Mike Ballard serves at Trinity Baptist Church in Apopka, Fl as the Student Pastor. He has over 15 years of experience serving students. He oversees student ministry and he is the chaplain for their private school. Mike and I met for the first time at Super Summer, Fl. Super Summer is a camp held every year in the state of Florida for churches in the Florida Baptist Convention. It’s a great camp and I highly recommend it. Super Summer camps exist in multiple states.

Mike previously served at community harvest baptist church in Summerfield, FL

Student ministry shouldn’t just be about games, it should point them to scripture. Mike enjoys using multimedia in his preaching, although he has “lesson plans” set two to four weeks out, he is also open to changing the content to meet the needs of students in the moment. Mike recommends, at the minimum, getting a good study Bible to help in your preparation. (Here is a Study Bible that I highly recommend.)

His student ministry’s main program is hosted on Wednesday nights at 6 PM. They start with a hangout

time, pizza, drinks, etc. Mike suggests that, if at all possible, have a band that is led by students. He speaks for about 25min, however, he wants to break that time up with videos, etc. After the message time, the students go into small groups for about 15min. Mike asks questions that are engaging and relevant in order to draw his audience in to the message. Don’t fake it. Don’t try to be cool, just be real. Students see through you if you are trying to be somebody that you are not.

When speaking to the main congregation, Mike adjusts the style of delivery a little. One key that Mike mentioned is that anytime he is speaking he bathes the place in prayer. He likes to go into the auditorium and pray over the place.

Why student ministry and why this long? Mike feels called to minister to students. He is not looking to become a senior pastor. Because of his devastating choices as an adolescent, Mike feels called to help students make better choices. At 15 years of age, Mike wrecked his truck and killed his best friend. As a result he tried to commit suicide, but God had bigger plans for him. His main message is, “The choices you make today can and will impact your tomorrows.”

Quit worrying about trying to be unique – just seek wisdom, speak truth, and share love.

This week, I interview Jonathan Williams from Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. I had the opportunity to take men from our church to a retreat earlier this year and Jonathan was the key preacher for the weekend. After spending the weekend hearing his heart, I knew that I had to get him on the Art of Preaching Podcast. Jonathan is a fantastic preacher and I know you will hear his passion for the Gospel in this week’s podcast.

Wilcrest Baptist Church has over 50 nations represented in its membership and in this interview, we talk about leading that unique group. As Jonathan mentioned in the podcast, preaching Acts 6 brings about specific application when you have such a diverse congregation. We also spend time talking about his passion for equipping families to take what they do in the church house to their house.

You can pick up Jonathan’s book here: Gospel Family

Click here for more information about Gospel Family Ministries. You will find some great resources for you and your family.

As always, thanks for listening to Art Of Preaching.

Show Notes

In this episode, I interview DR. Chris Bonts from Harvest Bible Chapel in Jupiter, FL.

Chris speaks about his transition from the SBC to Harvest Bible Chapel.

Information on Church planting with Harvest 

The first Christian book Chris ever read: Power in the Pulpit

How far in advance do you plan? One year preaching schedule – plans out 35 Sundays

The difference between James McDonald and John McArthur – Implication and Application – one says that you preach with implication and allow the Spirit to bring about application.

Uses Bible Works software

Mentioned – Boku Notebooks 

Goodreader app

Chris reads one chapter a week from a preaching book.

Book: Made to stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Tweetal Statements – the most important one is the big idea for the sermon – Repeats the big idea at least 5 times in the sermon

When the law opens up a wound, you must show how the Gospel heals those wounds.

“Preaching is truth through personality.” – Philip Brooks

DR. Bont’s Advice:

Young preachers, don’t take hurts into the pulpit. Don’t use the pulpit as a billy-club.

Get into the text early in the week. 20 hours. If you wait to late, you may be ambushed by a busy week

Contact:

harvestjupiter.org

Twitter: @cmbonts

Ryan Rouse missionary & director of Cabaret Haiti Mission

Prior to going to Haiti, they started a homeless ministry in their backyard in Jacksonville, Fl. Ryan and his wife Stacie now live in Cabaret Haiti. After ministering to the homeless in Jacksonville, they became aware that God was calling them to minister to the least of these. After going to Haiti on a mission trip with his local Baptist Association, Ryan came home and told his wife, “I think God may be calling us to Haiti.”

After spending some time in Haiti with his wife, they both knew that God was calling them to go. Ryan’s church committed to continuing his salary so that they could serve in Haiti.

At the time of this post, Ryan has been in Haiti for about three years. He oversees the behind the scenes efforts of the orphanage – support development – recruiting mission teams, etc.

They have two schools, two churches, and an orphanage. 51 children in the home – 90 employees

Best Practices for Mission teams:

– A lot of resources available

– Team leader needs to be well versed

– Book when Helping Hurts

Even though some organizations have a negative view of short-term missions, Ryan is in favor of it.

– Direct impact

– Accomplish a lot in a little time

– Work alongside of our Haitian workers – Haitians leading the Americans

– Short term missions leads to God calling long-term missionaries

– When a team goes back home, we have 15 new advocates

Ryan has the opportunity to preach in a Haitian church about once a month.

Illustrations and applications are the hardest things to do in preaching in a foreign culture. Debriefing with the translator helps to know what was making sense to the congregation.

19:00 minute mark – The story of describing an alligator is comical.

Preaching in Haiti: Ryan tends to take a modified manuscript to the pulpit, but in the states, he takes very few notes to the pulpit. If you are preaching in a foreign culture, it is better to write out a complete manuscript and take it to the pulpit.

How do you get in touch with Ryan Rouse:

Facebook Messenger: Ryan Rouse

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.cabarethaitimission.org/

Pastor Appreciation…

In the American church, the month of October has become Pastor Appreciation month. Some churches focus on the entire month and some pick a particular day. In this episode I (Don Spivey) make a couple of observations regarding Pastor Appreciation:

How awkward it makes me feel

Which generation was more prone to write a card

Did your church participate in Pastor Appreciation?

How did it make you feel? 

Notes From Episode 1

Books Mentioned in this episode

Grasping God’s word: Duval and Hayes 

Nesalaunt 27th edition greek text

Expository Preaching by Bryan Chapel

Radical David Platt

Taking the text, picking it apart, and then step back out of it and look at the broad systematic theology around it.

Topical = one off sermon or series of messages on a particular topic

– There is something special about how the spirit of God reveals himself in the church gathered together

– Work with the spirit of God, because the scripture is put together in such a way that when preaching verse by verse, He has a way to speak to the heart of the church

– When we preach verse by verse, the word of God has a unique way of connecting to the life of the church. God knows what is going on in people’s lives.

– How far out do you prepare? 3 weeks ahead

Fallen Condition Focus

Where does topical teaching fit in the local church – Sunday morning worship or small group environment

Why do most preachers drift towards topical preaching

Is it okay to preach from the Christian best sellers list?

Josh’s blog Sherpherd’s Trust where he writes about preachers preaching from best sellers list

My message: Trust trumps clarity

bridgebaptistchurch.com

This is a test post for Art of Preaching Podcast.