About this episode

Pastor Ryan Marr discusses the journey of finding one's teaching voice and the importance of dependence on God in preaching.

A great sermon doesn’t begin with a microphone—it begins with a voice that has been forged in obscurity. In this episode of the Expositors Collective podcast, Pastor Ryan Marr of Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg invites listeners behind the scenes of that often hidden process, tracing the slow, sometimes painful work of *finding your own teaching voice*. Far from offering quick tips or performance tricks, Marr insists that true preaching is where life and doctrine collide, producing a message that not only informs but transforms both preacher and hearer. Drawing from the pastoral epistles and years in the pulpit, Marr describes the journey of discovering how God has uniquely wired you to communicate, then submitting that voice to scrutiny, feedback, and refinement. He urges teachers to ask unsettling questions—“Am I right on this topic? How can I grow?”—while relentlessly sharpening their words so that the **headline is always the story of Jesus**, not the personality of the preacher. But the heart of his message is not technique; it’s dependence. Marr argues that the most compelling preaching comes when a flawed, still-learning teacher chooses to **listen to God’s voice**, relying…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Neglia

Guest: Ryan Marr

Topics covered

• preaching
• teaching voice
• spiritual growth
• dependence on God
• communication
• vulnerability

Keywords

• expository preaching
• voice
• Holy Spirit
• sermon preparation
• Christian teaching
• pastoral epistles
• communication skills

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg

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• Who Gets Quoted, Who Gets Trained, and How the Gospel Gets Preached - Matt Shantz · June 30, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Irish Presbyterianism, Pulpits, and Patriarchy · June 16, 2026 · 1h 7m

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