Rick Smith joined us last Monday to talk about communicating God’s Word effectively to teenagers. Rick is a youth minister who love speaking at camps, conferences and retreats. It’s from his experience that he shared some insightful thoughts about teaching teenager the Bible.

Unfortunately, we were plagued with technical difficulties throughout the conversation: the conference call’s host service had some hardware failures along with my microphone working incorrectly, so everyone was having some issues. I’ve doctored up the audio the best I could, but it’s still pretty rough.

Some of the things we talked about:

• Allowing the Holy Spirit to teach through you
• Teaching scripture to the apathetic kids
• How our personal walk impacts our teaching
• How big of a deal it is to teach God’s Word
• And a lot more…

You can listen to the whole conversation below or grab it in iTunes.

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Today’s discussion

October 19: Today’s guest is Matt Brown, formerly with the Billy Graham Association, who will lead us in a discussion about, “Mobilizing your students to share their faith.” At 2:00 PM eastern time, call (724) 444-7444 and enter ID 19105#, or use the link on the LIVE YM Talk page to listen online and join the chat room.

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In some churches, when the Sunday morning worship service is over, the pastor stands at the back door and shakes everyone’s hand as they leave. Most people typically thank the pastor and tell him how wonderful the sermon was. Personally, I have a hard time with that.

Last week I “preached” twice: once at our community’s high school baccalaureate service and again at all three church services for Graduation Sunday. After each time, people tell me, “Tim, you did a great job!” Sometimes I feel they’re just saying that because they’re not sure how else to start a conversation with me after I was just on stage in front of everyone. Other times I sense that they truly are genuinely thankful for the message. But either way, I’ve found that I really wish I could remove myself from too much praise or criticism right after teaching. In fact, despite wanting to hang around after the baccalaureate service and talk with seniors, I left right away.

My buddy, Tony Myles, wrote something several years ago that has stuck with me. He said:

“I am most vulnerable to criticism right after a sermon, and tend to take [criticism] too deeply in that moment. Likewise, it’s the worst time for me to hear affirmation because then my ego just gets bigger.”

That is so totally true for me. After the baccalaureate I really had to distance myself from all the praise because I was hearing it too much. So I left. Preaching at church last weekend felt somewhat similar. Moments after I finish teaching, I’m way too emotionally attached to the message and vulnerable to really hear anything objectively, whether praise or criticism. I really need about a day to pass before I can respond to feedback with a level head. Otherwise I get too cocky or hurt, depressed, or defensive.

While attending Dallas Theological Seminary, one of my professors, Howard Hendricks, called “sermon praise” the “glorification of the worm.” I am, in fact, a lowly worm, a very inadequate vessel for communicating God’s Word. Anything good that comes as a result of anything I say is solely a work of the Holy Spirit, not me. I’m so thankful that He chooses to work in spite of me, never because of me.

In a couple weeks I’m preaching for Graduation Sunday when we recognize all the high school seniors in church services. I’m also the speaker for our town’s high school baccalaureate service, so I’ve got a couple significant speaking engagements coming up.

As I was thinking through a little of what I’ll be teaching at both events, a couple things came to mind about what makes someone a good presenter on a stage. I am definitely no expert, but I do watch people when they present and see a couple common traits among the ones that I appreciate most. Here’s what I’ve learned from them:

1. Know your content and know it well. I don’t mean memorize a script because people can tell when you’re just reciting something no matter how much emotion you try to infuse into it. Know your main ideas, the direction of your message, and be able to talk as if it’s a one-sided conversation, not a school report.

2. Be passionate about what you’re teaching. Passion isn’t something you can fake or muster up. Passion isn’t necessarily a loud voice or an energetic stage presence. It’s something that everyone can sense, but no one can quite put their finger on it because they can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice because it’s obvious that you’ve put your lesson into practice in your own life long before you delivered it to them.

3. Use God’s Word to point out sin and weaknesses in people’s lives. Communicate God’s Word clearly and let Him convict. I learned this over the past several years by listening to my favorite podcast preachers: Craig Grochel, Perry Noble and Mark Driscol. People, including myself, are tired of watered-down messages that remind them of something they need to do or change without pushing them to do it in ways that might otherwise be offensive.

4. Use God’s Word to encourage people in their spiritual walk. The best messages I remember are the ones that both convict me and encourage me. If it’s all conviction every time I listen to someone teach, I feel depressed and unmotivated. But when it’s coupled with encouragement, the conviction can sink in without wallowing in it.

5. Be vulnerable. I know most teachers don’t think of themselves as the expert, so be intentional about communicating that. Let your audience see windows into your failures, your weaknesses and your struggles, and how the Lord is working or has worked in you through those areas so it encourages others. Plus, people respect what you have to say when they know you’re being real with them.

6. Saturate your messages in prayer. Need I say more?

7. As you prepare your messages, approach God’s Word with fear, trembling, and deep respect. The old adage is true, “Familiarity breeds contentment.” This is God’s-breathed Word, not just spiritual Mother Goose rhymes. Don’t take it lightly. It’s a huge privilege and responsibility that will incur a stricter judgment upon yourself (James 3:1).

What else do you see in certain pastors that makes them good teachers from a stage?