So how did it go this Sunday? Every preacher needs to answer that question. Our answer might depend on the attendance, the "crowd's" reaction, or our emotional state. Fortunately, in this week's preaching skills article, H.B. Charles offers five simple, objective, gospel-driven ways to measure last Sunday's sermon. Don't use his guide to heap shame on your "could-have-been-better performance." Instead, take H.B.'s advice to help you grow, so you can help your people grow.

Even after 20+ years of regular preaching I was always looking for effective ways to preach on Mother's Day—without blowing myself up. Bryan Wilkerson's sermon on the complexities of motherhood—"Lean Up,"—is a masterpiece of biblical and cultural exegesis. And it's from a passage that can sound stale and predictable—Proverbs 31. Read it and see how Bryan breathes fresh life into this text and into motherhood.

Also, check out these new resources:

• Featured Illustration: New Science of 'Culturomics' Tracks Disappearance of God
• Featured Video: Ascension: This mini-movie seeks to answer the questions of why the ascension matters and what the ascension means for us.
• Featured Sermons: "Lean Up," by Bryan Wilkerson
• Featured Skills Article: "How'd it Go?," by H.B. Charles

Matt Woodley
Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.