I’ve Been Preaching for a Long Time: Can I Improve? (Part 2)

You can find Part 1 of this series by clicking here.

In part 2 of this series, our goal remains the same: we want to improve as preachers the longer we preach. We want the second half of our preaching ministry to be as effective as the first half. How can we do this? Below are five more ways we can improve our preaching.

1. Take a Workshop on Preaching. Few things are more valuable when it comes to sermon preparation than routine. We settle into a specific rhythm of preparation (and preaching) that works best for us as preachers. But we must make sure that in our routine, we do not slowly drift away from important principles. Every so often, it is good for us as preachers to go back to the basics (hermeneutics, exegetical outlines, homiletical outlines, etc.) to refresh our memories. Ministries like The Simeon Trust are great opportunities to strengthen our preaching.
2. Disciple a Younger Preacher. When you help a younger preacher with his preaching, you will inevitably improve your own preaching. You will find yourself critiquing how he outlined his sermon or how he was soft in his conclusion and realize that you do the same thing! Discipling a younger preacher not only helps him, it also helps you to see areas of your preaching that have become blind spots to you.
3. Resist the Urge to be Innovative. The longer you preach (especially if you stay in the same pastorate for a long time), the greater will be the temptation to think that you must become more innovative because your people have heard it all from you already. To that temptation, I would respond: Don’t be like Barry Bonds! When the late 1990s arrived, Barry Bonds was already one of the greatest baseball players to ever play. But he had lost a step. It was becoming harder to hit Major League fastballs, so he started taking steroids. The results were stunning. Never before had he hit more than fifty home runs in a season, but in 2001 he hit seventy-three! Baseball fans everywhere were enthralled. Pastor, those with itching ears will love your newfound cleverness, but the faithful sheep will slowly become malnourished because you’ve traded in the real food of God’s Word for slop that is void of spiritual nutrition.
4. Maintain the Wonder. Pastor, if you are going to stay committed to God’s Word as the only source of spiritual nutrition for your people, then you will need to maintain the wonder. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once warned ministerial students to make sure their sermons had not only light (good information) but also heat (passion and feeling). Our preaching will improve as our wonder in the gospel increases.
5. Remember Your Calling. Sometimes the Lord blesses our preaching ministry. The church grows spiritually and numerically. Ironically, this is when things can get dicey. More people and more money means more opportunity for ministry, it means more demands on our time. It is in this moment that pastors must remember their calling from God to preach the Word. If we do not keep this in the forefront of our minds, we will allow the growing church to start to chip away at our time in the study, and what built the church in the first place—the preached Word of God—will get less and less of our time. So pastor, remember your calling to preach the word.

By God’s grace, I hope these suggestions will be helpful to you, brother pastors.