How Craig Groeschel Preaches: One Felt Need, One Big Idea, One Clear Action
Craig Groeschel is the model topical preacher. We studied nine of his sermons, from 2018 to 2026. The shape barely changes: start from a need people already feel, build one repeatable big idea, and land one clear action. Before he writes anything, he decides what he wants people to know, feel and do.
Who Craig Groeschel is
Groeschel started Life Covenant Church in a two-car garage in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1996 with about 40 people. Life.Church is now the largest church in America on the 2026 Outreach 100, with about 85,000 weekly attenders across 46 locations in 12 states plus Church Online.
The church built the YouVersion Bible App, which passed 1 billion downloads in 2025, and many of his series are given away free to other churches through Life.Church’s Open Network. His leadership podcast drew more than a million downloads a month by 2019.
The shape of a Groeschel sermon
Every sermon opens with a hook: a question, a surprising fact, or the frame for the series. He often names a myth or cultural script early, the thing people already believe that the sermon will challenge. The main text arrives within the first several minutes.
The center of the sermon is one big idea, said again and again. It is often built as a two-part contrast, like “Don’t start with the do, start with the who,” or a plain promise such as “Just because God feels silent doesn’t mean he’s absent.”
Most sermons follow a clear sequence of two to four points, and every one includes a personal confession somewhere. He doesn’t stand above the problem. He admits he has it too.
The application comes in short imperatives. Then he usually closes with a hands-raised prayer sorted by need and an invitation to follow Jesus. In “When You Don’t Feel Good Enough,” the room recites “I am God’s masterpiece” before the gospel invitation.
What made his preaching different
Start from a felt need
He begins with the gap people already feel: anxiety, broken habits, feeling not good enough. The sermon meets them where they already are.
One big idea
One line, repeatable and said again and again, carries the whole message. People leave able to quote it.
One clear action
He decides what people should know, feel and do before he writes. Every sermon ends with something specific to do.
What others said
“When he speaks, people listen, and it’s not by accident.”
— Lanese Bring, pastor and author
“He relates very well with just about everyone.”
— Mark Howell, small-group strategist (2021)
What to take into your own pulpit
Start where they already hurt
A felt need gets attention before you ask for it. Name the gap people walked in with.
Say one thing many times
One big idea, repeated, beats five good ideas said once. Build it so it can be quoted.
Decide the action before you write
Know what you want people to know, feel and do. The sermon gets clearer when the destination is set first.
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 Craig Groeschel.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 9 sermons we studied, start to finish
- Ten steps to preach the way he does
- His sermon outline, movement by movement
- A fill-in template for your own text, 9 pages
Common questions
What is Craig Groeschel’s preaching style?
Topical, practical and personal. He starts from a felt need, builds one repeatable big idea, confesses his own struggles, and lands one clear action, followed by prayer and a gospel invitation.
How does Craig Groeschel structure a sermon?
He opens with a hook, names a myth or cultural script, gets to the main text early, walks a short sequence of points around one big idea, gives short imperatives for application, and closes with prayer and an invitation.
What does “know, feel, do” mean in Groeschel’s preaching?
Before writing a sermon, he decides what he wants people to know, what he wants them to feel, and what he wants them to do. The rest of the message is built to get them there.