You’re invited to join me next week for one of 4 free webinars I’m leading called “Planning Your 2012 Preaching Calendar.” After coaching more than 1,000 pastors over the last few years, I’ve learned that one of the best tools for reducing your stress, maximizing creativity, honoring God and working with the natural patterns of your people is planning your preaching calendar months … Read More
The First Few Minutes Matter – Sermon Lessons from Hollywood
Around The Journey, we call it “The Hook” – it’s the first 3 to 5 minutes of the sermon that is designed to capture the attention of your audience and set the tone for the message you are to deliver. As a communicator, I’m always looking for examples of how to ‘set the tone’ to share God’s word and ‘capture the attention’ of … Read More
4 Tips for How to Preach on Video
We are fortunate to live in an age when so many great ministry tools are available to us. One powerful ministry tool at our disposal is video preaching. Whether you’re in a multi-site situation or simply a solo pastor preparing to be away for a Sunday, the ability to record a sermon on video and play it back during the … Read More
The Ten Commandments of Preaching
One of the decisions I made early on in my ministry was that I would do everything possible to cooperate with God to become the best preacher I could be. And I”m still committed to constant improvement. With that in mind, I read a great article recently by Tyler Scarlett, Pastor of Forest (Virginia) Baptist Church, and I want to … Read More
Four Keys to Maximize Your Preaching on Easter
Like I have been telling you the last couple of days, I’m committed to helping you Maximize Easter this year like never before! To help you make this the BEST EASTER EVER for your church, here are four keys to make the maximum possible impact with your preaching this Easter: 1- Begin a new Sermon Series on Easter Sunday, April 24. … Read More
Help for Planning Your Easter Sermon Series (25% Off)
With Easter only about six weeks away, now is the time to plan what you’re going to preach. And since I am committed to helping you experience a powerful Easter at your church, I’m offering seven of my most effective sermon series resources at 25% Off – THIS WEEK ONLY. Sermons available for 25% Off include: From Stress to Rest … Read More
NEW Sermon Series – Teach Your People How to Face Life’s Storms!
One of the most helpful and well-received sermon series we’ve done at The Journey this year was called “Unshakeable Faith.” And now I’m excited to let you know that the full, six-part series (and everything you need to teach it at your church) is available in the Church Leader Insights Store. Here are the details: Teach your people how to … Read More
Top 10 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Going Well
Can’t we all use a chuckle on Monday morning? Here’s a list I saw recently from the folks at Preaching Magazine (www.Preaching.com): The Top 10 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Going Well 13. Your associate pastor is warming up in the bullpen. 12. The praise band begins playing you off the stage. 11. The congregation is filling in the blanks of … Read More
What Makes A Great Sermon Great? Abraham Lincoln’s Opinion…
I just finished reading John Maxwell’s new book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, and I’ll be talking about it in a future CLI Newsletter (you are getting the newsletter aren’t you? if not, click here). Here’s a powerful story that Maxwell shares in this book: President Abraham Lincoln, an incredible communicator, was known during the Civil War to attend a church … Read More
FDR on Sermon Preparation…
I ran across this story in a book I was reading recently and I think it has great application when it comes to planning and preparing to preach: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was once asked how long it would take to prepare an address on a particular theme. “That depends on how long you want me to speak,’ the President answered. … Read More