Another Sunday is over and you have been preaching all day. Maybe you are wondering how your message was received. Did it make sense? Did it impact and change people?

Unfortunately just because you preached for 35 minutes, and just because everyone stayed to listen to it doesn’t necessarily mean that it transformed their life.

We don’t want to keep sharing messages that just inform the congregation in the pews, but that ultimately inspires and shapes their life to be full of the power of Jesus Christ.

Here are 3 things that are important to consider when preaching for change.

1. Be In The Word

Always be reading the bible. There’s no need to separate devotion time, or bible study from your sermon preparation. Read your bible and always be open for inspiration for a message, after all God must speak to us before he can use us to speak to others on his behalf.

Ultimately each of us need a revelation that the word of God has the power to transform people. Preachers are not speaking to inform people but to bring transformation. Stories, humour, and other communication techniques are great for establishing and maintaining engagement, but only the Word of God can bring transformation.

Lets preach the gospel and proclaim the good news, but people should not leave church thinking about what an awesome communicator you are, but what an awesome saviour we have.

2. Be In The World

In order to preach for change you need to know where people are at now. Pastors often spend a lot of time around other Christians so it is important to get out of the “Christian bubble”.

One way to do this is to prepare your message in a public place such as a café. There you have unchurched people around you. Look around the room and ask yourself: How would they understand this message? Will it make sense to them? Will they be changed by it? Can they put it into practical use?

3. Be Aware

Always keep your heart open and look for signs in conversations with people and in the culture around you. You can be inspired by something as simple as a billboard message or a recognizable pop song lyric.

When preparing your message be inspired by the things going on around you. Think of what you see around you and conversations you have with people. What are people focused on at the moment? What is on the news?

Make sure you are following the news and know what is going on in the world of the people you are speaking to. Listen to people and look for an entry point into their culture. Enter through peoples felt point of need. From there people are open to listen to your message and will resonate with their actual issues and challenges.

This thought was inspired from a webinar entitled ‘Preaching for Change hosted by Christine Caine during Online Open Week in February 2017. Online Open Week is your opportunity to receive impartation and leadership training direct from the Hillsong team through live webinars.

If you would like to watch the full recording or find out more about future events from the Hillsong Leadership Network, click below