Author: Administrador

A pioneer is a person who goes on ahead of a group of travelers to make it safe for them to follow. The pioneer scouts ahead, explores, examines, risks, discovers, and suffers if necessary, on behalf of fellow travelers who will take the same path.According to Hebrews 2:10, Jesus is the pioneer of our salvation. … Continue reading “The Preacher as Listener”

“We had a grand and glorious Sunday,” said Brother Bill to his fellow pastors on Monday morning.“Every Sunday at your church is grand and glorious,” responded Pastor Pete. “At my church, I consider it a great Sunday if I don’t get fired!”The other pastors chuckled nervously and drank some more coffee. Brother Bob reached for … Continue reading ““I’ll take one conference and raise you three seminars …””

Today a sermon has to bite. If it doesn’t, the people sleep.It used to be that parishioners would be courteous enough to sit up straight, cock their heads in the pulpit’s direction and start to listen from word one.Today things have changed. From the first word in the message, it is a challenge to the … Continue reading “The Sermon That Bites”

What is so often lost in our effort to preach is the role of the congregation in the preaching task. In so many instances the preacher sees it as a solo performance. Part of this has to do with an understanding of preaching as the primary task of the pastor.What I am proposing is the … Continue reading “Encountering Jesus in a Preaching Congregation”

There are many specialized questions in interpreting the prophets. Understanding the predictive component of their biblical message requires some special hermeneutical procedures. The literature on this is vast but two of the best introductions to the understanding of predictive prophecy are A. Mickelson, Interpreting the Bible, 1983, chapter 13 and W. Kaiser, Back Toward the … Continue reading “How to Preach From the Prophets”

Ernest Hemingway said that his most anguishing hours as a writer were spent deciding how to begin a novel. After he had developed the plot, story line, the main and supporting characters, he would sit with a blank page before him wondering how to start in a way that would grip his readers.Finally, he would … Continue reading “Introducing the Sermon”

Max Lucado has become known in recent years through a series of widely-read books. That writing ministry grows out of his preaching as pastor of the Oak Hills Church of Christ in suburban San Antonio, Texas. The growing church currently runs about 1,200 on Sunday morning.Lucado was interviewed by Preaching editor Michael Duduit.Preaching: The whole … Continue reading “Preaching the Empty Tomb: An Interview with Max Lucado”

Preaching is the most important, powerful form of communication. The Western nations today — as never before — urgently need the solid, strong spiritual medicine of good preaching. When a preacher creates a sermon under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the result is an intellectually stimulating and spiritually illuminating message that can effect life change.An evangelistic … Continue reading “Preaching the Evangelistic Message”

There is no way to avoid it. I confess: I am one of those proverbial Saturday-night preachers. I would much rather tell you that by Thursday I am fully prepared and am simply reviewing my notes and digesting thoughts and concepts. Unfortunately, that is not the case. On any given Saturday night you can usually … Continue reading “Bones, Sinew, Flesh and Blood Coming to Life”

Preaching has changed from the days when the parishioner at the door said, “Thanks, pastor. You really stepped on our toes today, and I loved it.” The church of the twenty-first century is dealing with a generation that is discouraged, depressed, tired, lonely, and feeling guilty. They are more interested in learning what to do … Continue reading “Should the Sermon Beat Up or Lift Up?”