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About

In this special pre-Christmas episode of the Barna Resilient Pastor podcast, host Sharon Miller engages Rich Villodas and Glenn Packiam in a candid conversation about the growing challenges of preaching in today’s cultural landscape. Joined later by Dr. Brian Loritts, teaching pastor at The Summit Church, the discussion explores how technology, shortened attention spans, political pressure, and cultural sensitivity have made preaching more demanding than in previous decades. The episode blends lighthearted Southern culture talk with serious insights on trust, humility, contextualization, justice, Gen Z spiritual openness, and the responsible use of AI in sermon preparation.

Pastors will find practical wisdom on maintaining integrity, bridging biblical truth with real human needs, and approaching high-stakes services like Christmas Eve with clarity, hope, and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Key Takeaways

• Three in five pastors say preaching has become significantly more challenging today than when they began.
• Only 45% of churchgoing Christians view pastors as trustworthy sources of spiritual wisdom — a self-inflicted wound from overstepping expertise.
• Technology enables real-time fact-checking, demanding higher levels of preparation and integrity from preachers.
• Shortened attention spans from social media and the pressure of performance in a consumer culture complicate effective preaching.
• Expository preaching remains one of the best tools for addressing justice, race, sexuality, and other controversial topics without appearing agenda-driven.
• Preaching must balance bold truth with compassion, especially regarding trauma, mental health, and cultural sensitivity.
• AI can assist with research and refinement but should never replace personal wrestling with Scripture.
• Christmas Eve sermons should be simple, hopeful, story-driven, and brief — trust the Holy Spirit to do the heavy lifting.
• Age-old principles like bridging two worlds, naming emotional needs, using metaphor and story, and ending with hope remain essential.
• Gen Z shows remarkable spiritual openness, often driven by rising anxiety and depression, creating fresh evangelistic opportunity.

Highlights

• “People are not dumb. Technology has made their access to information quicker and arguably more accurate than it used to be.” — Glenn Packiam
• “God’s wisdom is concentrated in his word, but dripped out in his world.” — Glenn Packiam
• “Do not answer a question that no one is asking.” — Sharon Miller’s preaching Post-it note
• “Preaching isn’t just something I do as a service for others. It’s a means of grace in my own walk with Christ.” — Brian Loritts
• “The Internet is the friend of information, the enemy of thought.” — Tim Keller (quoted by Brian Loritts)
• “Simplify the message… This is not an opportunity for a theological treatise.” — Rich Villodas on Christmas Eve preaching
• “Say the clear and aim for clear, not clever.” — Glenn Packiam
• “I feel like I am competing with the therapist… The Bible does call us to come out of our comfort zones.” — Brian Loritts

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