What preaching taught me about teaching

During parent/teacher interviews, I’ll readily admit that I’m the loudest, most energetic, teacher in the school.

I’m sure it’s the residual enthusiasm I had from my time in youth ministry.

I was also the loudest, most energetic, scripture teacher.

I was also fairly boisterous in the pulpit (but not over the top).

When it comes to the classroom, I subscribe to what John Wesley (supposedly) said about his preaching.

Allegedly (but probably not) Wesley stated that God, through His Spirit, would set his preaching on fire, and people - if nothing else - would come to watch him burn.

I teach in the same way.

My classes are entertaining.

They are loud.

They are often odd.

They are smattered with quirkiness.

And, hopefully, students can’t - if anything else - look away.

This is why, in some of my senior classes, I’ll pick up the odd orphaned student.

It turns out, if nothing else, that I put on a good show…

The prayer you don’t have to pray but hear often

There is a prayer which I’m sure, if you’ve spent any significant amount of time around churches, that you’ve heard uttered before.

And, while it is said with the best of intentions, it is completely needless.

The prayer is for God to be present.

These words are not required.

Why?

Because God is present everywhere.

It goes along with the omniscience of God…

God, by His nature, is present. Everywhere. All the time.

What we should pray, and what I think is usually intended to be prayed, is the following… that we should be aware of the presence of God.

This is a POWERFUL prayer.

This is a TRANSFORMATIVE prayer.

This is a prayer which we NEED.

We need to be aware of God’s presence, allowing it to shape our actions, words, thoughts and worship.

Be it at the start of a church service, bible study, meeting, confrontation or any other occasion when we tend to invite Gods presence, praying for mindfulness of the reality of God’s presence will be far more useful.

Education analogies

Pitcher/catcher.

Doctor/patient.

The pitcher wants to do his best.

The catcher needs to receive the pitch by focussing on what the pitcher is delivering.

The doctor wants what’s best for the patient.

The patient needs to follow the direction of the teacher.

This is how teaching works best.

We are the pitcher.

We are the doctor.

Our students are the catchers.

Our students are the patients.

The central point is that both teacher and student need to work in partnership.

Without both teacher and student working together, education falls apart.

Your ministry in the pews on a Sunday

Tomorrow, like most Sundays, I’ll be listening to a sermon.

While I’ve stood in the pulpit and delivered sermons plenty of times before, I’ve been the recipient of a sermon far more than I’ve been the deliverer.

Every so often I’ll gaze out at my fellow congregants during the sermon.

Some are listening. 

Some are zoned out.

I am, honestly, usually bouncing between the two.

Of course, to the one up the front, the attentiveness of those in the pews is not a mystery.

For, you listen with your body, not just your ears.

You listen with your eyes.

You listen with your arms.

You listen with your hands.

Your eyes drift.

Your arms cross.

Your hands either fidget or cease taking notes.

Your body testifies to your attentiveness.

And, your body can perform a ministry to the preacher.

You can be an encouragement.

The manner you listen on a Sunday morning speaks loudly to the one up the front.

Perhaps, I’m not the only one who needs to consider the message I’m sending to the messenger on a Sunday…

Pushing beyond the comfortable response

We all have our comfortable answers.

It happens in the classroom.

It happens within churches.

Sometimes, the challenge required is to take someone beyond their comfort response.

To drag someone away from their area of expertise.

To invite someone to empathise with another whom they may not otherwise.

To draw someone to go beyond their pat answer.

One place where this can raise its head is prayer.

When we pray we can fall into common cliques.

We can drift into our comfortable areas.

The challenge of a leader/teacher, at times, is to ask for more.

To push for more.

To want more.

To be prepared to wait for more.

Otherwise, people will be content to remian in their comfort zone.

If your the leader, then you must be prepared to do this for every question you ask

A good leader won’t ask his/her followers to do anything that they themselves aren’t prepared to do.

With this being said, whenever a leader asks a question, they should be prepared to respond to the question themselves.

This can apply for introductory sharing questions - What do you do? How old are you?

Or deeper exploratory questions - What is your favourite childhood memory? Where do you see yourself in five years?

Or probing biblical enquires- What jumps out at you about this passage? How do you think you can apply this passage to your week ahead?

If a leader poses a question to the group, they should provide the first or the last answer.

This, first, provides safety for other people to share.

Second, if the leader answers first, then it can provide a launching board for others to follow.

Finally, it’s unfair that a leader should ask for others to be vulnerable if others (or more dishonestly, the leader secretly) are aware that the leader themselves won’t be prepared to share.

How every ministry event should end

This event will end at (insert time here) and you are then free to leave. No questions asked.

But, you don’t have to leave at the allotted time. You can stick around for some unstructured time a while (usually until the leader is departing).

This is how every ministry event should end.

A firm finish so time so people can know when the event will definitely conclude.

A flexible finish time so ministry or fellowship can casually continue.

To advertise both is essential and a healthy ministry - be it a church service, small group, youth/young adults activity - will have both.