Every coin has two distinct sides: heads and tails. If a coin didn’t have these two sides, it wouldn’t be a legitimate coin at all; it would be an unusable hunk of metal. Similarly, your preaching is comprised of two distinct elements: your personal preparation and your delivery. The two bind together to produce teaching that the Holy Spirit can work through to create life change in your people. Without proper preparation, the message you present to your listeners will fall flat. Yet without a strong delivery, even the most well-prepared message won’t connect. But when thorough preparation and well-executed delivery work in concert with one another, the result is an effective, memorable, potentially life-changing message.

I have given a lot of thought to Paul’s ministry. I often re-read the passage from Colossians in which Paul asked the Colossian believers to pray that his preaching would be clear and effective. Wrap your mind around the power of that. The Apostle Paul himself – the same man who wrote two-thirds or more of the New Testament – is asking other people to pray for him as he prepares to proclaim the truth of God:

Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I could. (Col. 4:4 NLT)

Paul’s request for prayer tells us a couple of things. One, he understood the power of prayer (both his own prayers and the prayers of others) as he prepared to preach. Two, Paul obviously gave intentional thought to how he communicated and – if the results of his ministry are any indication – did whatever needed to be done to make his message as effective as it could possibly be. Shouldn’t you and I be willing to do the same?

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© 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.