8 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED PREACHING

First, I’d like to thank Rachel for opening her platform and allowing to share my heart. As a young preacher myself, I am always hesitant to give other preachers advice on preaching. For one I still have so much to learn and there are so many amazing men and women who have been doing it so much longer than me who know so much more. I feel in my heart I would be doing young preachers more justice pointing them to the people I follow rather than giving them my advice. However, when I was asked to write this piece I prayed about what to write and I really felt like God told me to share what I've learned. In the end, it's all His works through all of us. The things He has taken the time to teach you or me holds the same weight as things He has taught the greats that came before us. I'm honored and grateful you would take the time to read this and I hope it encourages you!

8 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED PREACHING

For those of us that feel called to promulgate the Gospel, we all have our story of how or when we felt like we were called to be a Communicator. For some, it was at a summer church camp where you felt the call of God on your life to forever preach His word. For others maybe it was prophesied to you at a point in your life where you thought that sounded ridiculous. Maybe you heard a sermon preached with such passion and fluidity and you knew in your bones you were made to do the same.

Whatever your story is we all have a point where we knew it was in us. From there we began to ATTEMPT to craft sermons, steal revelation, dress like Judah Smith, and dream of standing on the stage of Hillsong Conference giving our closing point to a crowd split between people crying and giving their lives to Jesus and people applauding your rhetoric… Ok, maybe that was just me… but we step into our lives as communicators and regularly do the greatest obligation anyone could ever be tasked with... Share the Good News Of Jesus. And if you're anything like me you jumped in feet first and after 8 years you look back and say it would have been nice if I would've known _______. Though my time as a communicator of the Gospel is not very extensive I have always remained open to insight, mentoring, and correction from my pastors, leaders, and most importantly Jesus. Preaching the Gospel is not something to take lightly. Growing and learning is constant and will continue for the rest of our lives. I’ve grown a lot in the past 8 years as a man of God, yes, but also as a preacher. I want to share with you 8 things I wished I would've known before I started preaching.

1.) You Must Live What You Are Preaching

          I remember being a 15-year-old kid who had just finished giving my first sermon to my youth group. My message was about living holy or God would stop loving you.. (Don’t worry I’ve since then enhanced my theology) .. but I myself wasn't living holy and my youth pastor knew that... When I got done he gave me a big hug, congratulated me on my 4 minutes or whatever that was and told me something I have never forgotten.. He said to me “Always make sure you live what you preach because if you aren't you're about to start.”

2.) Don’t Just Read Your Bible To Prepare Sermons

          There was a time in my life where the only time I picked up the Bible was to begin preparing for my next sermon. I was so dry spiritually and a consequence was my sermons had no depth or personal ties. The more I made daily devotion a part of my life the more natural sermons started forming. They had so much more depth and meaning to me. They started coming across so much more genuine to the audience and I could preach it out of my spirit, not just from my head. My sermons shifted from just sharing a thought to imparting a word.

3.) Imitation Is The First Sign Of Growth, But!

            In child development, you are taught that when an infant begins developing he or she imitates what they see and that is an indicator that they are maturing on track. However, if an infant never stops imitating what they see and fail to have unique characteristics that is an indicator that are not maturing at the expected rate. I think the same is true with preaching. It is ok in your early stages to see things in other preachers that you like and mimic them, it’s just not ok to stay there.

4.) Embrace Your Accent

          I’m not referring to nationality accents, though if you have one of those you should embrace that too. I'm talking about your preaching accent. Your personality when speaking how you present points, engage the crowd etc. The way you establish your credibility, reliability, and sensibility. Everyone is different and we all have a different accent when it comes to delivering a sermon. I encourage you to find your style and develop it. Other people’s styles sound terrible with your voice.

5.) Let Jesus Be The Loudest Voice In Your Life

          We live in a day where everything is so accessible. You can literally google any topic and find 1,000 sermons and 10,000 blogs. We are constantly on social media being influenced by hundreds of platforms, opinions, and people trying to convince you that what they have to say is right. I urge you to always make sure The Holy Spirit’s voice is the loudest and most clear voice you hear. I have gotten to a point in my life where the best sermons I hear preached are the ones the Holy Spirit is preaching to me about my life.

6.) It’s Your Job To Communicate Not Convince

          For a long time, I felt an obligation as a young preacher to convince people to follow Jesus. I felt like if I presented the Gospel colored in creative fluff and polished with cultural references that I could persuade people to respond to my sermons or act on my revelation. It took me a few years and many disappointing Sunday afternoons to realize that I’m merely a vessel. I am honored that God takes time to share with me revelation straight from His heart for His people. We have been chosen not to put on a show to but to reflect God's heart to his children and to create space for the Holy Spirit to do what he does best, draw His children closer to Him.  We’re a pawn in this chess game, not the King.

7.) Seeds and Rain

          I use to carry a burden around with me. That burden was that my words and ministry needed to make an immediate impact on people. God freed me of that burden by sharing with me a revelation that changed my life as a preacher. He told me my words will always be “Seeds” and “Rain”. As preachers, we are to plant seeds in people and water the seeds that are already in them. The Word of God is a seed and water to those who thirst. Our words should be no different. Seeds take time to grow. It is not an overnight thing.  I find it very interesting that when creating man God chose to use dirt. He could have made us out of anything, but for some reason, he chose regular, boring, gross, dirty dirt. It's fascinating though because dirt is the only substance conducive for a seed to grow. Wooo! C’Mon somebody! We are to plant seeds of love, hope, and faith in people. And just like any other seed, they need to be watered with the word and have proper exposure to the SON (See what I did there!)  You need both seeds and water to produce fruit.

8.) Prepare, Promulgate, and Party Like Jesus

          In everything you do, do it as if Jesus himself was doing it. While preparing ask God for a glimpse of His heart towards the people you will be preaching to. While promulgating do it with the same passion, and love for people Jesus would. Let the party of celebrating new believers and people getting free be your joy and reward for this journey you have been so brave and faithful to follow Jesus on. For those of you taking time to listen to God. Sacrificing all you do to make sure the body of Christ is challenged and encouraged. Going the extra mile in your preparation hoping that you can reach even just one more person with the good news of Jesus... You are my hero.

Thank you for saying Yes to the call God has placed on your life.

Preach On.

Emilio Malacara

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