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Welcome to the Home of Cross-Tethered Preaching

My passion is helping pastors preach the fullness of God's grace by tethering every message to the cross of the risen and reigning Jesus.


If you're a pastor or teacher looking to make progress with your preaching ministry, I'd love to connect to see how I can help you take practical, actionable next steps.


Use the contact button below to set up a no-obligation conversation about where you are versus where you'd like to be in your preaching and teaching ministry. It would be an honor to hear from you and a joy to help.

25 Simple Ways to Improve Your Sermon This Sunday
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After almost 30 years of preaching and now teaching homiletics in seminary, I'd like to share 25 simple ways you can improve your sermon this Sunday.


Yes, this Sunday.


While these concepts and the system behind them are explained in much more detail in the PPGR Preaching System, you'll find plenty of helpful nuggets among the twenty-five described in this short ebook.


When you're ready, feel free to check out the complete preaching system.

You will get a PDF (4MB) file

👋 Hi, I'm McKay!

I served as a local church pastor and planter for over twenty-six years and understand the unique pain points of a preaching ministry.


For some of us, sermon stress is an ever-present emotional weight.


Every week, we're expected to craft a fresh, focused, well-organized message filled with expository acumen, theological depth, and insightful, relevant, practical application delivered with clarity and energy that keeps folks from looking at the clock.


But we also have leadership meetings, visitor follow-ups, hospital calls, counseling appointments, and more.


And most of us have families who appreciate a bit of our attention, too. 😉


Pastors do far more than preach on Sundays. But we don't do less.


I get what it's like to work on a sermon all week, only to be up at 1:00 am on Saturday night, still struggling with the message.


When I transitioned from a preaching pastor to a theology and homiletics professor, I created the sermon prep and delivery system I wish I'd had thirty years ago.


Not just a system, but a system that helps pastors save time crafting focused, clear, biblical, redemptive (cross-tethered) messages that result in distinctively grace-motivated, Spirit-empowered application.


Thanks to homiletical influences like Bryan Chapell and Tim Keller, I didn't have to start from scratch. 🙂


In case you're interested, it's called the PPGR Preaching System.


By the way, I've been married to Kristy for 31 years, with whom I have three adult children, 28, 26, and 20. ‌I also hold a B.A. in history/literature, an M.Div., a D.Min. in gospel renewal, and a Ph.D. in homiletics. When I'm not writing or teaching, I love being at home or walking the wooded, creek-crossed trails of the north Georgia mountains.


My Passion

Three Core Doctrines

Theological Foundations



Three Ways I Can Help

Free Content

The Cross-Tethered Newsletter contains a deep well of valuable, practical, and helpful resources that will help you take a step forward toward improving this Sunday's sermon. You'll learn principles and receive tools that will help with both message preparation as well as delivery.

Subscribe for free, weekly preaching helps.

The Online Course

The PPGR Preaching System is designed to help you save time with a step-by-step guide to creating substantive, redemptive sermons that expound a biblical text, address a problem with the human condition, connect the message explicitly to the cross, and provide relevant, grace-motivated, and Spirit-empowered application.

1:1 Coaching

While the PPGR Preaching System provides a wealth of practical help for taking a step-by-step approach to crafting distinctively redemptive, cross-tethered sermons, I find that pastors are able to master the system much more quickly with personal coaching. If you're interested, let's connect and see if 1:1 coaching could help you.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Christology 101—Five Things to Know About Jesus in Order to Really Know Jesus
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I tell my seminary students that when we gather for class, our goal is not merely to know about Jesus. Our goal is to know Jesus personally and directly. To that end, Christology 101 introduces you to five things every Christian should know about Jesus in order to really know Jesus.


Each short chapter includes discussion questions for family devotions and small group study.


21 pages

You will get a PDF (12MB) file

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In this video, I want to share with you one of the most profound discoveries of my Christian life.Nothing criticizes me more personally and deeply than the cross (law). At the same time, nothing validates me more completely and unreservedly than the ...
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Think Movement vs Main Points (VIDEO)
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Invite Listeners to Receive Jesus (VIDEO)
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The PPGR Preaching System not only saves you time in sermon prep by giving you a step-by-step guide for the process, but it also enables you to craft remarkably clear, focused messages that magnify God's grace in Jesus by expounding the biblical text, addressing the human condition, tethering the passage, theme, and problem to the cross, and providing responsive, redemptive application that is grace-motivated and Spirit-empowered.


Click the "Learn More" button below for information about how the PPGR Preaching System could be a game changer for your sermon preparation and delivery.


What Friends are Saying about the PPGR Preaching System

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The PPGR system is now my go-to way to craft all kinds of talks. Not only for my talks, but I train dozens of other pastors in the system, too. And they love it! Thanks, McKay!

— David Taylor

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Simply put, the PPGR system has revolutionized my preaching, reshaping my sermon structure in a way that allows each element to build on the previous. Not only have I received a lot of positive feedback, I see the work of the Spirit in the lives of those who worship with us.

— Nate Berry

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The PPGR system is an invaluable asset, providing a robust sermon structure that ensures each message is grounded distinctively in the gospel and tethered to the cross.

— David Kim

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A tremendously helpful resource. Working through the PPGR points helps me get to the heart of what I want to communicate. And what a blessing it is to me as a preacher to be led to the Cross again so that I can help my hearers do the same.

— Adam Tisdale

The Cross-Tethered Newsletter

The Cross-Tethered Newsletter is a free, weekly email delivered to your inbox with practical, actionable tips and suggestions designed to help pastors preach the fullness of God’s grace in Jesus in a way that is exceptionally focused and clear, rooted to the text of Scripture, tethered to the cross of Jesus, and applied in a way that is grace-motivated and Spirit-empowered.


Subscribe for free, weekly preaching helps.

I Am Not the Christ: Pastoral Identity in View of the Cross

Birthed from a combination of deep theological reflection and twenty-six years of pastoral experience as an assistant pastor, lead pastor, and church planter who served in cities, suburbs, a farming community, and a small college town, I am Not the Christ is full of practical application that aims to give pastors renewed joy in their calling as ambassadors of grace by helping them tether all of life and ministry to the cross of the risen and reigning Jesus.


142 pages


"Wise, candid, and eminently readable. There is guidance here for every pastor."

- Dr. Dan Doriani, Author and Professor, Covenant Seminary


Available as an eBook and in paperback.


The Mustard Seed Blog

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Galatians: Navigating Life in View of the Cross
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Christology 101 (Part 5): The Glory and Wonder of the Hypostatic Union
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Christology 101 (Part 4): Delighting in the Lordship of the Creator-King
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Christology 101 (Part 3): The Role of the Son in the Plan of Redemption
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Christology 101 (Part 2): The Theological Significance of Jesus' Messianic Title
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Christology 101 (Part 1): What’s in a Name? More Than You May Think.
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Four Simple Ways to Improve Sermon Delivery
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From Throwing Stones to Showing Mercy
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When I Feel Like I’ve Blown It for the Last Time, This Helps
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Ugly Orthodoxy: How to Identify, Confess, and Rebeautify
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Give Weakness Evangelism a Try
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Christian Influence in a Post-Christian World Will Need to be Uniquely Salty
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Special Video Post: How Rediscovering the Grandeur of God's Grace Changes Us
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Do We Really Believe God Hears (and Acts Upon) Our Prayers?
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Your Inner Pharisee is Showing: 4 Ways to Diagnose and Dismantle the Burden
“Everything they do is done for people to see.” - Matthew 23:5The Pharisees would have loved social media.The opportunity to carefully curate an idealized version of their life would fit perfectly with Jesus' evaluation in Matthew 23:5, "Everything t...
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Jesus Doesn't Accept Donations
“Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.'" — John 13:8bYears ago, a church I served on staff hosted a community car wash. Since lots of these events are fundraisers for sports teams or mission trips, we wanted to leverage t...
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How to Pray When You Don't Have the Words
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Galatians

Available from New Growth Press!

I'm excited for churches, small groups, families, and individual believers to get access to this new resource published by New Growth Press as Serge's latest addition to their Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible series.


👉 Order Here


"McKay Caston’s pastoral experience and understanding of the blessings of grace are well on display in this study."

Bryan Chapell, Pastor, Author, former President, Covenant Theological Seminary


“McKay Caston makes deep theological truths easy to understand and gives great application for believers at any stage of their spiritual walk.”

Laura Story, Grammy Award Winning Christian Singer/Songwriter


“What a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to take a deeper step into the wondrous riches of the gospel of grace!"

Jeff Norris, Senior Pastor, Perimeter Church, Atlanta

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The PPGR Preaching System 2.0 Online Course

FREE DOWNLOAD! The 7-Day Marriage Reboot (with Discussion Guide)

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Facets: Seeing and Savoring the Beauty of God's Grace in Jesus (with Discussion Guide)

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25 Simple Ways to Improve Your Sermon This Sunday

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FREE DOWNLOAD: Prayer—Not a Duty to Fulfill but a Gift to Enjoy (with Discussion Guide)

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Plan for 2024 (Free Template)

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FREE DOWNLOAD: Christology 101—Five Things to Know About Jesus in Order to Really Know Jesus

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What Makes a Sermon Genuinely Gospel-Centered?

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I Am Not the Christ: Pastoral Identity in View of the Cross

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