Melinda Quivik 9/8/25 Melinda Quivik 9/8/25

On Keeping the Listeners' Attention (A Guest Post)

It’s challenging to hold our listeners’ attention when we have only limited information about them. There are several strategies that will help you engage your listener from start to finish no matter how well acquainted you are with the nuances of their day-to-day lives.

Shaundra Taylor 8/25/25 Shaundra Taylor 8/25/25

The Invaluable Role of Writing [Your Sermon] (A Guest Post)

By wrestling through your draft to the point of absolute clarity, you'll build trust with your listener. Because they'll be able to see for themselves—rather than take your word for it—how you reached the conclusion you preach. And this trust will enable them to BELIEVE the Good News you've offered because you've shown, beyond question, how that Good News appeared in the text, what it means, and how its implications matter to their lives now.

Lisa Cressman 8/18/25 Lisa Cressman 8/18/25

This ONE Question Will Keep Your Sermon on Message

My brother is a journalist who has written longer than I have preached. He now teaches journalism at a university. When I was getting ready to teach seminary homiletics the first time I asked him a question that plagues writers of any ilk: "How do you teach writers not to wander and stay on message?"

I thought that since he's a writing professional and educator he would tell me the "secret:" the right set of questions that any author needs to prevent verbal self-meandering.

His response?

"That's what editors are for."

Thanks a lot, Big Brother!

Per last week's post, yes, that is exactly what editors are for. But without an editor what can preachers rely on instead? A very simple question with three principles.

Lisa Cressman 7/21/25 Lisa Cressman 7/21/25

Preaching Change? Remind us who we are

Perhaps there is no greater reason we fear changing our minds than this one: it causes us to question our character, the very definition we have of our “selves.” When we suggest during a sermon that change is needed, the listener hears that that they are not as good as they see themselves. Whether we intend it or not, they hear that we as the preacher—and by extension, God—see their character as lacking. How do we preach change without suggesting a character assassination?

Lisa Cressman 6/16/25 Lisa Cressman 6/16/25

The Preacher’s Final Point: What Do You Hope the Listener Will Think, Feel or Do?

All parts of the sermon function like a call and response: each initial question answered, each named problem affirmed, each element finding its conclusion in the sermon’s intentionally crafted end. What are you inviting your listener to understand or believe more deeply? Why does it matter? Every word of the sermon lays the path to those answers.

Lisa Cressman 6/1/25 Lisa Cressman 6/1/25

"Really—How Hard Can Preaching Be?" Very. Here’s Why.

Why do so many parishioners find themselves in pews, week after week, listening to sermons that are vague, confusing, boring, discouraging—or that simply don’t connect? And what can preachers do to change the dynamic?

Lisa Cressman 5/19/25 Lisa Cressman 5/19/25

What I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Preaching

I trust you are as capable as I was at finding your way and learning the lessons about preaching that you need. But learning by trial and error takes a long time, and I wish I hadn’t lost so much of mine. Alas, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. So I’m sharing the main challenges I faced along with what I wish I’d known: suggestions to make this preaching life easier—no matter how many years you’ve been in the pulpit!

Lisa Cressman 4/27/25 Lisa Cressman 4/27/25

Science + Sermons (A Guest Post)

“Scientists not only make the Creator’s glory more vivid as they read the book of nature, but they illuminate themes—and therefore the related texts—that can enhance our preaching and teaching. Moreover…congregations that intentionally engage science actually attract science-minded individuals into the church.”

Lisa Cressman 4/14/25 Lisa Cressman 4/14/25

3 Simple Steps to Preach Lofty Theological Ideas from Our Earthly Plane

When Jesus preached about the kingdom of heaven, he didn't explain what the “kingdom of heaven meant. Instead, he used commonplace metaphors like a mustard seed, leaven, and treasure buried in a field to preach lofty theological ideas from an earthly plane. He didn't preach about theology. He preached an experience of it. We can adapt his process to bring lofty theological concepts down to earth.

Melinda Quivik 2/24/25 Melinda Quivik 2/24/25

Stretch Beyond "Churchy" Words (A Guest Post)

Watch out for churchy words. They confiscate your meaning. These are the words that whisper a not very hidden secret: Only the initiated can understand these ideas. Those who are not “in the know” either check out when they hear these words or they become convinced that this Christianity stuff isn’t for them, and they don’t come back next week.

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