equipping preachers Archives

Selecting just the right sermon illustration

Posted June 2nd, 2022

Each day about 300 million images are uploaded for public consumption. Choosing just the right image to use with Sunday’s sermon is an important task for any preacher. Just why that is — and what considerations ought to go into selecting and describing that image — was the subject of Wednesday’s Equipping Preachers webinar put on each month by the Synod of the Covenant.

A high risk, high reward endeavor

Posted May 5th, 2022

The Rev. Dr. Jake Myers’ recently-completed book, “Stand-Up Preaching: Homiletical Insights from Contemporary Comedians,” will be published in late summer or early fall. Those who attended the Synod of the Covenant’s Equipping Preachers webinar on Wednesday got a sneak preview of how humor can work well, even when it’s delivered from behind the pulpit.

‘If it matters to Jesus, it should matter to us’

Posted April 26th, 2022

Wanting to impress on the preachers in his Zoom audience the importance of garnering helpful listener feedback following their sermons, the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick recently offered up the words of a very popular preacher from back in the day: Jesus himself.

Even in our polarized times, it’s possible to preach faithfully on third-rail topics

Posted April 7th, 2022

Each week, preachers make their way to the pulpit — whether wooden or virtual — to deliver a sermon to congregants living in a nation that’s increasingly polarized.

Webinar encourages prophetic preaching during times of trouble, including right now

Posted March 3rd, 2022

Given the state of the world, particularly in Ukraine, encouraging preachers to stretch into prophetic preaching seems timely, even during this season of repenting and walking with Jesus to the cross.

‘If it matters to Jesus, it should matter to us’

Posted February 3rd, 2022

Wanting to impress on the preachers in his Zoom audience Wednesday the importance of garnering helpful listener feedback following their sermons, the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick offered up the words of a very popular preacher from back in the day: Jesus himself.

Opportunities abound for effective online preaching

Posted January 7th, 2022

While in-person preachers have a big toolbox from which to draw, online preachers have just two main tools — their face and their voice.

Two little prepositions can bolster preaching

Posted December 6th, 2021

Sermons that are memorable and have impact often rely on two tiny prepositions: “from” and “to,” the Rev. Dr. Tim Slemmons told a group of about two dozen preachers gathered online last week to participate in a webinar designed to help them improve their preaching.

Fulfilling our roles as proclaimers of God’s good news

Posted November 4th, 2021

Preaching is too important to be left solely to the preacher.

‘I think the first person we are preaching to is ourselves’

Posted October 8th, 2021

If you think congregants are busy during Advent and Christmas, consider your preacher, who, as the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick quipped on Wednesday, quoting a friend, must be, during the few hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, Billy Graham, Martha Stewart and Santa Claus rolled into one.