Your goal must always be to bring attention, glory & honor to Jesus. This sounds so simple but it is intricately more complicated than you might think!

The more selfish and immature we are the more we make ministry about self-fulfillment rather than kingdom advancement. Some people’s ultimate goal is to simply be seen and known as a leader.

Leaders have become leaders because they have practiced replacing immature appetites with mature decisions. This involves being consistent when it’s not convenient.

Gifted people attract attention because the Bible says a persons gift makes room for them in the presence of others – Prov 18:16

We must never confuse giftedness with maturity. Anybody who thrives on attracting attention in their direction needs to sit down until they can grow up!

Phil 2:1-3 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care – 2 then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. 3 Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. (Message)

God doesn’t promote you until he first prepares you so let’s make sure we are making adequate space for the process of maturity to be completely understood. Are you able to carry the mantle of a leader while continuing to be a servant? St. Augustine said, “pride changes angels into devils.”

Keep yourself personally healthy!

• Seek God personally.
• Lessen time between sin and repentance!
• Honor God in every way with your time and your money.
• Forgive others quickly!

1. Prayer before preaching: Your first priority must never be speaking or preaching. Your first priority must be prayer and your personal place before the Lord as a Christian. There is a difference between the person preparing the Word & the Wd preparing the person. This revelation relationship empowers you to bring information w impartation.
2. Teach people not concepts: When I was the Principal of our school we constantly reiterated to our teachers that good teachers teach subjects and great teachers teach students. Jesus was constantly moved by compassion to minister effectively. Pray for the people’s needs before you prepare your sermon! It will affect the way you prepare.

3. Most sermons end before we finish: Everything we preach is embodied by the body of Christ so realize you’ll never feel like you’re finished until the ppl are carrying it out. A good sermon doesn’t have to be long and a bad one better not be
4. Embrace relevance: What question are you answering that these people are asking? If you’re not helping them with some kind of solution to their challenges in life then you’re probably just preaching a religious message that talks about Bible stories with no personal application. Jesus’ teaching is broken down into 20% Bible content with 80% stories and illustrations from life.

The power of story! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-hdQMa3uA&feature=youtu.be

5. Remain true to who you are: It’s easy to pursue successful styles we observe in others. Every person has a core life message. Learn what your core life message is and don’t be afraid to camp around that message in everything you bring. If you never get established in who God designed you to be you’ll spend your entire ministry working to find approval and appreciation from people.

Organize your information this is such an important thing and the deposits God gives us Samuel did not let one word fall to the ground what are the most significant revelations God has ever interested to your care and how many of them have you completely forgotten because you did not organize your information.

Rehearse the things that are core & central to your life and stop chasing the BBD: Bigger, Better Deal. The newest shiniest most exciting thing going on our day may be a distraction from your assignment. Leaders so many times give in to the temptation to chase that which is shiny and new. We are not called to chase success. We are called to discover significance and work that out with maturity and wisdom.

God’s presence is for real life. The less conscious I am of his presence more I feel the need to prove myself.

Andy Stanley on sermon prep.

5 questions to ask in preparing your message:

1. What do they need to know?
   1. What is the one burden to unload? Everything crescendos to this and everybody leaves carrying this burden.
2. Why do they need to know it?
   1. Create a perceived need! This is the intro to the message that causes people to want to charge the platform getting what you’re about to give them.
3. What do they need to do?
   1. Information without application fosters inactivity.
4. Why do they need to do it?
   1. Inspiration – Imagine what would happen in our community if we as husbands all loved our wives. Imagine what could happen in our world if we all managed our money well = bring everybody’s imagination to a conclusion of what could be.
5. What can I do to help them remember?
   1. Trinkets, compass, donuts, marbles, cards, handouts, stickers…

Details bring information to understand. Insights bring revelation to apply. What question are these people asking that God is trying to answer through my message?