How Josh Howerton Preaches: Decide the Response First, Then Build the Sermon
Josh Howerton is senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall and Dallas, Texas, which now runs about 25,000 a week across eight campuses. We studied ten of his sermons from Easter 2024 to fall 2026. Every one starts from the same decision: he knows what he’ll ask people to do before he writes, and builds the whole sermon toward it.
Who Josh Howerton is
A third-generation pastor, Howerton planted and led The Bridge Church near Nashville for ten years, one of Outreach’s fastest-growing churches. He became co-pastor of Lakepointe with founder Steve Stroope in 2019 and sole senior pastor in 2020, when the church had about 13,000 people.
Lakepointe now averages almost 25,000 a week and ranks among the largest and fastest-growing churches on the Outreach 100. It saw 2,772 first-time decisions on Easter 2026, baptized 882 people in a single day in September 2026, and its YouTube channel passed a million subscribers.
The shape of a Howerton sermon
Howerton decides the response before he writes the sermon. Then he warms the room before the text, with a welcome, celebration, humor or numbers worth cheering.
The text comes early, usually in the first third, and he opens it with background or a “little-known fact.” He gives a contrast big idea to repeat and usually builds three numbered movements that take apart a cultural lie.
Most of his sermons include a personal or family story and a clear section on Christ taking our place. He slows to a hush for the cross.
Then come exact instructions for responding: heads bowed, hands up “on three,” a response card, a text to sign up. He often closes with “amen, amen, and amen” or “Let’s go.”
What made his preaching different
Response first
He decides the ask before writing, so every part of the sermon is built to lead there.
Contrast big idea
A contrast big idea and three movements take apart a cultural lie and give the room a line to repeat.
Exact instructions
Heads bowed, “on three,” text to sign up. The response is concrete enough that no one has to guess what to do.
What others said
“If you can get them laughing, you can get them listening.”
— Josh Howerton
“You’re known for addressing difficult issues at the intersection of faith, culture, politics, and apologetics.”
— Shawn Ryan, introducing him on The Shawn Ryan Show
What to take into your own pulpit
Start with the ask
Know what you want people to do before you write. It tells you what the rest of the sermon has to carry.
Name the lie you’re taking apart
A contrast big idea gives people a clear line between what the culture says and what the text says.
Make the response concrete
Tell people exactly what to do and when. Clear instructions remove the friction between conviction and action.
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 Josh Howerton.
This post is the overview. The guide has the research and the method.
- The 10 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 Josh Howerton’s preaching style?
Evangelistic and response-driven. He warms the room with celebration and humor, gives a contrast big idea, takes apart a cultural lie in three movements, slows down for the cross and gives exact instructions for responding.
How does Josh Howerton structure a sermon?
He decides the response first, opens with a welcome or humor before the text, reads the text early with background, builds numbered movements around a repeated big idea, includes a section on substitution, and closes with a concrete response.
Where does Josh Howerton preach?
At Lakepointe Church in Rockwall and Dallas, Texas, which runs about 25,000 a week across eight campuses. He has been its sole senior pastor since 2020.