Today's Topic

When I consider the question, "What am I going to preach?" I always have an answer: "Whatever the Holy Spirit leads me to teach."

That may sound a little corny at first, but there's a very important lesson in this process for pastors as well as anyone who is in a position to teach someone else (which means everyone).

I have countless lessons that I have preached over the last ten years and that I have access to via the internet that others have preached. Each week, it would be very easy for me to simply select at random any one of those messages. However, the most important question that goes along with "What am I going to preach?" is "What does my flock need to hear?". That's when the Holy Spirit comes into play in revealing to me the needs of the people who attend City on a Hill Church.

It's incredibly important to preach a message that is needed instead of just filling time every Sunday morning. That's how churches grow instead of merely exist. That's how lives are changed.

Believe it or not, we're all in a position to teach someone something. Perhaps you're a parent with children or you have coworkers who look to you for advise or mentoring. If you can't think of one person who looks to you for wisdom and information, then you need to figure out why and make changes so that you do have the opportunity to teach someone something. We all have valuable experiences and wisdom that need to be passed along to others.

When we teach, we should never be interested in merely passing along information, but begin with "What does this person need to know?" Being a good teacher is not about figuring out how to spew forth as much information as possible in the short time you have. It's about knowing what your student needs to know and then communicating it in a way that he/she understands it.

Some questions with which to challenge yourself this week:
Who are you teaching?
Have you asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what they need to know?
And are you teaching them what they need to know without overloading them with mere information?