#1 Habit Of Highly Effective Preachers

Bob FranquizGeneral

Stephen Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, wrote:

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Sounds confusing, right?  But what it means is that we have a tendency as people to allow non-essentials to distract us.  So, maintaining focus is key.  And as a pastor, here is the essential focus that has struck me:

I need to preach the Gospel every week and give people an opportunity to make a decision to come to know Jesus in our services each week.

I think this is really important for several reasons:

1. It gives people an opportunity to cross the line of faith – Many times people don’t respond the first time you share the Gospel with them. They need time to think it over. The sooner you share the Gospel, the sooner they start thinking it over.

2. The Christians in your church know what to expect – If you share the Gospel every week, people will bring those far from God to your church every week. The Christians in your church will know that you are going to give their friends an opportunity to make a decision, and will bring their friends who need Jesus.

3. It will teach the people in your church how to share the Gospel – People learn by what is modeled for them. If you share the Gospel, they will know how to share it as well.

Let me say for the record that I don’t consider myself an evangelist. I wouldn’t put it in my top 3 spiritual gifts. I’m a teacher before anything else. But even if I’m not an evangelist, this verse says I’m to do the work of an evangelist.

We’ve seen so many give their lives to Jesus at CF since Easter. God is doing something wonderful and exciting. This isn’t an isolated thing. There are people in your church who are ready right now to give their lives to Jesus. All we have to do is show them how.