“Oh, that’s gonna be good”
“Man, that’s a awesome quote”
“This illustration is gonna kill”
I’ve said or though all of these things and you probably have too, with mixed results.
It’s easy to get hype during sermon prep. As I’m creating/designing a message I can sense what the Lord wants to do, what He might do and hang all the results on my execution. This is certainly a way to look at it but The Apostle Paul balances things out when he says,
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, I Corinthians 2:24
but as a preacher, I revert to
How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14,15
and yet another view on The Word is Jesus himself talking about the scattering of seed,
This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:11
So then, I must prep for the preaching, pray for the power (God’s movement) but I must also plant the seeds before I even get the message.
I don’t know a preacher who doesn’t ask, themselves and/or others, after a message, “Was that good?”. I also don’t know a preacher who doesn’t hope for more results from their execution of the preaching.
More souls saved
More amens
More people at the altar
More praise after the message
Which brings me back to preparing students to receive the message we are preparing.
You can’t advertise, every week, “Join us for a life changing message” although it might be, eventually the call to action falls flat. How then can you till the ground so that the message you are going to share will have the greatest access to a students heart when you speak it?
Let’s take the passage Galatians 5:22-25 and ideate how you can prepare students for your upcoming message and why it’s important that they be there to hear it.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Pictures
Over 7 days, post multiple pics in one post, a different piece of fruit, say an orange on day 1, along with the verse and ask, “What is your favorite orange flavored food or drink.” Now, they are thinking about the verse along with the fruit.
If you post the physical fruit in the morning, post a deeper post at night using the characteristics used in the verse, Post separately or all at once, Joy, Peace, Patience, but this time, ask the question, “Which of these do you sense strongest in your life and which of these do you need more of?”
Video
Jump on live or record a quick video you a the grocery store videoing all the fruit and overlap it with the the main verse.
Do a live video telling students why this meeting/message is going to be important or life changing. Tell a story, in different videos, about how you have seen God produce each of these fruits in your own life.
Physical Media
In a recent series, I sent a whole box to each students filled with things that related to an upcoming series I wrote called ACTION Figures. Here’s the box and you can read what all is in it here
You could drop off a small fruit basket (made by you) with an apple, banana, orange (3 of each for 9 fruits) to get their interest peaked.
Personal Investment
Back to social, you could tag a picture of a student you think best represents a fruit of the Spirit, such a a picture of Jason with Joy, “This kid exudes joy and it is infectious”. This way you directly impact 9 (or more) students.
Text a student you haven’t seen in a while a coupon and say, “Good for a free taco after church. Hope you can join us.” Make sure they know it will be a group thing and not a one on one dinner.
Student Involvement
Here are a few ideas
Give the verse to the students, along with the fruit ideas, and let them create for you. You could give an award at the end of the series for best video/picture, etc.
There are nine fruits, get 9 students to give a testimony about how they’ve seen that characteristic of God’s Spirit come alive in their life.
Give yourself a few months before speaking and get with students and ask them to help write your messages, better still, you help students write the messages and let students share instead of you.
I know you’ve worked hard on your message and I know God will do great things with it because His word says,
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-12
In addition to prayer, the most powerful tool in your toolbox, consider how you can lay the ground work for your messages, plow the field so to speak, so your message has it’s greatest impact.
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