Sharpen your voice. Strengthen your message.

Early in ministry, I mistook volume for fruit. If the room was full, the sermon must have worked. If the stage was bigger, the calling must be clearer. It took me years to see I had the equation backwards.

Mark Christian drew a helpful distinction in a recent conversation on the Better Preaching Podcast: there is performative preaching, and there is pastoral preaching. Performative preaching walks onto a stage, earns the right to say a big thing, and says it well. It has its place. Camp messages, conferences, funerals for people you barely knew. Someone has to stand up and speak. We need preachers who can do that. But most of us aren’t called to live there.

Pastoral preaching is the slow work of opening the same Scriptures to the same people over a long stretch of years. It is not lesser work. It is harder in a different way. You can’t hide behind cleverness when the people in the pew watched you make coffee at their mother’s funeral. You can’t fake authority with a congregation that knows your kids’ names and has seen you on your worst Monday. You have to actually pastor, and the pulpit becomes less a performance stage and more a kitchen table where the family gathers to hear from the Book.

Here’s what I’ve learned: the preacher who stays gets something the traveling evangelist never will. You see the sermon land and then watch it grow. You preach on forgiveness in May and sit across from a reconciled father and daughter in October. You preach on generosity in November and watch the benevolence fund fill up by January. You preach a hard word on pride, and three families thank you for it six months later. That feedback loop shapes your preaching in ways no homiletics textbook can.

If you’re in year two or year twelve, and you’re tempted to think the real preaching is happening somewhere else, don’t believe it. Stay. Preach the text. Love the people. Let the Holy Spirit do the slow work.

There are preachers, and then there are preachers. Wayne B. Smith was the second kind.

Wayne helped start Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1956 and served as her senior minister until 1995 — growing the congregation from 152 to 3,700 weekly worshipers. He was, by nearly all accounts, the most popular preacher in the Restoration Movement. They called him “the Bob Hope of the Ministry.” He laughed easily, cried easily, and delivered Kentucky Fried Chicken to poor families at ten o’clock at night. I don’t know another man who wrapped the gospel in a bucket of chicken and made it feel perfectly natural.

But beneath the humor was a man dead serious about one thing: the pulpit.

In 1977, Wayne Smith served as president of the North American Christian Convention. When it was his turn to stand before his fellow ministers and say something worth saying, he chose as his text 2 Timothy 4:1-8, and his message was simply this — Preach the Word.

He structured the sermon around three great themes: the Summons, the Subject, and the Source.

The summons were urgent. He asked the crowd what had happened to the kind of preaching they heard on the Day of Pentecost — the kind that moved across a pagan empire like wildfire. He told the story of men visiting Billy Sunday and asking the secret of his preaching power. Sunday took them to the hotel window, looked down at the people on the sidewalk, and said three times — They are going to Hell. Wayne’s conclusion was simple: “Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel.“

The subject was Christ — always Christ. He put it plainly: some men say we need a new message, but if that’s true, then we need a new Bible. The message is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The bedrock foundation, the heart and soul of the apostles’ message, was the Son of God — the crucified, buried, resurrected, ascending, reigning, returning Redeemer.

And the source was the Word. Wayne used the image of a healing spring around which a whole town had been built — until the day someone asked where the spring was, and no one could remember. His warning to preachers was clear: under our superstructures and our success, some of us have lost the spring.

Wayne remained faithful to the end, encouraging a gathering of ministers the very day before he died in 2016.

He preached what he believed. He believed what he preached. And he told the rest of us to do the same.

Woe unto us if we don’t.

I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been preaching for a while now, and I still walk away from some Sundays thinking, Well, that could have gone better.

There’s no shame in that. In fact, I’d worry about the guy who walks off the platform every week thinking he knocked it clean out of the park. Overconfidence in the pulpit is a little like overconfidence behind the wheel of a tractor — sooner or later, you’re going to end up in a ditch.

I sat down recently with Patrick Lightfoot, lead pastor at Traverse Christian Church in Windsor, Colorado, and something he said stuck with me. He talks about “stage time” — the practice of actually getting up on the platform mid-week and preaching the sermon out loud before Sunday arrives. Not reading it over in your recliner. Not muttering through it in the shower. Actually standing where you stand and speak the words into an empty room.

He calls it “putting in the reps.”

I love that. Because preaching is a craft, and crafts require practice. You don’t sit in the bleachers and become a ball player. You don’t read books about farming and develop a feel for the land. You have to get your hands dirty.

Patrick also talked about watching yourself preach — playing back the recordings and sitting through the awkward “ums” and the rushed transitions and the conclusions that sort of just… trail off. He admits it’s uncomfortable. Of course it is. Nobody enjoys watching themselves on video. I watched one of my sermons once and became briefly convinced that I needed a new career. But that discomfort is where growth hides.

What strikes me most about Patrick’s approach is the discipline underneath the Spirit-dependence. He doesn’t treat those two things as opposites. He plans sermon series a year in advance and still makes room for the Holy Spirit to redirect. He rehearses thoroughly and still steps to the pulpit trusting God, not his notes.

That’s the balance, isn’t it? Preparation isn’t a lack of faith. It’s faithfulness.

Francis Chan puts it in the form of three questions: Am I worried about what God thinks? Do I genuinely love these people? Am I depending on the Holy Spirit?

Patrick has those written on a notecard and tucked in his Bible. They’re a better pre-sermon checklist than anything I could come up with, so I plan to put them in my Bible.

The congregation sitting in front of you every Sunday deserves a preacher who has done the work — and who has also gotten out of the way enough to let God do His.

Put in the reps. Then trust the One who makes them count.

BONUS CONTENT: Here are Francis Chan’s seven questions Patrick Lightfoot mentioned in his recent podcast appearance. Print them off and tuck them in your Bible and see if they don’t shape your preaching.

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks?—Teach with Fear.

2. Do I genuinely love these people? — Teach with Love 

3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? — Teach with Accuracy

4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit’s power or my own cleverness? — Teach with Power

5. Have I applied this message to my own life? — Teach with Integrity 

6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? — Teach with Humility 

7. Do the people really need this message? — Teach with Urgency

Becoming Missionaries in a Multigenerational World

This is the fifth and final principle in my series on preaching contextualized sermons to different generational cohorts. I want to conclude by reminding preachers of their role as cultural missionaries. To preach effectively to all generations, pastors must commit to ongoing cultural exegesis, studying and understanding different generations deeply.

Cultural Exegesis Defined

Just as biblical exegesis involves diligent interpretation of Scripture, cultural exegesis involves careful study of the cultural landscape—its values, language, and worldview. This requires humility, intentionality, and a willingness to learn from generational cohorts rather than merely instruct them.

Why Cultural Exegesis is Essential

With most pastors being a generation or two older than many of their congregants, bridging the cultural gap is not optional but necessary. Many younger and emerging generations can feel like generational immigrants to their churches, and pastors function as missionaries bridging these cultural gaps.

Approaches to Cultural Exegesis

• Listen attentively: Pay attention to stories and experiences, identifying with the feelings and emotions that accompany them. This builds empathy and understanding.
• Engage with current cultural trends and technologies: You don’t have to like the tectonic cultural shifts around you, but you do need to understand them.
• Participate in younger generations’ spaces: Both online and offline. An older preacher once said, “If you want to reach sinners, you gotta sit in the smoking section, because that’s where the sinners are.” Understanding the spaces they inhabit is key.
• Reflect on cultural influences on faith and behavior: Not all cultural shifts are negative. Today’s younger generations are often engaged in Matthew 25 concerns like food insufficiency, caring for the impoverished, and helping those who lack basic healthcare.

The Impact of Cultural Insight

Pastors who invest in cultural exegesis can craft sermons that resonate deeply while honoring scriptural integrity. This balance fosters trust and spiritual growth, ultimately enabling the church to fulfill its mission of making disciples across generations.

Patrick Lightfoot is a church planter and preacher living in Windsor, Colorado. A graduate of Harding University and Hope International University, Patrick transitioned from a career in sales and marketing to join the church staff at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado. 

In 2016, Patrick and his wife, Hannah, planted Traverse Christian Church in Windsor, Colorado. In the years since, the congregation has grown to nearly 1,000 people. 

A former College baseball player, Patrick has a “high motor.” He brings energy and intensity to the pulpit each week along with a passion for challenging believers at Traverse to apply what they learn from scripture. Prior to appearing on the Better Preaching Podcast, I asked Patrick three questions.

Q: Who are some preachers you admire and why?

A: Tommy Nelson from Denton Bible Church is my favorite expositor of scripture. He is humorous and loves poetry. I love the way Craig Groeschel presents practical application. Francis Chan and Matt Chandler are both great teachers of the Word. I love the passion with which David Platt teaches. Finally, John Mark Comer and Tyler Staton from Bridgetown Church are both great with historical context and spiritual disciplines

Q: When you think about the future of preaching what excites you and concerns you?

A: What excites me for the future of preaching is that we have a culture that is hungry for truth. This is especially evident in younger men. What concerns me is that some preachers focus more on creative communication than they do teaching God’s Word truthfully. We can’t make it more about delivery than content. His Word is enough.

Q: What’s one piece of preaching advice you would offer to your younger self?

A: Say “yes” to any and all speaking opportunities, no matter how small or big!

Engaging Generations with Variety and Creativity

Preaching multiple sermon styles is a strategic way to reach and engage generational cohorts. By using a mix of topical, expository, and narrative sermons, preachers adapt as needed for their congregation’s context.

This is the fourth post in a series about preaching contextualized sermons.

Why Variety Matters

The world today is accustomed to rapidly changing content and diverse media formats.

Monotonous, predictable sermon structures can result in disengagement. Offering sermon variety can maintain interest while addressing different learning preferences.

Sermons are most often written to fit three broad categories.

Sermon Types Explained

• Topical Sermons: Address a specific theme or issue directly. They can include multiple scriptures from throughout the Bible.
• Expository Sermons: Unpack a scripture verse by verse, emphasizing deep biblical understanding. Preachers who prefer this style often work through a larger text like the Sermon on the Mount or an epistle.
• Narrative Sermons: Use stories and personal testimony to illustrate spiritual truths. Messages delivered in the narrative style can feel more like a story than a sermon.

Balancing Styles

Preachers should be adaptable, choosing methods that best communicate the message and engage their listeners rather than sticking rigidly to one method.

Narrative sermons build emotional connections, expository sermons deepen understanding, and topical sermons tackle pressing concerns.

Creative Techniques

Preachers can integrate creative communication to make messages more concrete and memorable.

• Use multimedia (videos, music, visuals) to complement the sermon.
• Incorporate participatory elements like Q&A or discussion groups.
• Employ authentic storytelling to make the message memorable.
• Use props or object lessons to create strong visual connections.
• Enlist the help of others by sharing the platform when appropriate.

Embracing diverse sermon styles keeps sermons vibrant, inviting people from all generations to experience Scripture in fresh and meaningful ways.