Tethered to Christ in the Midst of Culture’s Changes

Our first Church Planting Network gathering of 2025 featured two guests who spoke on two aspects of preaching. The goal of the gathering was that our church planters would be equipped to grow in their preaching practices.

Dr. Jimmy Agan (senior pastor of Intown Community Church in Atlanta) talked about how to preach Christ in an ever-changing culture. Dr. McKay Caston (founder of Cross-Tethered Preaching) shared a specific model that pastors can use so that their sermons are grounded in grace.

In addition to years of pastoral and preaching experience, Jimmy has also taught seminary classes. He addressed the question: What do preachers need to do differently in our post-Christian secular culture?

The conditions in which Christians must hold their beliefs have changed. Citing James K.A. Smith’s book How (Not) To Be Secular, Jimmy explained how this new secularism is different from previous eras of secularism. The question of whether Christianity is true or not is no longer our culture’s chief question. Instead, as Jimmy said, it’s, “Christianity is so immoral and bad for the world, so how could you believe in and follow that?”

People now believe that there is no reality outside or bigger than their own experience. We mistrust everything that we haven’t come up with in our own minds. As Paul Elie said in his book The Life You Save May Be Your Own, “We’re all skeptics now, believer and unbeliever alike.”

Jimmy said, “In the world I grew up in, people trusted preachers,” but our culture now has an inherent mistrust of preachers.

Therefore, more than ever, being a good communicator is an essential skill for pastors. In the PCA, we’ve got logos down, but Jimmy referenced the importance of ethos and pathos. He said, “You could say the best stuff ever, but if I think you’re a snake oil salesman, I’m not trusting you.”

He explained that a pastor’s character means more now than ever. This doesn’t mean they need to be a perfect pastor, but they must have a personal conviction of Jesus’ reality that shapes their entire life and world. The people in the pews must know that they’re invested in them and the community.

Of how to incorporate pathos, Jimmy highlighted the need to be 100% genuine, not using pathos to manipulate people but instead igniting their imaginations with the beauty of the gospel.

He shared several practical sermon tips with TVP’s church planters. He also said that we shouldn’t dismiss our culture’s disbelief. “Instead, we look for what makes a distortion of the gospel seem right and appealing. We’ve got to know the lies better than the culture.”

He added that people hear two sermons, but pastors must make sure they hear the third (i.e. the gospel). Moralists hear a gospel-filled sermon but translate it to, “There will be redemption because of who I am and what I must do.” Humanists translate it to, “There will be redemption because of who we are and what we can do.” Therefore, pastors must be explicitly clear about the gospel: There will be redemption because of who Jesus is and what He has done.

Next, we heard from Dr. McKay Caston. After years serving as a pastor in a variety of contexts (urban, suburban, college town, small town/rural), McKay founded a nonprofit called Cross-Tethered Preaching. The key resource Cross-Tethered Preaching offers is called the PPGR preaching system: Principal, Problem, Gospel, Response.

McKay explained that the biggest need that he sees in preaching is to connect with the heart instead of simply present information. How can pastors preach grace as the fuel for new life rather than a fall-back for failure? Even after studying under Bryan Chapell and learning from Tim Keller’s work, McKay struggled to apply this to his sermons.

Over the course of his ministry, he learned the importance of John 15:4-5 not only for gospel-filled sermons but also for the preacher’s heart: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

A sermon that goes from exposition straight to application without the cross in between unintentionally presents application as the new law, telling people to “go do” instead of “abide in Jesus.” As McKay explained, the gospel of Jesus then becomes insurance, just in case we fail at doing, instead of the essential fuel for new life.

McKay’s PPGR system is similar to Tim Keller’s style of four-point sermons instead of the traditional three points. He said that Keller’s sermons introduce the law, our failure, the gospel, and the Holy Spirit. McKay’s system summarizes this as Principal, Problem, Gospel, Response.

The reason McKay named his ministry “cross-tethered” is because when pastors tether themselves to the cross of Jesus (when they abide), they themselves remain rooted and their ministries are prepared to produce fruit.

Cross-Tethered Preaching offers a sermon-builder template and tools to help pastors prepare sermons, but these resources also help listeners clearly hear the gospel. McKay teaches public trainings for pastors every Thursday. Visit https://www.crosstetheredpreaching.com/feed to learn more about McKay and his resources.

TVP’s pastors asked many great questions after Dr. Agan and Dr. Caston finished their presentations, and the conversation could’ve continued for much longer if there’d been more time. That’s why these quarterly Church Planting Network gatherings are important—so that our church planters can work out questions and struggles together, learn from guest speakers, and emotionally and spiritually support each other as they go out on mission.