that I feed myself first before trying
to feed others. As in the case of
air safety—in the event of cabin
decompression put the oxygen mask
on first before attempting to save
someone else who needs assistance.
2. Pray, pray and pray again. E.M.
Bounds well said, “A prepared heart
is much better than a prepared
sermon. A prepared heart will make
a prepared sermon.”
3. Preach and teach in and out of
season—whether you feel like it or not,
without fail and regardless of what’s
going in our world (2 Timothy 4:2).
4. Communicate clearly. Avoid
language barriers. Don’t try to
impress people with big words for the
sake of displaying your intelligence.
Break it down like Jesus.
5. Rely on the anointing.
Remember the anointing is necessary
to destroy yokes (Isaiah 10:27).
Preach with a demonstration of the
Spirit’s power to strengthen the faith
of people in the power of God (2
Corinthians 2:4-5). In others words, say
and do the Word of God.
6. Keep it fresh and keep it
real. Make sure the message
and presentation are relevant. I
prayerfully consider what I should
minister and then try to package the
message creatively so as to increase
recall, impact and transformation.
For example, I once preached a
message entitled, “It’s Not Right But
It’s OK” based on the story of Joseph
64 Solutions
and his brothers. In my introduction
after reading Genesis 45:7,8 and
50:20 I asked my audience to turn to
someone and say…at which point
I paused and they heard a loud
recording of Whitney Houston singing,
“It’s not right but it’s OK.” It was quite
effective.
For several years now I’ve led a
6:30 am prayer call Monday through
Friday where I put messages in prayer
form to lead people in praying
the Word and thereby reinforce
messages delivered. Come up with
similar ways to creatively increase
retention, e.g. video clips, graphics,
social media posts like Snapchat,
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Brandon Hilgemann is a pastor, founder of
ProPreacher.com, and author of Preaching
Nuts & Bolts: Conquer Sermon Prep, Save
Time, and Write Better Messages.
Dr. Lawrence Powell is the Senior Pastor of
Agape Family Worship Center in Rahway,
New Jersey. With over 26 years in ministry,
Lawrence is transforming lives with his
powerful, prolific and practical presentation
of the Gospel. Thousands of families from
across the tri-state region flock to Agape
every week to experience warm fellowship,
dynamic worship and anointed