The world has lost many good businessmen by having them become preachers.
Jonah learned more in the fish than some learn in seminary.
The pastor is called to be a shepherd, not a sheepdog.
Some preachers have a wealth of thought; others have a thought of wealth.
There is no pulpit so vacant as the one without the message of the blood of Christ.
There is a lot of preaching done that the devil likes to hear.
The preacher who does not evangelize will fossilize.
Some ministers are dying by degrees.
Always aim at the heart when preaching–never at the head.
He who feels others’ heart must speak from his heart.
The most spiritual preacher is a natural preacher.
All ministers should remember when they preach that God is one of their hearers.
Don’t use a gallon of words to express a spoonful of thought.
If you would win the world, melt it down–don’t hammer it down.
If people sleep during the sermon, the pastor need to wake up.
It takes more grace to preach to one than to the multitude.
Get so full of your message that when you speak there is no room for self.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.
A true preacher is more pleased when people tell him how wonderful the Lord is instead of telling him how great his sermon was.
The sinner in the pew will not be cleansed by soap in the pulpit.
If the pastor is good, he deserves a four-week vacation–if he is not, the congregation deserves it.
When there is no thirst for righteousness, the sermons seem dry.
Many pastors know what to say, but not when to quit saying it.
Difficulties, to the Christian, are only miracles that have not yet happened.
A caring preacher will build his church, and a caring church will build its preacher.
Biscuits and sermons are improved by shortening.
Great preaching requires great listening.
The after-dinner speaker: a gust of honor.
Unless the sermon makes the listener dissatisfied with either himself or the preacher, then it is classified as a poor sermon.
If you don’t strike oil in the first thirty minutes, stop boring.
A sermon need not be everlasting to have eternal value.
Many pastors preach from a text–too far from it.
Much preaching is answering questions people are not asking.
Long preaching–some ministers don’t know when to put the caboose on the train.
Preach the Bible, it will scare the hell out of people.
More preaching about hell in the pulpit will mean less hell in the community.
Biblical preaching will make some glad and others mad.
It is the duty of the pastor not only to comfort the distressed but to distress the comfortable.
When speaking, do not target your speech to the bystanders but to those for whom your speech is meant.
The great preacher makes a simple subject easy to understand instead of complicating it.
The sermon that you would enjoy the most is not likely to be the one that will do you the most good.
Popular preaching–one pastor remarked, “When I preach, some people stand in line–to get out.”
Successful preaching is not only what you say but how you say it.
If the preacher has something worthwhile to say, people will listen and remember.
Long-winded preacher, keep in mind that few souls are saved after twelve noon on Sunday.
Many ministers aim at nothing and hit it every time.
Prison preaching: A seminary graduate preached his first sermon in prison and said to the men, “I am happy to see all of you here.”
Prison preaching: A minister read his text as he started to preach in prison, “How shall we escape . . . .”
Poor preacher: A minister complaining to an auto mechanic that his bill was too high said, “I’m a poor preacher.” The mechanic said, “I know, I’ve heard you preach.”
There was a “drive-in confessional”–it was called “toot and tell.”
One young minister thought high cholesterol was a church holy day.
A pastor was shy about meeting a young lady. He opened the songbook to “I Need Thee Every Hour” and handed it to her. She turned to “God Will Take Care of You” and handed it back to him.
A pastor was speaking of the prophets one by one. After seventy minutes, he said, “We now come to Isaiah–what should we do with him?” An impatient person said, “He can have my seat; I’m going home.”
A pastor was known to have a Bible verse for everything that happened. One Sunday as he was preaching, a bug flew into his mouth. He gulped and said, “He was a stranger and I took him in.”
It’s good to follow the pastor when the pastor follows the Master.
Sermons should be built around the Scripture, not the Scripture around the sermon.
A sermon that pricks your conscience has good points.
A sermon is not an argument–a sermon is a piece of bread.
After the pastor preaches the Word of God, the people should take up the work of God.
The pastor had a Band-Aid on his chin. While shaving, he had thought of his sermon and cut himself. After the sermon, a member said, “Why didn’t you think of shaving and cut your sermon?”
Minister’s library burns–all two books burned; one he had not colored.
Preaching moves men–prayer moves God.
Prayer by the people in the pew will give the pastor power in the pulpit.
The reason for poor preaching is poor praying in the pew.