Jesus Swag Youth Ministries

Jesus Swag Youth Ministries Leadership Training: Preaching Edition

Greetings, If you are reading this, you have either been selected or volunteered yourself to preach at our fellowship night! We have prepared this PowerPoint especially for you, so that your preaching experience can be as easy as possible. Please patiently read through all the contents of this presentation, as it is mandatory for you to do so. No worries, it shouldn’t be long! This training is broken down into five components: Attire Church Etiquette Introductions How to Prepare Your Sermon Scripture/Passage Subject Your Sermon Conclusions

One: Attire • First impressions is everything! While many people in our modern day society no longer put an emphasis on dress, we strongly suggest that you do. • Would you dress any old way for an interview? Assuming your answer would be no: Why not show the same respect/importance for the work of the Lord? Your attire obviously has nothing to do with the words that the Lord will produce out of your mouth, but your dress is a minor exemplification of you, so make it look good! • Finally, if you are a woman we suggest that you cover your head. (The scarf doesn’t have to be large. As long as your head is covered you’re alright.) Reference: 1Corinthians 11:6

Women Examples of appropriate attires.

Men Examples of appropriate attires.

Two: Church Etiquette • Jesus Swag Ministries is all about being Christ-Like. As a result, your mannerism should always be an exemplification of Christ. • Class is very essential when bringing forth a word; you will be received in the manner you are presented.(Take this time out to think about the manner in which you would like to be received by your audience.) Act accordingly. • As you should already know, profanity is not permitted on the pulpit, and we advise that you do not chew gum while preaching. • Finally, as a preacher you are not called to point fingers or to put out people’s business. You’re probably thinking what do we mean by that? What we’re saying is if you know someone’s personal business, and they’re sitting before you, it would be best to keep that out of your sermon…unless the Holy Spirit has directed you to do otherwise. Just preach from the heart.

Three: Introductions • When called to the pulpit you should introduce yourself before going into your sermon.(Even if you feel everyone already knows you.) • A proper introduction would be to state your full name, the name of your home church, and the name of your pastor. • After introducing yourself you should thank any necessary people for granting you the opportunity to preach. The first on the thank you list would obviously be God, then possibly the person who invited you, and the church, etc. • The final portion of your introduction will be to read the key scripture/passage of your sermon. You could either read it aloud yourself, or have someone you know read it for you. (Regardless, you should ask the entire congregation to stand up in respect to the word of God.) • If the director hasn’t done so already, you can say a quick prayer for yourself before you begin. • Please note: When vocally talented, some preachers like to sing a song before their introduction/sermon; you are not obligated to do so if you do not feel it‘s necessary.

Four: How to Prepare Your Sermon First and foremost, take some time out with the Lord and ask him to inspire you. Ask him what it is that he would like you to share with his people. Get yourself spiritually on fire a couple days prior to the sermon. Doing this will really set the atmosphere for you. Step One: Scripture/Passage • Assuming that you have gone before the Lord, and as a result he has inspired you, you will need to select a passage/scripture from the Bible as your key focus for your sermon. Step Two: Subject • You will need to generate a subject that correlates with your scripture/passage. Example: “The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.”-Proverbs 5:22-23 Generated Subject: Sinful Suicide. The correlation between these scriptures and the subject is the fact that according to these scriptures, the wicked deeds of a man is what kills him. As we know, we are given free will from God. If we willingly choose to be wicked, we also willingly chose to die as a result. For it reads that “ He will die for lack of discipline” Hence, “Sinful Suicide”. (This is just a minor example to help you; you are not obligated to word your sermon in this manner.)

Four: How to Prepare Your Sermon (continued) Step Three: Your Sermon At this point we pray that the Holy Spirit will have it’s way, and that the anointing of God will be manifested through you. • Unless the Holy Spirit is seriously moving, your sermon should not exceed 45 minutes-1hr. (An hour is actually kind of pushing it, but that’s standard.) If it exceeds an hour, it is way too long! (Trust me, when the Holy Spirit is moving everyone will feel it, but if a number of people start to get up and leave there’s a problem.) • When speaking, it is very essential that you speak loud and clear. Your presence on the pulpit will be in vain if no one can hear or understand you. • You want to make sure that everything you say in your sermon correlates with your key passage and subject. In other words, you must maintain consistency. If for some reason you need to go astray to say something very important, you must do so only for a few seconds, then return right back to your main focus. • You want to make sure that everything you say in your sermon is backed by biblical references. (You can’t just make up stuff.) It is impressive if you throw in relating scriptures(other than your key passage) in your message to support your subject. • Finally, sometimes it helps to share a testimony in which relates to what you are saying. Doing this will allow people to understand your sermon on a more personal level.

Five: Conclusions • In conclusion, you should briefly review all the key points of your sermon and be sure to welcome anyone to make peace with Christ/or to accept him as their personal savior. (If they haven’t done so already. ) • You’re all done! God Bless You

Jesus Swag Youth Ministries