Many of us preach each week in the shadow of loss—personal, congregational, communal. Suffering is not an abstract topic; it is the air our people breathe.
That is why I’m grateful to share that the updated conference page for When Your World Shatters 2026 | Moody Conferences is now live. The page now includes speaker bios and workshop leaders who bring theological depth, pastoral wisdom, and lived experience to the task of preaching in painful seasons.
This Chicago-based conference is especially designed for pastors and preachers serving in the Midwest—Chicago, Detroit, Gary, Milwaukee—and is intentionally welcoming to women preachers and ethnic minority leaders who often bear unique ministry burdens.
If you are committed to preaching Scripture faithfully when life feels fragile, I hope you’ll take a moment to explore the conference.
Some books of the Bible are respected more than they are preached. Job is one of them.
Most pastors know the story well enough to reference it when suffering arises. Far fewer are comfortable preaching through it carefully and at length. That hesitation makes sense. Job resists easy explanations. It refuses tidy conclusions. And it exposes the limits of what faithful people can say about God in the midst of pain.
Yet the very things that make Job difficult also make it indispensable for the church.
Many people in our congregations are not looking for answers that explain their suffering away. They are looking for words that allow them to speak honestly before God without losing their faith. Job gives us that language—if we are willing to let the book speak on its own terms.
The Moody Center for Compelling Biblical Preaching will host a conference on Friday, March 6, 2026, focused on preaching the book of Job and helping congregations learn to suffer faithfully. The conference is designed for pastors, ministry leaders, and students who want to preach Job with theological care and pastoral sensitivity, particularly those serving churches in Chicago, Detroit, and the surrounding region.
Register for the When Your World Shatters conference here.
Preaching Job is demanding work. It requires patience, humility, and a willingness to resist quick conclusions. But when preached well, Job helps God’s people learn how to trust Him when understanding fails.
May 14-16, I will be an instructor for the Charles Simeon Trust’s Preaching Wisdom Literature: Job workshop in Wheaton, IL. Register here to join us in going through this great book.
Also, May 27-29, the CCBP is co-hosting the Future Church Conference in Chicago, IL. We have a great speaker lineup to help you think about how to position your church and ministry to meet the challenges of the next quarter century. Find more information or register here. Please especially encourage your associate ministers, pastoral staff, elders, and deacons to join us.
L to R: Madison Pierce, Chris Castaldo, Kerwin Rodriquez, Sabrina Black
This spring the Moody Theological Seminary Center for Compelling Biblical Preaching (CCBP) welcomes Madison Pierce, Chris Castaldo, Kerwin Rodriguez, and Sabrina Black as presenters for our workshops and Power Hour seminars:
Hebrews and NT scholar Dr. Madison Pierce joins us on our Plymouth, MI campus on February 21 for the All-Day Workshop, The Mediator Seated on High! Mysteries, Theology, Hermeneutics, and Preaching of Hebrews. The event is free, and you can participate in-person or online. Lunch is provided for in-person attendees. Register and find more info here.
During our February Power Hour – our monthly, 60-minute, lunchtime seminars – Dr. Chris Castaldo, Senior Pastor of New Covenant Church, Naperville, IL presents, The Incarnation as the Heart of Preaching. Be with us as Dr. Castaldo focuses on the significance of the Incarnation for continuously deepening a local congregation theologically. Register and find more info for the February 28 event here.
The CCBP also is blessed to have Kerwin Rodriguez, Chair of the Pastoral Theology Department and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, join us Friday, March 7 on our Chicago Campus for our Power Hour session. Similarly, Dr. Sabrina Black, Clinical Director of Abundant Life Counseling Center in Detroit, Michigan, joins us for the April Power Hour on our Plymouth, MI campus on April 4.
Moody Theological Seminary’s goal for these seminars is to advance the role of sound, theologically rich preaching that inspires, encourages, and guides others to know, love, and faithfully follow Christ. Each of these events are open to the public and free of charge.
Hebrews and NT scholar Dr. Madison Pierce joins us on our Plymouth, MI campus on February 21 for the All-Day Workshop, The Mediator Seated on High! Mysteries, Theology, Hermeneutics, and Preaching of Hebrews. The event is free, and you can participate in-person or online. Lunch is provided for in-person attendees. Register and find more info here.
During our February Power Hour – our monthly, 60-minute, lunchtime seminars – Dr. Chris Castaldo, Senior Pastor of New Covenant Church, Naperville, IL presents, The Incarnation as the Heart of Preaching. Be with us as Dr. Castaldo focuses on the significance of the Incarnation for continuously deepening a local congregation theologically. Register and find more info for the February 28 event here.
The CCBP also is blessed to have Kerwin Rodriguez, Chair of the Pastoral Theology Department and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, join us Friday, March 7 on our Chicago Campus for our Power Hour session. Similarly, Dr. Sabrina Black, Clinical Director of Abundant Life Counseling Center in Detroit, Michigan, joins us for the April Power Hour on our Plymouth, MI campus on April 4.
Moody Theological Seminary’s goal for these seminars is to advance the role of sound, theologically rich preaching that inspires, encourages, and guides others to know, love, and faithfully follow Christ. Each of these events are open to the public and free of charge.
The Center for Compelling Biblical Preaching December Newsletter is available. See mtspreachingcenter.moody.edu for more information. Join our mailing list by sending a request to mtspreachingcenter@moody.edu.
Above are three pictures from my time at ETS, IBR, and SBL in San Diego in November. Top left is me with outgoing IBR President, Dr. Lynn Cohick. Top right I am with MTS Dean Dr. Brian Tucker and Pastor Meghan Bishop and her husband Jake Bishop. Bottom picture I am with Dr. Walter Strickland, a longtime friend.
Preaching to one congregation for two decades or more is a joy for pastors! But it also comes with many challenges for preaching. Such challenges include maintaining love for and from a congregation, avoiding becoming familiar, predictable, or gun shy, finding fresh illustrations, sustaining zeal and a sense of urgency, adapting to generational changes, and keeping oneself refreshed. What goes into the character of the preacher and the habits of the pulpit calendar to build saints faithfully, lovingly, and graciously, week in and week out, after twenty years of preaching from one pulpit? Join Rev. Romell Williams, Senior Pastor of Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, to hear from one whose passion for dynamic, content-rich, Christ-centered preaching continues to increase as he crosses his twentieth year serving his flock.
Date: Friday, November 1, 2024
Location: MTS Chicago Campus and Virtual (access link is on the confirmation page)
Time: 12:00-12:55PM (CST)
Lunch: Will be provided to in-person attendees (Note: must register by Monday, October 28 to secure a lunch)
Pastor Romell Williams
A native of Chicago, Pastor Romell Williams is the first-born son of Rev. and Mrs. Romell Williams, Sr. Rev. Williams represents the third generation of men in his family to preach the Word of God. He accepted his call to the ministry and was licensed at the early age of seventeen. He was later ordained at the age of nineteen. Rev. Williams was educated at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He also serves as the Assistant Director of Workshops for the Charles Simeon Trust and is sought after highly for his knowledge, skills, and gifts in biblical preaching.
MTS Professors Aaron Robinson, Tom Roberts, and Eric Redmond will bring their Johannine scholarship and wealth of experience as present and former seniors pastors to draw out the meaning and significance of passages in Revelation. Building upon their academic research and teaching, and their preaching of the Apocalypse, they will explain how John’s vision to those living under the oppression of the Roman empire is most appropriate for living as faithful witnesses among contemporary oppressions.
The workshop will offer personal time with the professors, an extended Q&A, and a lunch for those attending in-person. The workshop will offer special attention to preaching the Apocalypse while providing understanding and application relevant for all.
Date: Friday, November 8, 2024
Location: MTS Michigan Campus – Chapel; 41550 East Ann Arbor Trail Plymouth, MI 4817
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST
Schedule:
Session 1: Toward a Theology of Faithful Witness: Seven Observations – Dr. Aaron Robinson
Session 2: One Voice, Two Records: Exploring the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel Together – Pastor Tom Roberts
Session 3: A Practice of Faithful Witness: Developing Sermons that Develop the Body – Dr. Aaron Robinson
Session 4: Rachel, Jesus, and Satan? Interpreting and Preaching Revelation 12 – Dr. Eric Redmond
The MTS Center for Compelling Biblical Preaching (CCBP) events explore many topics to enhance biblical preaching. We invite experts in various ministry fields to give insights to help preachers and churches deepen people in their faith. Four Ministry Training Seminars for the Fall 2024 semester will focus on proclamation that equips believers to engage the world and to grow in Christian endurance:
Sept 13: “Preaching and Sexual Trauma,” presented by Dr. Deb Gorton, Professional Therapist, Founder of SIV Counseling and Consulting.
Oct 11: “Preaching and Deconstructed Faith,” presented by Dr. Mikel Del Rosario, Professor of Bible and Theology, Moody Bible Institute, and podcast host of The Apologetics Guy.
Nov 1: “Unpredictable: Stay Fresh in Preaching After 20 Years in One Church,” presented by Rev. Romell Williams, Senior Pastor, Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, and Associate Director of Workshops for the Charles Simeon Trust.
Dec 6: “Preaching and Holiday Blues,” presented by Dr. Elom Togbi-Wonyo, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Moody Theological Seminary.
Join us at 12:00 – 1:00pm CT in-person or online for these workshops. There is no cost to attend. We provide lunch to those joining in-person.
Dr. Aaron Robinson Pastor Tom Roberts Dr. Eric Redmond
The CCBP alsooffers All-Day Workshops, 9:00am – 4:00pm CT, giving an intense, multi-speaker perspective on one issue related to biblical preaching. On November 8, I will join Dr. Aaron Robinson and Pastor Tom Roberts, both Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan faculty, to provide a workshop entitled, “Applying the Apocalypse: Deepening Our Obedience to the Message of Revelation.”We will explain how the Apostle John’s vision to those living under the oppression of the Roman empire is most appropriate for living as faithful witnesses among contemporary forms of oppression.
Each All-Day Workshop offers
personal time with the presenters
an extended Q&A period
interaction with the ideas of fellow attendees
lunch for those attending in-person
In this workshop, we will give special attention to preaching the Apocalypse while providing understanding and application relevant for all.There is no cost for the event. We offer it to preachers and laypersons to best understand preaching, teaching, and application related to the book of Revelation. See mtspreachingcenter.moody.edu for more info or email mtsprechingcenter@moody.edu.
A Man from Issachar 
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