As NextGen pastors, we’re all confronted with the same question each week: What am I going to teach on? Teaching week after week can become draining. If we’re not careful, we can allow teaching preparation to take a backseat to administrative duties, pastoral visits, or mercy ministries. In Acts 6, we read about how the early apostles wrestled with this same issue. They concluded their most important tasks were prayer and the ministry of God’s word. We would be wise to follow their example.

Here are ten teaching rules I try to follow:

• Begin with prayer. Ask the Lord what he would have you teach on.
• Operate under the rule of neglect: neglect everything else until your lesson is ready.
• Consider your audience. What do they need to hear? Start by listing key topics you feel the Lord would have you address.
• Create a yearlong teaching calendar. If God can speak to you about this Sunday, then he can speak to you about the entire year.
• Teach in series. Have a series theme or a main concept. Then each week focus on one portion of the main idea.
• Don’t take teaching lightly—teaching needs to be solidly biblical and very practical. Every teaching should convict, correct, and convince.
• Make your teaching memorable—make it something your students won’t forget. Be creative—use media, props, stories, illustrations, or objects.
• Call your audience to action. Cast a big net when calling for a response, and provide action steps for your listeners to take.
• Teach with excellence. Prepare and teach as if there were 100 or more people there.
• Remember it’s God you’re teaching for—not the listeners. (1 Peter 4:10)

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)

Brian Eno has served in the local church as a Youth Pastor and Associate Pastor for 20 years. He currently serves as Director of Next Generation Ministries with the Oregon Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God. Brian resides in Salem, Oregon with his wife Barbara and their son Jonathan. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook @NextGenPastor