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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The End of Sermon Time as We Know It

The typical Sunday morning lecture time wasn’t working as well as it might. So, Pastor Rick Bundschuh set out to try some different approaches to engage his congregation, ignite their faith, and extend his messages well beyond the Sunday morning hour. Rick knew he’d be bucking centuries of methodological tradition–and challenging the self-identity of many  preachers […]

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Done with ‘Sit Down and Shut Up’

People are leaving their churches because they feel excluded. Excluded from participating in the communication of the message. This is one of the unanticipated findings in sociologist Josh Packard’s research on the Dones–formerly active church members who have walked away from all institutional religion. These are people who have heard countless sermons. They tend to […]

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An Epiphany for Lecture-Loving Pastors

The evidence mounts. The lecture style of teaching produces inferior results. A study reported in Scientific American exposes, again, how academia’s hardened use of the lecture method is stifling learning and growth. The journal’s writer put in bluntly: “If you’re going to college and you’re going to a whole bunch of lecture classes that require […]

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Lost After 6 Minutes

The evidence mounts. We’re learning why so much preaching and teaching produces thin results in the lives of the recipients. It’s not due to the speaker’s lack of charisma, or failure to prepare, or theological imprecision. It’s not due to the irrelevance of the message itself. It’s as relevant as ever. Rather, it’s due to […]

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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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Great Speaker. Lousy Leader.

Pastor Bob really knows how to captivate an audience with his sermons. People say he’s a “great communicator.” And many people assume that Pastor Bob’s eloquence also means he’s a great leader of his people. But, actually, when it comes to leadership, Pastor Bob is a train wreck. He may be called the “lead pastor,” […]

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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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What Shackles Great Teaching

For many teachers and preachers, there’s a line they won’t cross when delivering their messages. This line creates a barrier that looms higher than any desire to move the audience. Most preachers and teachers will say that their ultimate goal is to help their people grow spiritually. They are sincere. But I’ve discovered a number […]

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You’re Not Called to Preach

The young man was puzzled. He heard me and other panel members cite the inherent limitations of regular lectures and sermons. After we encouraged the audience to insert some experiential elements into their teaching, he raised his hand. “But what about the biblical mandate to preach?” he asked. Now I was puzzled. First, I wondered […]

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