When I was growing up I worked in a drugstore. Every year a team of expertly trained individuals came in and conducted an inventory of every item in the store. It was amazing to watch each one do their job with great skill. They moved throughout the store and tried their best to stay out of the way of business.
Why take an inventory, you ask? Well, the owner wanted to know the total value of everything in the store. Until taking the inventory his financial worth was just a guess. After taking the inventory he had a trustworthy answer - a financial baseline from which to work.
A good pastor understands that taking inventory is worth the effort, as well. He needs to determine the truth about himself and his church if he is to become more effective in ministry.
Do all pastors do this? Some do. I would think most do not. Why not? Probably because it can be an uncomfortable process. Identifying your own strengths and weaknesses can be intimdating.
One place to start would be to take a basic spiritual gifts inventory. It is easy to do, takes only 10 minutes and will help you get started in identifying your own giftedness. You can do that right now absolutely free at this site: http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_MYCS_030526_Spiritual_Gifts_Survey.pdf
Take the time to begin your own personal inventory today!
People without a personal knowledge of the life of a pastor have little idea of the amount of study required to prepare a message of 25 to 30 minutes in length two or three times a week.
For the average person the only way I know to describe it would be to refer them back to their days in high school when everyone had to do a research paper. Some will remember the agony that those would cause every year. Those papers were usually due at the end of the semester.
Preparing a sermon would be similar to that in many aspects except for two things, (1) it is a spiritual endeavor, and (2) you don't have all semester to finish. Come what may, Sunday rolls back around once every seven days. That means, if you have any integrity, you either learn how to prepare and deliver good sermons or you look for something else God might have you to do. And many have. Not everyone can stand up under the demands.
Thinking back over my years as a pastor I remember struggling with sermon preparation. It was ever demanding. It called for a "stick-to-it-ness" and I stuck with it for many years. That's not to say I didn't considered giving up a time or two. I believe most preachers have considered that option more than once.
During those times I was very tired and felt like I needed a break I can still remember coming home after church some Sunday evenings and closing my eyes for a few minutes. I would usually in those moments thank God for the day and His help. With an amen to that prayer would sometimes come the thought, now, three more! Meaning, between now and next Sunday evening I would need to prepare and deliver three more sermons and or Bible studies. (Hey, I'm being honest here!)
Sermon preparation can and will be all what you make it.
It can and should begin with confession of sin. Don't serve your guests living water poured from a dirty vessel. Take adequate time to seek God's forgiveness and to ask for His mercy and help.
It can and should be a delightful spiritual discipline. God will honor your time in His Word and will bless you in the process. Joy and satisfaction should be a by product.
It can and should be a time of worship. Long before the people hear the message on Sunday the pastor's heart has been searched and tried again and again. As glorious truths mined from God's Word come to fruition the pastor worships God.
It can and should be given priority in your life. Some try and run from study and claiming that God will give them a message in due time. But, after a few months of that, people will tire of the well worn phrases said to produce easy and cheap amens. You must learn how to study to preach each week. If you have never learned, stop and learn before going any further!
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
(I love discovering new blogs for pastors. Check this one out by Hal Seed. Thanks, Hal, for your permission to post this here)
Hal Seed:
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve love to hear your thoughts.
In 1917 the American Radio and Research Corporation began radio broadcasting and within a few years Americans were bent over little boxes almost every night of the week. Television came in the 1940’s, and within a decade our habits shifted from listening to speakers to watching screens for hours on end. Then Al Gore invented the internet, and soon AOL, then MySpace, then Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest began competing for our evenings.
A little more than a hundred years ago, the American frontier family huddled around candles at the kitchen table after dark. While mom and grandma sewed and mended, kids played quietly and dad read Scripture – out loud – for an hour or more each evening.
The Imitation of Christ is said to be the most influential spiritual works in Western Christendom other than the Bible itself. This fresh contemporary translation from the 15th Century Latin edition makes the timeless wisdom of this classic available to modern readers in easily understandable language, while retaining the austerity, simplicity and beauty of the original.
Meant to be read in small portions, the Imitation is truly a guide for discovering personal holiness. Although written from the perspective of a medieval monastic, The Imitation contains classic advice for every individual who wishes to develop and grow in faith and personal spirituality.
My Utmost For His Highestby Oswald Chambers is a book like none other. The material for it was written while Chambers was serving as a Chaplain with Allied troops in Egypt. There he learned what it was like to talk to men who were on the front line of battle. Chambers pointed the troops to Jesus Christ.
Published in England in 1927, and in the USA in 1935, the book has become one of the most popular religious books ever written. Remarkably, it has never gone out of print. Chambers' popularity grew after his death thanks to his wife, Gertrude Hobbs, who summarized his talks from her extensive shorthand notes.
The book is a devotional, broken down in 365 sections for each day of a year, meant to be read daily for inspiration. Thousands of people have been blessed and challenged as they have regularly read this daily devotional.
Through the years the royalty income from this classic book is used for Christian works that include a school in Africa, distribution of books to many African countries, gifts of books to pastors in Asia, support for a children’s home in Thailand, and many more.
Many agree, if you buy only one book this year, make it My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
As Christ-followers we recognize how important it is to know—and live—God’s Word. We also recognize how difficult that can be sometimes. Scripture is full of tough commands:
In his book, Spiritual Formation, Henri Nouwen, world-renowned spiritual guide and counselor, tells the story of The Fearful Hoarders. What is it about? Why is it in a book about Spiritual Formation? What would be your guess?
Once there was a group of people who surveyed the resources of the world and said to each other: “How can we be sure that we have enough in hard times? We want to survive whatever happens. Let us start collecting food and knowledge so that we are safe and secure when a crisis occurs.” So they stated hoarding, so much so eagerly that other people protested and said: “You have much more than you need, while we don’t have enough to survive. Give us part of your wealth!” But the fearful hoarders said: “No, no, we need to keep this in case of emergency, in case things go bad for us too, in case our lives are threatened.” But the others said:
This process of self-emptying and spirit filing is called spiritual formation---the gradual development of the heart of God in the life of a human being, aided by contemplative prayer, inclusive community, and compassionate ministry.
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