Sermon Helps Featured Articles Archives

• Defending the Unstoppable Gospel  (May 11, 2011)
  In all our talk about defending the gospel, it's possible that we might think of the good news as fragile and vulnerable. God forbid!
• Healthy Pastors = Healthy Churches = Healthy Communities  (August 10, 2006)
  Healthy churches play a major role their communities. And it takes healthy clergy to lead healthy churches. One way to develop healthy clergy is through scheduled retreats.
• Who?s Doing the Talking in Our Church Gatherings?  (March 3, 2011)
  Is the proclamation of God's Word merely a human dialogue---people of rather equal status speaking to each other? Does having a sermon undermine the "priesthood of all believers?" (Read more)
• Why Do We Preach?  (December 23, 2005)
  Preach the Word! That simple imperative frames the act of preaching as an act of obedience. That is where any theology of preaching must begin. Preaching is a commission - a charge.
• Intellectual Discipleship: Following Christ with Our Minds  (January 17, 2011)
  A failure of Christian thinking is a failure of discipleship, for we are called to love God with our minds.
• Jesus vs. Paul: An Interview with Scot McKnight about the Gospel  (December 14, 2010)
  Scot seeks to help evangelicals resolve a common dilemma ? how to reconcile and integrate the different emphases we find in the teachings of Jesus (Kingdom of God) and the letters of Paul (justification by faith).
• Insignificant Is In  (November 17, 2010)
  Church size still lands pastors book deals and conference platforms. Youthful boasting of plans to fix the world catch the media?s attention. But the pushback has been strong, and not just from Christian leaders who toil in obscurity. Rather, some of the most prominent evangelical voices have raised concerns about our penchant for regarding bigger and newer as better.
• Advent as an Antidote to Christian Boredom  (December 4, 2008)
  Advent can be an antidote to the sinful slip into apathy, helping us to be astounded at the glory of God.
• Striving Together: Is There a Place for Competition in Ministry?  (October 27, 2010)
  Competition isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can push people to do their best in service to God.
• Why We Need Parables  (November 18, 2009)
  How many times have we sat in a church service or class that was numbing our brain when the preacher or teacher said those magic words that jerked us back to life: "Let me tell you a little story...."
• Five Things You Need to Know About Preaching Through the Books of Scripture  (November 9, 2010)
  Many pastors are intimidated by the thought of preaching all the way through an entire book of the Bible. Some fear that congregational excitement will be hard to sustain and that pastor and congregation will get bogged down in an extended series on a single book. Others may want to avoid the stereotype of the tired old expositor relentlessly trudging through questions of grammar and syntactical constructions. Many may even perceive the method as outdated.
• 4 Types of Friends Every Pastor Needs  (November 1, 2010)
  "If you are a typical pastor without close friendships, I urge you to seek them out."
• A Counter-Intuitive Path to Pastoral Success: Make a Mistake  (September 24, 2010)
  We do like our leaders to be human and to show their humanity from time to time.
• So, You're Preaching This Sunday...  (August 9, 2007)
  Let?s suppose you?re a pastor and you?re preaching this Sunday. That?s six days away. To the man or woman in the pew, that seems like a long time, but it?s not. Perhaps you?ve heard of the Preacher?s Calendar. It goes like this...
• Is Dialogue a Basis for Christian Unity?  (March 18, 2009)
  The call for dialogue among Christians often comes from those with inter-faith sensibilities. And talking respectfully with people of other religions is a good thing, however, in many circles "dialogue" merely serves as an antidote to evangelism.
• Do You Long for the Goodness of Life?  (April 27, 2009)
  When you look at the disintegration of marriages, homes, families, relationships, morals, and society in general, do you wonder what is happening?
• It is Never Right to be Angry with God  (April 3, 2009)
  John Piper explains how our feelings are either good or bad depending on how they relate to God.
• Bookends of the Christian Life  (April 21, 2009)
  Using a bookends motif, Bridges and Bevington show how justification and sanctification can help you overcome guilt and self-righteousness, develop the motivation to grow, be assured of God's love, and bring about lasting change in your life.
• Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Does the Bible Teach Both?  (April 17, 2009)
  God is the sovereign ruler over the universe and all human affairs, and human beings are responsible before God for the moral choices and actions they make. Yes, the Bible teaches both and both are true.
• Do We Have an Authority Problem?  (April 16, 2009)
  Since the Garden of Eden men and women have worked to perfect the craft of rebellion.