Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication

So what do you do when you are stuck? The first thing I do when I am stuck is pray. But I’m not talking about a quick, Help me Lord, Sunday’s a comin’ prayer. When I get stuck I get up from my desk to head for my closet. Literally. If I‘m at the office I go over to a corner that I have deemed my closet away from home. I get on my knees and remind God that this was not my idea, it was His… None of this is new information to God… Then I ask God to show me if there is something He wants to say to prepare me for what He wants me to communicate to our congregation. I surrender my ideas, my outline and my topic. Then I just stay in that quiet place until God quiets my heart… Many times I will have a breakthrough thought or idea that brings clarity to my message. . . Like you, I am simply a mouthpiece. Getting stuck is one way God keeps me ever conscious of that fact.

Preaching is not talking to people about the Bible; it is talking to people about themselves from the Bible.

With this approach, every message should have one central idea, application, insight, or principle that serves as the glue to hold the other parts together.

What is the one thing I want my audience to know? •   What do I want them to do about it?

The key to this approach is refusing to stand up and speak until you know the answer to two questions: •  What is the one thing I want my audience to know? •  What do I want them to do about it?

Preaching for life change requires far less information and more application. Less explanation and more inspiration. Less first century and more twenty-first century.

The way I read it, spiritual maturity is gauged by application not contemplation.

HEARING AND DOING A third goal, and the one I subscribe to, is to teach people how to live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible. In short, my goal is change. I want them to do something different instead of just think about it. When I’m finished preaching, I want people in the audience to know what to do with what they have heard.

our approach to communicating should be shaped by our goal in communicating.

They have adjusted their style in order to worship with their kids. Shouldn’t we be willing to adjust ours to reach their kids?