Several years ago, our teaching team sought feedback about our preaching. The overwhelming response from our people was, "We want deeper messages." The trouble was they differed widely on what "deeper" meant. Further analysis showed that "deeper" meant at least five different things. We began thinking through how we could deepen each of these areas. This revolutionized the way we plan series and develop messages.

Biblical depth

No matter how thoughtful, passionate, or persuasive our messages may be, they are only as powerful as our ability to connect the hearer to the heart of Scripture. Developing biblical depth involves processing the richness of the original context, leading people through nuances of the text and helping them connect the passage to other parts of Scripture.

While people aren't particularly interested in the conjugation of Greek and Hebrew verbs and the opinions of commentators, they do value exploring the world of the biblical writers ...