How do you measure the success of your preaching?  How do you know that your preaching is effective?  And how do you measure it all?

At the Journey we started thinking about how baseball teams measure the effectiveness of their offence by Runners Batted In.  We started to think about preaching in terms of RBIs—how do we move people around the bases, help people take next steps, and encourage them to run the distance?

So we came up with our own acronym—RTLs, Radically Transformed Lives.  For RTLs to happen, three things must be happening:

1. Unbelievers must be coming to your church on a regular basis.
2. Attenders must be introduced to a personal relationship with Jesus in unique and creative ways
3. Believers, new and mature alike, must be continually challenged to take the next steps in their lifelong journey with Jesus Christ

All of this requires advanced planning.  Here’s why:

Someone told me early on in my preaching career that “somebody pays the price for the sermon.”  Either the preacher will pay the price by advanced planning, or the people will pay the price by wasting their time.

3 Advantages to Planning Your Preaching in Advanced:

1. Stress and anxiety are reduced, and you become a better teacher when you do not have to come up with content at the last minute.  You will have more confidence and will be able to maximize your content.
2. It becomes possible to integrate other areas of your church into your service.  For example, The Journey sometimes incorporates small group content and curriculum into the sermon to create synergy around a specific topic.
3. You can be more creative with worship service and promotion when you know which messages series is coming months in advance.

Your Partner in Ministry,

Nelson

P.S.   As you may already know, I have made my “Top 10 Fall Sermons” available at HALF-OFF this week so you can get a jump on your planning!  Every sermon series includes a transcripts, outlines, graphics and over 60 hours of sermon preparation by our teaching team.  Click this link to view all Top 10 Fall Sermon Series for Half-Off.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.