How Jonny Ardavanis Preaches: Turn the Pages, Fill the Blank, Hear It Twice
Jonny Ardavanis preaches like a Bible study leader with a stadium voice. He is lead pastor of Stonebridge Bible Church in Franklin, Tennessee, where he took the church through John’s Gospel a few verses at a time. We studied six of his sermons, from a chapel message at The Master’s University before mid-2023 to Stonebridge in 2026. He makes the room turn the pages, finish the verse and hear every point twice before he prays.
Who Jonny Ardavanis is
Ardavanis grew up a pastor’s son, studied accounting and finance, and started preaching as a chaplain in a juvenile hall. He was dean of campus life at The Master’s University, his alma mater, and a camp director at Hume Lake Christian Camps. He has been lead pastor of Stonebridge since June 2023. The church lists more than 2,000 Sunday worshippers and a new campus opening in 2026.
He founded and leads Dial In Ministries, a podcast and devotional ministry, and wrote Consider the Lilies: Finding Perfect Peace in the Character of God (Zondervan, 2024), with a foreword by Sinclair Ferguson. The Master’s University named him a speaker for its 2025 MacArthur Week. His series through John was still going 27 months in.
The shape of a Ardavanis sermon
He opens fast, with a hook in the first couple of minutes: a bold claim, a contrast, a wedding scene, a dilemma. In “The Woman at the Well,” he sets Nicodemus against “the reject of the rejects.” Then he recaps the series or sets the scene before the text.
From there the sermon is a chain of “turn with me” passages, often five or more, because he wants people to “see it with your own eyes.” He usually announces numbered points and brings in Greek, Hebrew or historical background along the way.
Old and new sit side by side. He quotes classic writers like Ryle, Packer and Augustine, then reaches for Tom Brady, Larry Bird or his own life. And he keeps the room working by leaving the last word of a verse for them to finish: “full of grace and what? Truth.”
Most sermons turn explicitly to the cross in the final stretch. Then he recaps every point in one breath, asks a direct question or gives a charge, and prays. In “The Holy Spirit’s Holy Word,” the room stands for the text at the start and stands again at the end.
What made his preaching different
Turn with me
He chains five or more passages and has the room find each one, so the congregation studies the text with him instead of listening to a speech.
Fill the blank
He leaves the last word of a verse for the congregation to say, so listening becomes participating.
Recap, then pray
He lists every point in one breath, asks a direct question, and prays. Nobody leaves without hearing the outline twice.
What others said
“I’m not trying to come up with the word of God. I just want to preach it.”
— Jonny Ardavanis, “The Holy Spirit’s Holy Word,” c. 2026
“I’m not giving a speech. We are mutually studying the word of God together.”
— Jonny Ardavanis, explaining why he says “turn with me,” c. 2026
What to take into your own pulpit
Put the Bible in their hands
Asking people to turn to the passage themselves shows them the point is in the text, not in the preacher.
Make listening active
A fill-in-the-blank prompt costs a few seconds and keeps the whole room engaged.
Say the outline twice
A one-breath recap before the prayer lets people leave with the whole sermon, not just the last point.
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 Jonny Ardavanis.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 6 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 Jonny Ardavanis’s preaching style?
Verse-by-verse and highly interactive. He chains “turn with me” passages, leaves the last word of a verse for the room to finish, mixes classic writers with modern illustrations, and recaps every point before he prays.
How does Jonny Ardavanis structure a sermon?
A quick hook, a recap of the series or setting, the text, usually numbered points supported by chains of cross-references and background, a turn to the cross near the end, then a one-breath recap, a direct question or charge, and prayer.
Why does Jonny Ardavanis say “turn with me”?
He wants people to see the text with their own eyes. In his words, “I’m not giving a speech. We are mutually studying the word of God together.”