Ready or Not, Here it Comes!!! - Part 2 (Repost)

On Monday, we began talking about the burden of "Every 7 days, ready or not" in the ministry...

Here's part 2...

Taming the Monster of Sunday - Part 2

(Help for Pastors under Pressure)

4.  Learn to write to 80%. When I say that I'm 4 to 6 weeks ahead in message prep, this is what I mean. I have a goal to have the main points, verses and illustrations laid out (or 80% of the message) weeks in advance. This gives me peace of mind knowing that on any given week, I'm simply microwaving the message up to 95% on Monday morning, rather than trying to start from scratch every week.

5.  I write on Mondays. The common theme for most pastors is to want to jump in front of a bus on Mondays, but I have found that if I can get in the zone and think of it as a continuation of the day before, I'm actually capable of some pretty amazing creativity. The benefit of locking in my message on Monday is:

• I feel extremely productive. Doing what I do best on Mondays, rather than all the to-do list stuff, makes me feeling like a million bucks and sets me up for a more productive week.
• I don't feel as swamped later under all the details of church. Church work can drain you. And carrying the pressure of Sunday's message on your shoulders while I'm dealing with detail stuff during the week can be overwhelming. Details put me on edge, which is not good for my team.
• I have a clear mind to lead and make decisions. When the pressure of Sunday is off, the more confident I feel in my decision making. The bigger our church gets, the more pressure I feel on a decision making level. Having a handle on Sunday early in the week, helps me feel more empowered to make decisions that need to be made during the week.

6.  Learn to see "Sparks" everywhere. For any communicator, the distance from zero to a creative spark is infinity, but once you have the spark, the rest of the content for a message can flow pretty quickly. If you have to communicate on a weekly basis, you'll have to develop the art of seeing sparks for messages everywhere. I see sparks everywhere, so much so, that there are lots of messages that I never have opportunity to develop or preach anywhere. But just developing the discipline of seeing the sparks helps me as a communicator.

The second key to seeing the sparks is having a place to put them once you see them. That's where the Wall of Sundays comes in for me. Whether I use them or not, at least I know I have somewhere to put them.

Part 3 comes on Friday...