Preacher's Block

This preaching tip was shared by Preacher’s Block co-founder, Hunter Bethea. If you’re interested in joining the most focused preachers in the world and getting these tips sent to your inbox every week, sign up here.

Recently, one of my more analytical parishioners who has been a decades-long church attender shared that she didn’t really know what we meant when we said “your relationship with Jesus” and how to grow in it. Another parishioner had recently shared that they never knew what a study Bible was. And still another parishioner told me they had never read the Bible because they just didn’t understand it.

I guess I had always assumed people know what we meant by a “relationship with Jesus.” I guess I had assumed that people knew where to go to begin understanding the Bible. But those assumptions were wrong. So the most recent sermon I preached, I defined the term of “relationship with Jesus.” I also told my congregation that if they wanted to know who God was, one was to do that was through reading the Bible. I held up my favorite study Bible (The NIV Quest Study Bible, for those interested) and shared what a study Bible was. When we posted the sermon online, I even included a link to the study Bible to make it that much more accessible to those interested.

We would do well to not assume even the most basic information and understanding in our congregations. First, because many of our folks probably don’t know what we assume they know. And second, because sharing with them basic knowledge and information gives them the language to share that same information with their neighbors, family, and friends.