We hear criticism all along of the young preachers among us: “They don’t preach like the older preachers,” they say. That’s funny! It sounds like what people said of us older preachers when we were young. The truth is, we know of many young preachers who are capable, knowledgeable in the scriptures, sound in the faith, and clear in their presentation. We were recently challenged to name a few, and without much thought, a number of names came to mind. We rejoice as we see these young men develop. We have confidence in them. We consider many of them close friends, but we do have some advice we hope will be helpful.<\/p>\n
This will not be easy. People will praise you, place you on a pedestal you do not deserve, and shower you with gifts, all because of their appreciation for your work and their desire to further encourage you. But such praise can lead to pride, and pride will destroy you, rendering you ineffective and displeasing to God.<\/p>\n
Remember, whatever talents you have, God gave them to you. Whatever good you do, it is by the grace of God (I Corinthians 15:10). Thank God and give Him the glory.<\/p>\n
Many a young preacher has experienced shipwreck because of an immoral relationship. Dreams are shattered. Regrets plague them. You must not be among them. If you do give in to the lust of the flesh, you will definitely suffer severe consequences in this life, and you might find it difficult to repent, leading to eternal consequences. Count younger women as sisters, with all purity (I Timothy 5:2).<\/p>\n
Read God’s word, not just to find preaching material or to prepare for a Bible study, but for the very purpose of drawing near to God that He might draw near to you (James 4:8). We commend John Gibson’s article in the June 2014 issue of Biblical Insights<\/em>, “Praying Your Daily Bible Reading.” I wish I had seen that article 50 years ago and put it into practice daily.<\/p>\n You should be free to make suggestions, as would be true of any member, but you must not view the elders as “rubber stamps” to approve and implement all the changes you<\/strong> think should be made. Many of us older preachers have been guilty of this, and you might have been misled by us in this regard. The church got along very well before you arrived, and hopefully it will do very well after you are gone. The power is in the word you preach. The good that will live on after you are gone will be that which results from the implanted word that is able to save souls (James 1:21).<\/p>\n Don’t trouble the church with questions that are unresolved in your own mind. Preach what you know is true and preach it with conviction. Give it the “old Jerusalem ring,” preachers used to say. Avoid speculation. If there is no Bible answer, don’t try to give one. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God…<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 29:29).<\/p>\n Do your part in visiting those who are hurting. There are those who will tell you this is not your work. But it is your work as a Christian, and, besides, your preaching will be far more effective if your audience knows they have a friend in the pulpit who truly is concerned for them. Do more giving than receiving. Don’t let the brethren spoil you. Don’t become indebted to anyone.<\/p>\n I’m pulling for you, my young friends, and I’m thankful for you. “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:12).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bill Hall via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 We hear criticism all along of the young preachers among us: “They don’t preach like the older preachers,” they say. That’s funny! It sounds like what people said of us older preachers when we were young. The truth is, we know of many young…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1511,536],"class_list":["post-93954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-preachers","tag-preaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69360,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/advice-to-younger-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":0},"title":"Advice to Younger Preachers (Hall)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall It is OK to disagree with older preachers. Zeal is commendable, and the young possess it in abundance. Here are five ways to be successful: Know the Scriptures: The more specific the use of scripture, the better. The context of the scripture and the conversation must match.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/giving-up-on-the-little-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":1},"title":"Giving Up on the Little Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert E. Speer via\u00a0Think on These Things, April-May-June, 2011, Volume 42, Number 2 Many years ago - Ouch! Has it really been that long? - my family and I responded to a plea from another family to join them in a work they were trying to establish on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/LittleChurchInTheWoods.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/advice-to-younger-preachers-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":2},"title":"Advice to Younger Preachers (McDonald)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert L. McDonald via Expository Review, April 1983 When I first began preaching, in the late 40s or early 50s, I looked to older preachers for any help they could give me. I was delighted to hear them reminisce about their many experiences and problems encountered. Over the years,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63896,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":3},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom \u2013 Experience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/old-broom-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39212,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/training-young-men-to-preach\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":4},"title":"Training Young Men to Preach","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Each generation passes and another follows. This has been going on\u00a0 -well, ever since Adam and Eve started the cycle. Included in this cycle are those who preach the gospel. Paul mentioned five functions that were assigned to men in the body of Christ - apostles,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-preacher-sins-is-he-permanently-disqualified-from-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":93954,"position":5},"title":"If a preacher sins, is he permanently disqualified from preaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, What is the proper term to call the speaker on Sunday? Is it a pastor or a preacher? Also, to be a preacher you basically have to have all the qualifications of an elder correct? And if for some reason a preacher sins, such as adultery, they would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Remember, you are a preacher, not a team manager<\/h2>\n
Don’t neglect the “first principles”<\/h2>\nEspecially important today is teaching on the Holy Spirit, Calvinism, and the danger of subjective thinking. You must familiarize yourself with errors related to these subjects and how to refute them. Make the Bible itself your primary source, not the works of denominational preachers. Learn from older gospel preachers who have “sharpened their swords” through battles they have fought. You might receive more praise when you preach other types of lessons (and other types must be preached), but you must preach to the needs of the church, not just to that which will bring you
\npraise. How long has it been, my young friend, since you preached a sermon on the all-sufficiency of scripture or the danger of subjective thinking or one of the conversions of Acts? A church that hears little teaching along these lines will become very weak.\nPreach exclamation points, not question marks<\/h2>\n
Be a servant<\/h2>\n