#1 – Do I Belong To Him?

The key to success in life/ministry isn’t preaching a good message and/or making a great series of leadership decisions…we will only be successful long term if we BELONG to HIM.

If we belong to Him we will say what He tells us to say and do what He tells us to do…if we belong to “them” we will always back down.

#2 – Do I Believe This?

In other words…are you smokin’ what your sellin’?

• We can’t preach on purity if we aren’t fighting to be pure.
• We can’t preach on money if we are robbing God.
• We can’t preach on integrity if we are not letting our yes be yes and our no be no.

When we preach something we’ve GOT to believe it…or else we will preach from convenience and not conviction.

#3 – Am I Leading Or Responding?

We should seek to lead our people through the preaching of His Word–period!

I used to feel like I had to respond to all of the questions/complaints I received the week before in the upcoming message…and doing so caused me to lose focus on where our church needed to go and what was best for the majority of the people in attendance.

#4 – Do I Believe The Promise In Isaiah 55:8-13?

NOTHING is more discouraging to a preacher than when we preach our guts out and there seems to be ZERO response.  However, God’s Word PROMISES that if we are faithful to declare it that it will NOT return without producing a harvest.

Sometimes we do get to see immediate results…but most of the time God will take His Word and work it into the hearts and minds of the hearers over time.  Trust God and His Word…a harvest IS coming!!!

Here it is – get alone with God, open your Bible, read it until he sets your heart on fire…and then go unleash that fire through preaching to the people He has called you to preach to!

In other words…get “a word” from “The Word!”

Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE creative sermon/series planning.  I LOVE trying to figure out how we can communicate timeless principles in the context of the society that we are in.  I LOVE doing WHATEVER it takes short of sin to get as many people outside the doors of the church to come inside!

However, the trap that I am seeing so many pastors fall into is they fall in love with the process of creativity and allow it to bypass the love they once had for their Creator!

Leadership AND preaching really is as easy as listening to God and then doing what HE says!

And…let me be straight, I really do believe that God gives us really creative ideas…and that refusing to use them is simply bad stewardship.

BUT…I also believe that trying to make sure every series that we do has a certain pop and sizzle is an insane trap that can cause us to lose focus on what HE has called us to do…PREACH HIS WORD!  If we are not careful we can get so creative in our church services that there really isn’t any need for the presence of God…and THAT is the most ungodly place we could ever lead our people to!

God’s Word WILL produce a harvest (see Isaiah 55:8-13, this is a PROMISE)…and the BEST way to see a harvest in the people we preach to is to preach out of the personal harvest that God is bringing forth in us.

And so when this means going all out and having the most creative set design, song selection and video that it can have…praise God, I am all for that…using WHATEVER we can to communicate His Word.

But then I believe there will be times that we do catch a “creative cramp,” and when we do it is probably just God trying to get our attention and bring us back to rely on HIS SPIRIT rather than our strategy.

Yes, we are called to be creative (God is NOT boring), but our call to be that way comes after our call to be obedient.

If God is setting your heart on fire…unleash that fire on Sunday!  PREACH!

It is incredibly easy to be misunderstood when communicating through technology…that is why if I have something REALLY important to communicate to the people I serve with I take a walk down the hall and meet with them face to face…and the few times that I have violated this concept it has bitten me in the butt big time.  (OUCH!)

(Texting wars are incredibly immature!)

BTW…some people communicate through email/texting because they FEAR a face to face communication OR because they are lazy!  BUT…a leader is WILLING to have a tough and/or uncomfortable conversation when it is necessary.  ”I sent an email” does not mean we did our job in regards to leadership/communication of something important; in fact, it could mean the opposite!

Don’t hide behind technology.  It can be used to information…but if there is a certain emotion associated with that information then we owe it to the people we work with to speak face to face.

#2 – Saying “They Don’t Get It” Isn’t An Indictment Against “Them,” But Rather One Against Us!

Leadership means that we take ownership…and so when we say that statement (“they just don’t get it”) reality is that it’s probably MY fault…not theirs.

The pastor or church leader that is always complaining that his people “just don’t get it” isn’t really bashing his people but rather exposing a weakness in his leadership.

If “they” do not get it then reality is I am probably not saying it clearly enough or often enough.

We cannot assume that our staff, volunteers and church members will fully grasp in five minutes what it may have taken us five months to develop.

Stop blaming people for not “getting it,” if they don’t “get it” then keep leading them to “it!”

I’ve heard preachers say before, “Give ‘em hell on Sunday!”  I know what is meant by it…but its sort of sad really that some people actually delight in the fact that there is a place called hell and people really do go there.

Reality is this…people get enough “hell” during the week…their marriages are on the rocks, jobs are uncertain, kids are freaking out, dating life is falling apart…I could go on…

And the last thing people need is to walk into an environment where someone “gives ‘em hell!”  (MAYBE that’s one of the reasons people are dropping out of church like crazy!)

I would say don’t “give ‘em hell” this Sunday–but GIVE THEM HOPE!  (I heard Pete Hise say last week that Hope is on the endangered species list…that people NEED hope, but they aren’t turning to the church for it!)

The life of Jesus gives us HOPE that God actually wants us in a relationship with Him.

The cross gives us HOPE that there is no condemnation for those in Christ.

The empty tomb gives us HOPE that He can conquer anything that we face.

People need HOPE!

Don’t misunderstand…I’m not saying, “go easy and don’t call out sin!”  The problem is that many pastors want to call out the sin but not point to the Savior who paid for that sin and in whom is COMPLETE forgivness and RESTORATION to a God that is desperate to reach people!

The message should be a message of HOPE…and with the world being as dark as it is the church should be shining brighter than EVER before!

We don’t shatter darkness by condemning people…but by pointing them to Christ, the One who shatters condemnation!

Give ‘em hope Sunday!

Seriously…if I say something she thinks is funny…she repeats it.

If I say something that doesn’t even really make sense to her…she will repeat it.

AND…if I look at her and tell her to say something she immediately repeats it.  (The other day I told her to say, “I’m all that and a bag of chips” and she continued to say it for the next hour or so.)

It’s really sort of easy for her…she simply listens to what her father says and repeats it.

Hey pastor…are you stressing out about what you are going to say for your upcoming Christmas service?

Why not just do what my little girl does…just listen to your Father and then repeat what He says!

He’s been doing this WAY longer than anyone else has…

And…He already knows who is going to be at church.

SO…why not spend some time today and tomorrow on your face and asking Jesus to allow you to hear His voice clearer than you’ve ever heard it before.

As long as we are listening to Him we will always have a message…

And I’ve discovered that every time I feel like I haven’t got a message inside of me…it’s because I’m not paying attention to the message He is trying to teach me.

God already has the message prepared…we just need to repeat it.

SO…study like crazy, pray hard…and then GO FOR IT!!!

Life is too short and hell is too hot for us to think we must do this on our own.

He is faitfhul…He called us…He will sustain us…and He has a Word He wants to deliver through us…

Listen…THEN preach!!!

Can’t wait!

• You won’t be reformed enough for some people…and too reformed for others.
• You will be too serious for some…and not serious enough for others.
• You will use too much Scripture for some…and not enough for others.
• You will come across to some people as too nice…and others as too harsh.
• You will really encourage some people…and really frustrate others.
• You WILL say something at some point that will be completely politically incorrect…will offend someone…and they will let you know.
• People WILL take what you say out of context…and tell others that you said things that you never did actually say.

I could go on…but I think we all know that preaching to impress people leads to a dangerous place in ministry…because we can NEVER successfully please the crowd all the time…and doing so is a recipe for insanity!  (Paul was ON to something when he wrote Galatians 1:10!)

The second question is, “What does Jesus want me to say?”  When what HE is saying gets in our hearts and sets us on fire (Jeremiah 20:9)…THAT is what we must preach!!!

• We must be consumed by Him and not controlled by others!
• We must be obsessed with the Almighty and not with what all the people think.
• We must seek to honor HIS call on our lives rather than “their call” to the church!
• We must share Christ.

We cannot allow the ONE who called us to merely be our “good luck charm.”  You know…we throw together a message and then ask Him to bless it.

We must HEAR HIS VOICE…and then PREACH, knowing people will be offended…people will get upset…but ultimately people will come to Christ and His name will be lifted higher!!!

HIS NAME, not our reputation, should be our obsession.

6.    Pay attention to culture.

This should go without saying but what people are talking about should be important to us.

One of the greatest problems I believe the church has is that we are answering the questions that no one is asking.

So what is culture saying because whatever culture is saying Scripture has already addressed that issue. We don’t have to try to be relevant; in fact, I believe the quickest way to irrelevance is to pursue relevance WITHOUT the Scriptures!   People not going to identify with our common ground many times so its up to us to say, “here’s what you are dealing with and here’s what scriptures say.” And show them how real God is through the teaching of his Word.

7.    Inward promotion works best.

This is a conviciton I have in regards to promoting a series. The best thing that we can do in order to reach more people with the Gospel, is teach our church where the services will be heading (which takes PLANNING AHEAD), promote it inwardly and get the people in our church excited about what is coming next.

Please don’t misunderstand…I am not preaching against doing mailouts or billboards or newspaper adds.  We’ve actually tried all of that stuff; however, nothing is more impactful than a church full of fired-up people who are so excited out of their minds about what the church is getting ready to address that they will actually dive out of their comfort zones and take a risk and bring someone else to church with them.

When someone is excited about what is to come that is the best way you can promote what is coming.

BTW…people will often tell me, “Perry…I think you overhype your church.”  WHICH always makes me laugh because…

#1 – If I say I’m excited…then I am freakin excited!  If I say it is going to be the best Sunday ever…it is because I believe it!  I am smokin’ what I’m sellin!  I can’t help but be absolutely FIRED UP about what I get to do!  In fact…I think there is a problem when you CAN’T get excited about the upcoming Sunday…which leads to…

#2 – If the pastor can’t be excited about Sunday…then how in the heck can he expect anyone else to be?  If you are a church leader and/or pastor and can’t get excited about Sunday’s…maybe you are in the wrong church…or even the wrong line of work!

God didn’t call us to be passive…but to be filled with HIS passion to CHANGE the world with HIS Gospel!!!  So…NEVER apologize for passionately communicating about your belief that “Sunday is going to be awesome!!!”

One more thing…whatever you do…do not overpromise and under-deliver.  When you say it…mean it!!

• #1 – Get A Word from the Word
• #2 – Listen to other communicators
• #3 – Find your best time and place to prepare
• #4 – Organize a creative process

5.    Work Ahead.

I realize that many pastors are preaching what I call “Saturday Night Specials” because they don’t feel they have the time or they don’t feel they can work ahead.  I would challenge pastors to do everything you can to get your message preparation 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time.  The reason why is simple: it relieves your team and helps them to prepare better.

Seriously you have people that serve in your church, video people, music people, whatever,  that if you simply gave them 2 or 3 more weeks to pray through and develop some ideas you would would be AMAZED at the quality of work they could produce.

One of the problems that pastors have is they think their staff exists to serve them, therefore they will work week of, develop their message by Wednesday, give it to the people who have to help pull it together, completely stress out their music and video crew, make them work 60, 70, 80 hours a week just to get a job done…when if the pastor would repent of his laziness and egomania, the entire staff could serve the Body rather than the pastor manipulating his staff and using them to serve the Body.

When we work ahead it allows things to marinate in our minds.  When we know what we are preaching 2 or 3 weeks in advance, it will literally help us because we become aware of what we are preaching on so we are always thinking about it, always praying about it, we’ll see something online that will refer to it.  Marinating on an idea helps it develop.  One of the things that I try my best to do is to work way ahead so that our staff, specifically our creative arts department, can do their best job possible.

3.    Find your best time and place to prepare.

One of the things that a communicator must discover is that we are completely unique in our preparation process…we have to find what works for us.

When I attended college many moons ago it became very evident to me that I did very well in early morning classes; however, after 12:00 my A-D-D and my desires to take naps often got the best of me!  I am most likely to be “on my game” when it comes to preparation between 7:00 and 12:00…after that I am useless most of the time!

Thus, today my preparation time takes place in the morning and I guard that time like a pitbull.  I do not allow meetings to take place in the mornings.  I very seldom do breakfasts for anyone because the morningtime is my time where I am the freshest and able to think the most clearly in regards to what God wants me to say.

I mentioned time, let me also mention place.  When we study we’ve got to separate ourself from distraction- give your cell phone to your assistant, put it on silent, do not twitter.  From the time to time we need to get in a different environment-go to a coffeeshop, sit at a picnic table in a park.  Do whatever it takes to find your best time and place to prepare.  Do not schedule meetings, do not apologize, you’ve got a job to do to communicate to the people God has placed in front of you and we’ve got to find our best time and place to prepare.

4.    Organize a creative process.

I used to do “week of” sermon preparation and planning and it was one of the most stressful things that I’ve ever participated in my life.  One of the most harsh realities that a pastor faces on Sunday night is the next Sunday is coming really fast.  So I’ve organized a creative process that helps me in my planning.  It has to do with two parts.

1)    Content. Our creative process always begins with scripture.  We do not begin with, ‘There’s a cool song we’d love to do so let’s organize a sermon around that. “ We do not say, “I have a really cool illustration so let’s find a bible verse that fits with the illustration and revolve a sermon around it.” Correct theology must drive our methodology and once again what we communicate must always begin with scripture.

The other thing I do under the content is I bring others into a meeting to discuss the scripture passage because there are people at different stages of life that will see scripture through a different lens.  You would be amazed at some of the conversations that take place in some of our meetings for example I will bring in women who point out, “You know what Perry, that is the fourth sports illustration you’ve used this week.  It’s not really connecting us.”  Or…I’ll bring in singles and ask how they believe this passage applies to where they are in life.  In fact…I will bring in people that may be different on some minor theological issues that I would happen to think of  because I want to take an all-around view of scripture.

Here’s the problem: Leaders, this takes work. It takes organization.  It takes effort but if you want to teach the scriptures where you can connect with everybody, teach it in a smaller group and ask their opinions on it first.  If you have the ego for it…

2)    Creativity.  Once we get the message ready then we try to organize the branding of the series and the days around it.  Once again, I get different people in this mix.  We brainstorm and we think BIG! What needs to be done musically? What needs to be done video-wise?  I have a rule: no negative people in this meeting.  We don’t need anybody to play the devil’s advocate.  He doesn’t need an advocate and I don’t want anyone on his team around my table.  When you brainstorm, you’ve got to have people in the room with a willingness to check their ego at the door.  Because many times it takes about 9 really bad ideas to produce 1 really great idea.  People have to be willing to speak their mind and say what their thinking which means checking their ego at the door.

When NewSpring Church began I realized that as a communicator I have between 35-40 minutes (okay maybe 55, or even 60) to speak to the people who attend one of our services every week and to say something that is given to me by God that will impact their lives.  I also realized that part of my job as a communicator was to make the message as engaging and memorable as possible.  So, I have an seven step philosophy on message preparation that I feel has served our church and our staff well.  This week I will share the seven steps that we take.

1.    Get a word from the Word.

I have an intense conviction when it comes to preaching–a preacher has got to speak from the overflow of what God is doing inside of him…which means we must have consistent time with God where we are on our faces seeking Him for what he wants to say to us because it is out of our victories and out of our pain that we communicate the most passionately and therefore connect intimately with the people that God has called us to lead.

The overwhelming majority of the series ideas that I have preached here at NewSpring Church have come out of my personal time with God.  Now, let me be very clear, I do not use my quiet time for message preparation.  However, I always have a pen and a paper nearby so I can jot down a note and come back to it later…because the purpose of my personal time with God is for me to connect with Him, not to prepare a message.

The best thing we can do as a communicator is communicate what God is setting our hearts on fire with because then we don’t have to produce the passion– God produces the passion inside of us.

2.    Listen to other communicators.

From time to time I will have people ask me, “Hey Perry, do you ever use other people’s stuff?”  I answer, “HECK YES!”

However give me a second to unpack that…first of all I will not preach another person’s message word for word.  However, if I’m listening to a communicator and they say something to their church that resonates in my heart and my spirit then I will not hesitate to use that same phrase, that same quote to the people I am preaching to.

I believe it is arrogant for a pastor or a church leader to hear something meaningful or impactful said by another church leader but comes to the conclusion, “I can’t say that to my church because it is not an original thought birthed inside of me.”  One of the greatest tragedies that a leader could do in speaking to his church is actually think that he has to be original in everything that he preaches and teaches.  God has given us the gift of other leaders and communicators who say some incredible things and we should listen and be unafraid to share what God uses in their voices to impact our hearts and our congregations.

And by the way…the person who claims to be completely original in their communication and vision has a problem with lying!!!