9 Basics for Better Sermon Delivery
9 Basics for Better Sermon Delivery

Effective preaching is more than just about what you say. It’s also about how you say it. Too many sermons fail not because of bad content, but because of bad delivery. Nobody how experienced you are, you should never stop learning. You should always be a student of sermon delivery because there is always room…

Read More
Preaching for a Verdict: Why You Should See Your Listeners Like a Jury
Preaching for a Verdict: Why You Should See Your Listeners Like a Jury

We live in a skeptical age. Fifty years ago, preachers didn’t have to work very hard convincing church goers to believe their message. Today, many of our listeners, especially millennials, question everything they hear. We can’t assume all of our listeners will be on board with us. We must first persuade listeners to believe in…

Read More
Sermonary
Sermonary

A revolutionary tool for building sermons The last few years leading Ministry Pass, we have noticed an opportunity to change the way sermons were written. 84% of pastors use Microsoft Word to build their messages. Technology has advanced in so many areas like Bible research and Bible reading but the way pastors build their sermons has…

Read More
6 Ways to Keep Your Church Faithful During the Summer
6 Ways to Keep Your Church Faithful During the Summer

Summer is here and that means lower attendance and decreased giving is looming for many churches. Most preachers aren’t too wild about summer (unless they’re on vacation!). School is out, vacations are planned, and there is a general feeling among some parishioners that it’s acceptable to ease up on their commitment to the church. Can…

Read More
How to Eliminate Bad Speaking and Preaching Habits
How to Eliminate Bad Speaking and Preaching Habits

When I took my first public speaking class in college, I was excited. I wanted to be a preacher. Public speaking was going to be my thing. I thought, “This class will be cake! I get to work on my skills and get an easy A.” When it came time for me to give my…

Read More
3 Components That Come Together in an Effective Sermon
3 Components That Come Together in an Effective Sermon

There are certain elements that must be included in every single sermon you ever preach. They are non-negotiable. To put it another way, every sermon you preach has three key components. Understanding them and helping them to play well together is half the battle of preaching effectively. The God Component The “God component” is what…

Read More
4 Principles for Using Pop Culture to Connect People to Jesus
4 Principles for Using Pop Culture to Connect People to Jesus

When your church meets in a movie theater, you understand what it is to do ministry right in the middle of the marketplace. For four years, our church plant met in two different movie theaters, each surrounded by shopping districts and restaurants. And sometimes, it got a little weird. A few times, we had to…

Read More
You Get a Half an Hour, and It Might Just Change a Life!
You Get a Half an Hour, and It Might Just Change a Life!

How much is a half an hour of undivided attention worth? The most valuable half hour in our entire society is the half hour people spend on Sunday listening to a sermon. For those few moments, everyone in the room is (mostly) tuned in to hear a life-changing message. We live in a culture saturated with…

Read More
How to Stay Positive AND Preach About Sin
How to Stay Positive AND Preach About Sin

We who preach are called to preach everything. The “whole counsel of God.” And that means talking about human sinfulness and depravity even as we’re preaching about victory and triumph. Remember the passage in the Bible where Moses comes down off the mountain and the people have made a golden calf? God prepared him with the…

Read More
3 Big Reasons Pastors Should Preach on Pop Culture
3 Big Reasons Pastors Should Preach on Pop Culture

Not too long ago, I sent out a survey to my email list and asked pastors if they believe ministers should address pop culture related topics like movies, music, & TV in their messages. Over 1500 pastors responded to the survey. A whopping 74% of them said, “Yes”—ministers can and should talk about culture from…

Read More
5 Resources Smart Pastors Use To Save Time For More Ministry
5 Resources Smart Pastors Use To Save Time For More Ministry

All pastors have more work to do than time to do it. Until Jesus comes back, there will always be more ministry to do. You could always do more… sermon prep outreach phone calls emails hospital visits meetings Bible studies plus a hundred other things. You will always have more work to do than time…

Read More
How to Not Crash a Great Sermon
How to Not Crash a Great Sermon

Not too long ago, I was flying into Guatemala City. It was dark, late, and extremely bumpy because of a terrible storm. I had a window seat, and as I looked out, all I could see was lightning. Lots of it. I wondered, “How often does a plane gets struck by lightning?” At that instant,…

Read More
How to Preach Through Books of the Bible Without Getting Bogged Down
How to Preach Through Books of the Bible Without Getting Bogged Down

One of the great debates in preaching circles is whether to preach topical sermon series’ or expository series’ through books of the Bible. I am sure you have met some people who have passionate opinions regarding one or the other. One camp says that preaching verse-by-verse through a book is tedious and becomes unengaging after…

Read More
How to Preach Persuasively with Eternity in the Balance
How to Preach Persuasively with Eternity in the Balance

Preaching out to persuade people to move toward God and his purposes. The eternal destiny of the hearer literally hangs in the balance. W. A. Criswell, while speaking at Moody Bible Institute on The Romance of Expository Preaching, defined preaching as “seeking to move a man’s will God-ward.” He went on to say that teaching is instructing…

Read More
Colorblind Man Sees Color for the First Time During Sermon
Colorblind Man Sees Color for the First Time During Sermon

Recently, a Ministry Pass member, Pastor Rob Dickerson of LifeQuest Community Church in Hilton, New York, shared a story with us about a very special service at his church. After I got off of the phone with Pastor Rob, I immediately relayed what he told me to our team—who were simultaneously ecstatic and moved.

Read More
Top 20 Most Embarrassing Preaching Stories
Top 20 Most Embarrassing Preaching Stories

If you’ve been in ministry for any length of time, you’ve probably had an embarrassing preaching moment or two. Or seven. I know I have. I was thinking about this the other day, and thought it might be fun to send out an email and ask our list of pastors about their most embarrassing preaching stories….

Read More
Mark Batterson on His Preaching Convictions
Mark Batterson on His Preaching Convictions

Welcome to video number five in our series with pastor and New York Times best selling author, Mark Batterson. Missed the previous videos? Check out the links to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. In this video, Mark drops my favorite line from this entire video series… “If your sermons are boring, it’s probably because your life…

Read More
Mark Batterson on the Things to Avoid as a Preacher
Mark Batterson on the Things to Avoid as a Preacher

Welcome to video number three in our series with pastor and New York Times best selling author, Mark Batterson. In this video, Mark talks about some of the things we need to avoid as preachers in order to present the full Gospel. Missed the previous videos? Check out the links to Part 1 and Part 2. Mark Batterson…

Read More
Mark Batterson on the Challenges of Preaching
Mark Batterson on the Challenges of Preaching

Welcome to video number two in our series with pastor and New York Times best selling author, Mark Batterson. Missed the previous video? Check out the link to Part 1. In this video, Mark talks about some of his greatest preaching challenges and how he overcame them. Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in…

Read More
12 Next Page

Bring Christmas to Life Again

Fresh Ideas to Connect Christmas with Life

101 Christmas Sermon Series Ideas

Want to be the leader your people need but feeling overwhelmed and on edge?

Get a copy of our FREE guide to avoiding burnout and discover what causes pastoral burnout, and how to heal so you can lead well into the future!

Where can we send this ebook?

Bring Christmas to Life Again

Powerful and Relevant Illustrations Connect Christmas with Life

Christmas Illustration Ideas Mockup iPad

22 Fresh Advent Sermon Series Ideas for Christmas 2021

Inspiration to Breathe New Life to the Traditions of Christmas