13 questions to help pastors move a message from the head to the heart

13 questions to help pastors move a message from the head to the heart

Rick Duncan

Yes, it's all about God, not us. "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory" (Psalm 115:1). 

So, a preacher who makes much of himself in a message is a narcissistic mess. "Him [Christ - the hope of glory] we proclaim" (Colossians 1:28). 

So, it's all about God. Not the preacher.

But the 19th century preacher, Philips Brooks, said, "Preaching is truth through personality." I believe he's right. I believe that's supported by scripture. Paul once wrote, "So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us" (I Thessalonians 2:8).

Sometimes a message can be good, solid, and accurate. It can explain the text well. It can impart strong information. 

But the personality of the man can be missing. Preachers dare not forget that even the introverts must be relational, connecting, personable,and warm-hearted up front. 

So, before you preach tomorrow, sit down for an hour an answer some questions.

Why does this passage/truth/topic matter to YOU? 

What is YOUR vision for the people regarding this? 

Where do YOU struggle with this? 

Why do YOU struggle with this? 

How has God helped YOU grow in this area? 

Who taught YOU most about this? 

What are one or two things YOU have been prompted to do to grow in this area? 

How have YOU gained victories in this? 

What is a story about this that has changed YOU, inspired YOU, convicted YOU, challenged YOU, encouraged YOU? 

Where are YOU wanting to take us because we live this way? 

How do YOU see our lives being different if we live new in this way? 

Again, why does this matter to YOU? 

Give your people more of God... through YOU!!!

Answer some of these questions and weave them into your current message. (You'll likely have to delete some current content to do it.)

Again, Philips Brooks said, "Preaching is truth through personality." Your people likely need more of YOUR persona, YOUR personhood, YOUR personality. 

Impart the information well. But don't forget to give the people more inspiration. More motivation. More vision. More reasons to change. More understanding of what's at stake. More of how God's story has impacted YOU.

I am not trying to give you more work to do on a Saturday. (Well, maybe I am!) But I think deleting a little content and giving us more of YOUR passion will move your message from good to great.

Question: How do you think preachers could connect more relationally with their congregations in a message?

5 Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made (That You Don’t Need To)

January 14, 2013                

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I love it when leaders share their success stories. It’s great to pick up transferable principles and try to work them into your life.
But there’s a part of me that likes it even more when leaders share their mistakes.
When someone shares their mistakes, I feel like I can relate to them. It reminds me I’m not alone. And it shows me we’re really all in this together.
The best part is once you’ve noticed the mistakes you naturally make, you can learn new skills to manoeuvre around them.
For all five mistakes listed below, I’ve had to adjust the sails and learn new behaviours that make me more effective at what I’m called to do.

Hopefully what’s taken me years won’t need to take you nearly as long.
Here are five leadership mistakes I’ve made:

1. Pointing out what’s wrong – not what’s right. Many leaders share a trait: they immediately notice what’s right and wrong, and gravitate toward fixing what’s wrong. I’m king of this. And ironically, it motivates me to get better. But it can end up being de-motivating to the people around you. I’ve had to learn to celebrate the wins (there are a ton of them when you look), point out what’s right and high five the team. Only then should you move to what’s wrong. Otherwise you knock the wind out of people. Honestly, this is still a daily discipline with me.

2. Thinking a leader needs to have all the answers. As a young leader, I was afraid people would notice that I was young and didn’t know as much as I should. It took me a few years to become comfortable with saying “I don’t know”. Wish I’d learned that right off the bat. Ironically, people already know that you don’t know. And when you say you don’t know, it actually creates empathy and a better sense of team.  Now more than ever, I fully realize how much I have left to learn.

3. Trying to be too original. This characterized my first 7 or 8 years of leadership. I didn’t know you could take what others have done and simply implement it (I’m not talking about plagiarizing sermons or stealing proprietary ideas here – but about ministry models and strategies that you’re free to use). I’d go to a conference and feel I’d need to change something enough to put ‘my spin’ or ‘our spin’ on it. Well, sometimes your spin makes it worse. If you really have an original idea that’s going to change things – use it. But there are smarter people who are further along than you who you can borrow from. And sometimes you just need to give yourself permission to borrow.

4.  Using people to accomplish tasks. I’m a task guy. Early on, sometimes I saw people as a means to an end, not an end in themselves. It’s a goal of mine to do what great managers do – not use people to get tasks done, but to get ‘people done’ through tasks.

5. Depending too much on my own strength. Being an A-type personality has strengths and weaknesses. Looking back, I wish I had developed a better sense of team earlier and I wished I had sought out mentors earlier. I’m still also trying to figure out the balance between Jesus’ teaching that human effort accomplishes nothing and that we need to serve and lead with all diligence. I’ll get back to you on that one. Maybe in heaven.

Those are five leadership mistakes I’ve made. How about you?
What are you struggling with? How are you overcoming?
What are you stuck on?

About Carey Nieuwhof: Carey Nieuwhof is the lead pastor of Connexus Community Church. He is the author of the best selling book, Leading Change Without Losing It and co-author of Parenting Beyond Your Capacity. Carey speaks to North American and global church leaders about change, leadership, and parenting.

When you feel like the world is ticked at you...

When you feel like the world is ticked at you...

by Rick Duncan
Cuyahoga Valley Church

"Am I really and truly a Beloved Child?" Most of us wonder about that. We struggle with shame and guilt. We struggle with feelings of worth and value. We are sure that God is ticked at us.

Why is that?

Some of us go to work everyday and we wonder if the people in charge really want us there. Others of us grew up in homes where our parents said, “You’ll never amount to anything.” And just this last week, someone heard, “I don’t know why I ever married you.”

You need – you really need – to know what God thinks.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

We are His Beloved Children. Jesus hasn’t just saved us. He’s actually delighting in us. Two words here: Rejoice (sus) means "exult" and gladness (simchah) means "mirth." It’s like God is at a party and He's dancing because of us.

Is that overstated? I don’t think so. "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5).
Does God delight in you because you are so lovable? No. The Bible says that we hated God and were His enemies. Does He delight in us because we are so “together”? No. We’re sinful through and through.

In spite of all that, Jesus brings us before the throne of grace and is proud of us. God delights in us because of Christ and what He’s made us to be. It’s with the blood of Jesus that we’ve been washed and made new.

"I will rejoice… and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more" (Isaiah 65:19, NLT).
Too many of us believe that God is a “ticked off” God. Yes, He’s just. Yes, He’s holy. And yes, He disciplines his children. And we should never presume upon His grace.

But at the end of the day, you’ve got to know that through Christ Jesus, God delights in His people. 

God not only loves you, He likes you. You are so loved that Jesus delights in you. And because He delights in you, you can delight in yourself... and someone else.

Question: How will you live new today because God rejoices over you?