How Charles Stanley Preached: Start Where People Live, Then Teach Plainly
Charles Stanley pastored First Baptist Atlanta for 49 years, and his In Touch broadcast carried his voice worldwide. We studied eight of his sermons from First Baptist Atlanta and In Touch. The shape is simple and steady: start with the listener’s real question, open one passage, and teach a numbered list of plain principles, like a teacher talking to one person.
Who Charles Stanley was
Stanley was senior pastor of First Baptist Atlanta from 1971 to 2020. His broadcast began in 1972 as The Chapel Hour, became In Touch in 1977, and by his death reached more than 100 languages in some 150 countries.
He was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1984 and presided over the two largest annual meetings in the convention’s history, including 45,531 messengers in 1985. His “30 Life Principles” became one of the most widely used discipleship tools of his generation.
The shape of a Stanley sermon
Most of his sermons open with a direct felt-need question. “Overcoming Worry” starts: “What do you worry about most?” Only after the need is on the table, a few minutes in, does he bring in the text, and he always reads the passage aloud.
Then he teaches. He often announces how many points are coming, and the points are worded plainly, with no alliteration. In “The Keys to Success,” he speaks to a discouraged believer and offers five keys.
He usually diagnoses before he prescribes: here is the problem, here is what God says to do about it. He uses only a few illustrations, mostly personal.
Near the end he often explains plainly how to be saved, and many sermons close with a prayer asking the Spirit to “seal” the truth.
What made his preaching different
Where people live
He opens with the listener’s real question: what you worry about, how you feel, where your life has drifted. The text answers a need he has already named.
A numbered list
He teaches plain-language principles, steps or “words,” often numbered. People can follow along and remember them.
One person
He talks like a teacher to one person: “you and I,” “jot this down.” It feels like a conversation, not a performance.
What others said
“Charles Stanley had a remarkable ability to make the Bible accessible to everyday believers.”
— Jeff Iorg
“Dr. Stanley set an example of preaching that was expository, faithful, evangelistic, and Spirit-filled.”
— J.D. Greear, Baptist Press, April 2023
What to take into your own pulpit
Name the need before the text
Stanley opened with a question people were already asking. When the passage arrives, they’re ready for it.
Keep the points plain
No clever alliteration. Clear, numbered principles in everyday words are easy to follow and easy to keep.
Preach to one person
He spoke like a teacher across the table. Talking to “you” instead of “the audience” makes a crowd feel known.
Those are the ideas. The guide turns them into ten steps you can follow this week, plus the sermons we studied and a fill-in outline in his shape.
Free PDF · Preach Like the Greats
Learn to preach like Charles Stanley.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 8 sermons we studied, start to finish
- Ten steps to preach the way he did
- His sermon outline, movement by movement
- A fill-in template for your own text, 9 pages
Common questions
What was Charles Stanley’s preaching style?
Plain, practical and personal. He started with the listener’s real question, opened one passage, and taught a numbered list of plain-language principles, speaking like a teacher to one person.
How did Charles Stanley structure a sermon?
A felt-need question first, then the text read aloud, then plainly worded points, often numbered, that diagnose a problem and give the remedy. He often closed with a clear explanation of salvation and a prayer.
What are Charles Stanley’s 30 Life Principles?
A set of principles for the Christian life that became one of the most widely used discipleship tools of his generation. James Dobson summed up his approach as “trust Scripture and obey God.”