daybreak is regarded as a remarkably creative church, a place where all kinds of multimedia fit together in a church service. The two of them were asked several questions, and asked to respond and talk about ways they interact and work together.

One thing they continually emphasized was respect between senior pastors and people in creative departments.

There are plenty of shopping days left until Christmas, but this is the time to start thinking and praying about what you will preach during the Advent season. I’m currently trying to plan a series for the Sundays leading up to Christmas. Here are a few ideas. I served my previous congregation for fourteen years, so I had to be creative! I’d like to get your suggestions, too.

Greetings from the Creative Infusion conference at Daybreak! I’m here with FaithVisuals.com, a sister site of PreachingToday.com. The conference is geared towards people in creative ministry, particularly with visual media.

During one of yesterday’s sessions, the speaker talked about Daybreak’s recent, four-week Easter series, “Miracle Drug.” The title of the series came from a U2 song, and they used the meaning that God’s love is the miracle drug that fills the void inside each of us.

As preachers, whenever we want an illustration of some biblical truth, our minds easily gravitate toward biblical stories (like the story of Joseph for God's working good in a situation, of Job for patience, or of Elijah for depression). But I question the validity of such a practice, and whether such "biblical illustrations" are genuinely effective in a sermon.

Jerry Falwell, who died Tuesday of heart abnormalities, was spiritually and mentally prepared to face his end, a New York Times article reports. Just a little over two weeks ago, Falwell preached a sermon on a man or woman being " indestructible" until they have finished God's work, and told his congregation he was at peace with death.

On Mother’s Day I preached the book of Ruth, and I used the first-person narrative form. After a brief introduction, I broke into character. I delivered the story from the perspective of one of the elders of Bethlehem. The sermon’s main idea was that God redeems and restores through ordinary people who show loyal love to the people God places around them. Here are some reflections on using the first-person narrative form which grew out of my experience last Sunday.

I’m planning to start a series on Proverbs on June 3 and then conclude it on Labor Day weekend. Our church, I’m convinced, needs a good dose of biblical wisdom. Why? They need it in order to experience the full life Jesus promises (John 10:10) and in order to serve as effective witnesses to the gospel (Acts 1:8). I’m convinced that a commitment to the gospel entails living wisely when it comes to finances, friendship, words, work, sexuality, etc.

Here are some thoughts about my series on Proverbs. I share these to (1) encourage you to consider preaching Proverbs and (2) solicit insights and suggestions from those of you who have some experience in preaching Proverbs.

For those who like to refer to TV shows in their sermons, here are some recent findings on the TV shows most discussed in the workplace:

American Idol (Fox): 37%
Grey's Anatomy (ABC): 17%
24 (Fox): 11%
CSI (CBS): 10%
Lost (ABC): 8%
House (Fox): 8%

Taken from USA TODAY Snapshots (5-8-07; pg. D1)

Several years ago D. A. Carson made an astute comment about studying and preaching the Scriptures. He wrote: “We are dealing with God’s thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly.”

That’s the concern behind this blog. My purpose is to share insights and lead a discussion which results in a more effective proclamation of God’s thoughts. Your comments contribute significantly to this discussion. Now it’s time for me to take the next step to advance it.

For several months I have been doing an in-depth study of Malachi. As a pastor charged with the responsibility of feeding the people, one passage that seized my interest the more I considered it was 2:1–9, which discusses God's covenant with Levi as it rebukes the priests for failing in their responsibility to properly teach the Word. It is a sobering and relevant warning for preachers today, for as much as we should talk about proper methods in preaching we also need to talk about the heart issues of how we faithfully discharge our responsibility as God's spokesperson.

A few years ago, I discovered a great resource for sermon forms. About 90% of the sermon forms I use come directly from this resource. I’m talking about the Bible! I have long contended that preachers committed to biblical preaching will take their cues for sermon shape from the biblical text. So I was delighted to discover a new book on this topic by Jeffrey D. Arthurs. His book, Preaching With Variety (Kregel, 2007), explains how to re-create the dynamics of biblical genres (literary forms) in your sermon. I picked it up because I’m starting a series on Proverbs in June.

I used Power Point (PP) slides with my sermon on Psalm 23 last Sunday. This raises some large questions. Are PP presentations compatible with preaching? If so, what is appropriate or inappropriate? What are the benefits and dangers of PP for preaching? Let me touch on these questions by describing my approach. I’m not insisting that you adopt it. I’m simply trying to identify the issues with which you must wrestle on your way to a wise decision about using or not using PP in your preaching.