Three Powerful Ways to Start Your Sermon

Most communicators understand that their message introduction must capture the attention of the congregation, or half of them will be asleep by first point on the outline. However, the best openers not only get attention, they get people thinking differently— opening the path to transformed living. Powerful communicators don’t wait for the conclusion to issue…

Read More

The Ten Commandments of Preaching

God gave the original Ten Commandments to Moses and the Nation of Israel from the top of Mount Sinai. These commandments aren’t in the Bible, and they weren’t written in stone. But breaking them could keep you from connecting with your congregation. Here are the Ten Commandments of Preaching. Thou shalt not preach stolen sermons.…

Read More

Where to Find Great Sermon Illustrations

As a preacher, I’m always looking for great sermon illustrations.  So I thought I would share a list of some of the top secret places I find sermon illustrations.  After all, there shouldn’t be trade secrets in the Kingdom of God. Here are seven go-to places for sermon illustrations. 1.  Your past.   You may…

Read More

Six Ways to Make Your Sermon Stick

One of my favorite books is Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath.  It’s all about how some ideas stick, while other ideas fade away.  As preachers, helping our messages stick is important. In the book, the Heath Brothers (typing that makes me hungry for a candy bar), give six ways to make a…

Read More

How to Effectively Communicate to Students

Andy Stanley spoke during a main session at the Orange Conference. Here are some highlights of his message on how to to effectively communicate to students.  Your approach determines people’s response. We must adapt our approaches to connect with our target audiences. How do you win as many people as possible? You change your approach.…

Read More

Five Ways To Beat Sermon Writer’s Block

Writer’s block is a familiar, dreaded place. It’s where the blinking cursor on the computer screen seems to be taunting and laughing. It’s the same thing with Sermon Block.  Sunday’s coming and nothing seems to be flowing from the mind to the page.  That’s one of the reasons we created Preaching Rocket.  Sermon Block is…

Read More

10 Keys to Preaching from Crawford Lorrits

Crawford Loritts, Senior Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, GA, conducted an incredible seminar on effective preaching and teaching. Crawford’s thoughts were so insightful that our team wished to pass them along to you. One thing you will notice as you read Crawford’s words is his incredible use of language and desire to invest…

Read More

Five Things Every Sermon Needs

The word “sermon” comes from an old Latin word meaning “discourse.”  But a sermon is far more important than a speech.  A properly prepared and delivered message is powerful thing – God’s truth delivered through the voice of a herald.  In most church services, the sermon is a central element.  It’s too important to cut-and-paste.…

Read More