Here we are, the final five of the big summer fifty.
46. Read some descriptive writing. If all you ever read is biblical commentary and theological textbooks, it will show in your preaching. Find someone who can write effectively and spend some time with them. We need to be able to paint pictures with our words, not just offer precise abstractions.
47. Pray about improving your preaching. I too easily treat this as a given, so I’ll mention it again. If you are a preacher, you should be praying. Apart from me you can do nothing. So why not pray specifically for God to show you areas to improve and to help make those improvements happen?
48. Nail a landing. I’m always impressed when a preacher knows where he is going, gets there, and stops effectively the first time around. Why not make that the goal next time you preach? Even if you don’t write the whole sermon, at least write out the last couple of paragraphs and then nail it!
49. Schedule a break. Summer is coming to an end and it is probably all systems go, but why not plan now for a break? Find a couple of Sundays and book them off. Make an appointment with a B&B or with a church visit somewhere else and just go sit. If you always give out, you will not be serving your congregation well.
50. Prioritize a prayer list of preaching concerns. Just to reinforce the earlier point, maybe it is time to make an actual list of preaching prayer points. Maybe you track illustrations, maybe you have a preaching schedule. But why not have a page of specific prayer points related to your preaching – include matters of preparation, of delivery, of growth, of longed for goals, etc.
Thanks for thinking through these. Have any stood out as new? Helpful? Relevant to you?
Biblical Preaching 
Thanks. These are all great and really thought-provoking. Will reblog. Things such as left/right differences had never really occurred to me. Also, to pray about your preaching being improved. And in our church I feel we need to evaluate preaching more amongst the leadership, honestly and graciously. all this is really helpful! I really appreciate the time that you take to think these things through.
I also love the first person thing, and know some friends who do that brilliantly. Check out link here if interested: http://churchlife.org.uk/recordings/ (things such as ‘Barnabas remembers’ and ‘John Marks’ tale’ etc.