He Stopped the Sermon

After many years in the pulpit, Steve Simms gave up preaching. He turned the floor over to his congregation. And he’s never looked back. Every Sunday at Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, Tennessee, the faithful gather to hear and share personally what God is doing in their lives. It’s unscripted, and often surprising. Simms says, […]

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Kicking the Sermon Habit

It may be well-intended. It may be well-researched. It may be well-executed. But, the sermon, as we know it, fails to deliver. The weekly lecture isn’t just failing those who sit silently in the pews. The form itself is repelling much of today’s population, particularly men and younger generations. One of the most often mentioned reasons […]

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Fear Not: Double Your Teaching Results

Here’s a guaranteed way to dramatically power-up your teaching and preaching. It works. But many teachers and preachers will reject it–before ever trying it. I’ve used this approach–with great effectiveness–for 40 years. It’s simple. It costs nothing. It’s described in our new book, Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore. Here it is: Dialog. […]

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What You Can’t Say at Church

You’re not allowed to talk about that at church. In fact, you’re not allowed to talk at all during the typical American church service. And that’s a problem for the majority of the population that does not attend church. Most people view the typical worship service as a passive time of one-way communication. They believe […]

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How to Silence Your People

“Pastors, preach the word boldly and shut the mouths of your listeners!” That was an actual comment from a pastor in response to one of my blog posts. My article encouraged pastors to enhance their preaching with effective communication techniques–such as those that Jesus used. These include listening to your people, and encouraging people’s questions […]

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The Perfect Length for a Sermon

A denominational executive recently chided pastors in his tribe for inflicting “spiritual starvation” on their flocks. The crime? Brief sermons. After skimming a sermon on a pastor’s blog, the denom leader wrote: “It could not have been more than eight minutes long, if that! This is, sadly, not some exception. It is in keeping with […]

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How to Waken Comatose Listeners

The 30-minute lecture (a.k.a. sermon) anesthetizes the audience every week. As I reported in my last post, most people remember very little of the typical sermon after a few days. Few show any life change as a result of the oratory. Yet preachers keep following the same old protocol week after week. A pastor friend […]

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Your Last Sermon: Memorable or Forgettable?

What was the point of the last sermon you heard? Over the years, I’ve interviewed church-goers on Wednesdays. I asked them what they remember from the previous weekend’s sermons. Their answers are pretty similar. I’ve seen little difference in their responses due to parishioner demographics, or church size. You can see what they said. Watch this brief […]

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