4 Things You Should Avoid Before Stepping on Stage to Preach in Youth Ministry

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info - or feel free to email us at MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com with any questions *** In this episode, we walk through four things to avoid before preaching in youth ministry.  Youth ministry sermons land best when our hearts are fully engaged, not just our notes. We talk about surrender, staying with the people in the room, and leaning on the Holy Spirit instead of trying to carry the moment ourselves.  If you care about student ministry preaching, sermon preparation, and spiritual leadership that’s more than stage presence, this conversation will help you refocus on what matters and lead with humility and power of the Holy Spirit. 

Subscribe, share this with another youth pastor or youth leader, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review with your best pre-message routine!

=======

You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#241) 3 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Youth Ministry Sermons

(#107) How to Deliver Better Sermons - 5 Youth Pastor Tips

(#089) How to Get Better Engagement During Sermons in Youth Ministry

(#218) Steal These 5 Tips to NEVER RUN OUT of Sermon Ideas for Youth Ministry!

=======

We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insightful youth ministry content on a weekly basis to be that coach and mentor you may not have, but desperately need.
If you have an episode idea, please E-Mail us at MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com!

If you have it on your heart to support this ministry, please consider going to our Patreon page at: www.patreon.com/ministrycoach

=========

🔄 CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 📱:
Ministry Coach Podcast:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MinistryCoach/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ministrycoachpodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ministrycoachpodcast
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ministrycoachpodcast

Kristen Lascola:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klascola/

Jeffrey Lascola:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandmasterbengal/

*This episode is not sponsored. Some of the links are affiliate links which simply means, if you buy something, we will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) Thank you!*

Transcript

Heart Over Hype

SPEAKER_02 0:00

In order to preach very effectively, your heart has to be completely engaged. And I don't think you can do that cramming until they say amen in Europe. We think as long as I know it, I'll deliver it, I will be perfect. But that's not what preaching is. That's what speech giving is. And we're not giving a speech. Today we're talking about four things you should avoid before stepping on stage to preach in your youth ministry.

The Food And Coffee Warning

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry. My name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

And today we are talking about four things that you should avoid before stepping on stage to preach.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Fatty foods, number one.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Dairy.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

That's two. Hold on.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Can I tell you a funny story about that?

SPEAKER_01 1:01

You can. I'm not gonna stop you.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

So my worship leader. I think he had like a latte or something. He used to do worship in my room, and then he would go and do worship in high school. And I think he made it through junior high. And then he got up on stage and he's like about to start and the lights are down. And he's like warming up. And he goes, I think I'm gonna poop my pants. I gotta go to the bathroom while before I was like, Yeah, you can't have like, and so every time he was late to worship, I would joke. I'm like, Were you in the bathroom? And actually, nine times out of ten, he was.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Sounds like a problem.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

And I would even text him, like, are you going to the bathroom right now? I'll be right there. So something about mourning and coffee didn't really mix in his system. So yeah, that would be number one. Number one. That's like the preface. Number, that's a free one that wasn't included in the episode. But yeah, just be careful what you eat and drink. One time I had a chai latte and something very similar happened. I'm like, this chai is going like it's going to war with my digestive system. And I don't know if I'm gonna make this out alive, you know. I think the worship leader might have actually pooped his pants. And I think that's why he left.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

That's a good reason.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

I think he like literally did. Like, yeah, anyways.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

This is off to a great start.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

He's listening, he'd be willing to clarify in the comments. I don't know. Because I he used to listen. Maybe he doesn't anymore.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Not now.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

So that was the free one. Here

Stop Cramming Start Worshiping

SPEAKER_02 2:58

we go. We're starting for real now. All right, cramming things you should not do. Cramming instead of worshiping last minute. So I have fallen into this trap, especially when you are about to speak and you're really nervous and you are in the back, like furiously looking through your notes and making those last minute little adjustments and changes and trying to memorize certain parts and trying to map it in your head. And like it's like, okay, you're at the finish line. If you don't know it by now, you don't know it. And so you better just get up there and give it your best shot, you know. But I have realized when I put all the focus on cramming and doing all of like these last minute tweaks, I get very in my head and very worked up and very flustered about the content instead of being in more of a posture of surrender and actually just worshiping along with everybody else and giving that time to God and inviting him into my space and my story and my offering of this message before I go and do it. Because the cram mentality, it's very self-reliant, right? It's like, I've got to memorize this, I've got to do this, I've got to, and you get this frazzled, frantic, self-dependent energy. And your heart really isn't prepared in that moment. And when you give a message, when you preach, it's very different than like giving a TED talk or something like that, because your heart and mind need to be completely uh connected and in sync, in sync with each other. Felt like I said, in what?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

I heard in sync twice, so I don't know what you're talking about. You're not in sync right now.

unknown 4:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Like, yeah, that like head-heart connection being completely in sync with each other, so that what your heart posture is can overflow out of your mouth, and then your brain is connecting. But I feel like when you're cramming, you're sort of leaving the heart out of the equation. And so you become just like this regurgitating person, like information, information, let me tell you all the things. But what you need to do is really engage your heart. And I think we don't trust that enough. We think as long as I know it, I'll deliver it, I will like be perfect. Yeah, but that's not what preaching is, that's what speech giving is. And we're not giving a speech. In order to preach very effectively, your heart has to be completely engaged. And I don't think you can do that cramming until they say amen and you're up. So just surrender your message in those last 20 minutes instead of being in the booth and trying to, you know, do the last little bit, just surrender that time and and give it to the Lord. So that would be number one. Oh, and along with that, I just glance at my notes. And one thing I really love to do, especially before a big message or one that I'm nervous about, or usually when I'm not on my home turf, a solo worship time as well, like engaging your heart even before you step foot into the auditorium or the room or wherever you're teaching, like doing your own God heart worship work by yourself.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

What does that look like sometimes for you?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Like I spoke at a winter camp once and I just turned off all the lights in my room. I got my own room. I usually request that so I can do stuff like this. So people wouldn't be like, you're a weirdo. Like, what are you doing? Like, turn off all the lights. I played worship music and I just like got on my knees and prayed and worshiped and read some scripture that I felt like God like delivered just for me. I actually wrote it in my journal, and it was just like these encouraging words for me right before I went up on the stage. I think it was from the book of Isaiah, and he says, the words of my mouth are like flaming arrows to the heart or something like that. And that became then my prayer during the actual worship set, like God, like just like Isaiah, let my words, I'm probably botching it, but the idea was like these flaming arrows. Like, what does God want to say to these people? Let it just like hit them so hard and just light them on fire in a good way, you know, with the Holy Spirit. And it was just like me fully connecting with God so that when I got up to preach, I felt like I was almost animated by him. Like it was his thoughts and his words and him connecting the dots and him doing the power, not me being a good orator with a I can memorize a manuscript, you know, but it was just ignited it through this worship and prayer and surrender session. So then you bring that into when you do it like with the group, still worship. Another one is at I this was at a camp and I went on a walk just by myself in nature and prayed and had some quiet just to again get my heart in the right place. And honestly, speaking is a lot of work in the sense of like, yes, there's the preparation, but then there's like the heart work, like we're talking about, the soul work, like because you can't like take that out of the equation. Like you have to put your whole heart, soul, emotions, passions, everything into it. So it's a very like it can be a very heavy experience, you know, in a good way, because you know it's like the gifting and it's the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is the word, and that like you hope that this is going to be a supernatural thing that people experience the word of God like they never have before. But for the person delivering that, it is not a walk in the park, you know, it's that came with a lot of prep from a soul level, and that's heavy work. So yeah, don't neglect that. Don't just be like the cram, just cram, cram, cram. Do I know my material? Because you'll come across a little canned or a maybe a little flat or a bit of it just being like, here's three points I thought of, and I want to tell you guys, you know, a very shallow message. But what we want to do is get past that to like the deep end, you know, of teaching.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Please turn all cell phones off during the recording of the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

You know what? You should do that before you step on stage. Hey, that was an example.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

2.5, 0.1.5.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

I told my friend, text me right now so I can use that as an example. You don't want your phone going off during a message? So unprofessional. All right.

Drop The Main Character Energy

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Number two, something you should avoid before stepping on stage to preach, is having the main character energy. So sometimes main character energy is good in the sense of like you're confident and you're, you know, choosing the direction of your life and all of that. But here's what we mean is just because you're stepping on stage does not make you a celebrity. Like this message, you need to get out of your head. It's not about you. Often I think the flesh temptation is I want everyone out there to like me. Of course, what's the alternative? You wouldn't say, I hope they all hate me by the end of this, but that is not like the goal. Like to get a room full of people to like you. If they do, they'll listen to you a lot better. So it's good if they like you, but that's not the point of the message. Like sometimes I think we can, if we're on the stage, we almost take that as like, well, I'm um a bit of a celebrity, or I'm kind of a big deal, or I'm a little bit important. And that can come through in your message. So, you know, I don't know. You and I have talked so many times about this, but like the speaker that is just going off and telling all these stories about themselves, and that's they're getting everyone going and laughing and riled up and all of that. I'm all for a personal story. I think it brings humanity to the message and it makes it not just so dry that we want to know who's this messenger. We want to know a little bit about you. Like, I think that's fair, and especially in a student ministry setting. However, you need to tow that line very carefully to not make yourself the main character of the story, of the message. You can use real life illustrations to drive a biblical truth home. I'm not gonna be the person who says, no personal anecdotes, no personal stories. Like that would be crazy. Well, that wouldn't be crazy, but it just wouldn't be something I would say. Um but then there's that temptation to become the main character and make God your understudy in terms of the story that you're building. And so now we can't formulate that like, oh, maybe make yourself 20% of the message and God 80%. It's like the stories should intersect very naturally and you should transition them very naturally.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Well, the story should emphasize and highlight the Bible, and when a kid recalls your story, they remember what's in the Bible, not just your story. Yeah. Well, what was that? What was that illustration for? I don't know. Yeah, but it was really funny, or it was really interesting.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Well, our senior pastor's name is Chris, and he said, when he was a youth pastor, he said, I made the mistake of making Chris followers. I forgot the T, because that would have been Christ. Right, I got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's like, I made me disciples. I wasn't telling them. I like I would just kind of wing it. He's always admits, like, man, I did my students such a disservice because I would just kind of get up, like, ah, I can do this because I'm that good. Like, I'll just tell them a funny story about me and my brother hunting in Texas, and they'll laugh their heads off, and then I'll say something about God, close in prayer. I got him. And he admits what a lazy way to do youth ministry, but also he kind of mourns, even now. I mean, he's in his 50s and he's mourning the fact that he built Chris followers, not Christ followers. And that's what we have to be really careful of. The goal is not look at me, look how funny I am, look how cool I'm dressed today, look at my super cool shoes or whatever you're into. And then kids walk away like wanting to high-five you and follow you on Instagram. If that is also a part of like them coming to know Jesus, okay, then they both existed, and that's great. But if that is what they left with, with I met the coolest guy or the coolest girl, and she had the coolest stories and he wore the coolest clothes. Like, I remember like kids are such suckers for coolness. We always say you don't have to be cool to be a youth pastor. You don't, because you know, kids will love you if you genuinely love them. But they are suckers for very cool. I remember this guy showed up, nobody even knew him. He was there visiting at our youth group for something, and this one of my younger uh leaders leans over and he goes, I forget what he said. Something like, but that guy dresses like so cool. Like, but that guy looks really cool. But you have to admit, that guy is so cool. I'm like, okay, like why do we care? He did like Christians are suckers for the cool factor, I know. And so if you can accomplish all of that and bring them to the foot of the cross and Jesus and you happen to be cool and they want to follow you on Instagram, best of both worlds. But we can't just get by on that. Yeah, you know, it wasn't successful if that is all that came out of it, is you built a few fans of you. You know, when I was younger and I would speak, I felt like it wouldn't even matter what I said. The fact that I was a girl, the girl students are like, I love you. And I'm like, I haven't even spoken yet. You don't even know what I'm gonna say. It's just I'm a girl, you're a girl, and you think that's the coolest thing in the world. I think there's a lot to be said for that, but that wasn't the point of why I'm here to show you that girls can also teach. It was like that's all you needed to know. And it was the best chapel ever. Like, she was a girl, it was the best chapel I've ever heard. It's like, well, what did I actually say? Or were you caught up in who I was? And so that's kind of this hard dance to try to disappear, but also be known by your audience, but always be pointing them to Jesus. Because if Christ isn't the central push and thrust of our message, then that was totally in vain, right? So drop the main character energy in that way.

Be With People Not A Green Room

SPEAKER_02 16:41

All right, number three, don't do this before you get on stage, is isolate yourself from people. So sometimes people will say, Do you want a green room? You know, do you want to be like in your own little zone? And I always I just spoke at a women's thing up in Fresno and they asked me if I wanted a green room. I was like, kind of curious, what that what would that have looked like? But I said no. Like I sat at a table with everyone and I worshipped with everyone. I don't know if I did the craft. I think I got there a little late for that, but I ate with everyone. You know, it was just like if I'm going to speak to you, I want to be among you. You know, I want to do the things and feel the energy and build the relational rapport. Not that it was like so strategic, but it was like, I don't want to like this again, it kind of piggybacks off of our last point of like the speaker is not this elevated, wow. So don't treat yourself like a celebrity and don't let anybody else treat you like a celebrity because you're not, you're a servant of the gospel of Jesus. That's what Paul would have said. Like, we aren't like, well, roll out the red carpet. Here comes the speaker. Okay, well, here comes the lady who's handing out bulletins, and here comes the food team, and here comes the tech team, and here comes the worship people. Don't elevate the speaker. Like, we're just like, you know, it can almost quite literally and figuratively be this stage that is celebrated more than other things. So don't let yourself go there. So before your message, be with the people, mingle with the people, don't isolate yourself off, like I need to like get in my zone. You should have already done that.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

I was gonna say, when you're going back to the first point about having a alone time to like worship and all that, when do you do that in comparison to what you're talking about now? Like the night before, are you doing solo worship time?

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Like before I teach, like on my own, like that afternoon or that morning or something like that. You know, because when you show up, you should be accessible, you should be go time, you should be like there as one of the body of Christ, not this like, and I've noticed my messages are worse when I do that. When I isolate and I don't feel the energy of the people and make conversation and know them and talk to them and hear them. Cause sometimes I show up at places I don't know anybody. And so just getting up on stage cold, you're like, hi, people. But when you've been there, like you're building this warmth, and I end up being a better speaker because now I'm more comfortable too. Like I feel like, oh, we're kind of friends. Like I like that. Or if you're speaking in familiar places, like even with your own students, you know, like it's amazing what type of energy and synergy comes from like a great interaction with someone, you know, like a smile and a joke and a hug. It just builds your confidence as well to be able to speak and it builds trust. And, you know, I I think it just makes that that gap between speaker and audience, for lack of a better word, smaller. You know, it's just like, hey, like I'm nothing special. I just have a message to share and it should feel much more casual. You should feel much more approachable. I think it's good for them. I think it's good for you. I think it's good for the whole thing. I think green rooms are super silly. The only people that I feel like, yeah, like our worship team will sit in a green room. And I'm like, I get that. Like you're you've been here since like 6 a.m. Like, you want to just eat and have a moment before you have to go back. Like, you know, like there are sometimes, but I just don't think speakers need green rooms. I don't know. It just feels odd to me.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

And then would you say the same thing after you're done speaking too? You don't scurry off to a green room.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

No, I won't say the name, but there was a pastor I was so excited to see. And we went to his church, and I like he was there, and I was like, man, I've been following like your stuff for years, and I couldn't wait till he was done. I was just gonna, I didn't want anything from him. I just wanted to say, hey, I love your stuff, and uh great to meet you. I came all the way from California to see you, and like it was about 2.5 seconds, he was disappeared. Like they escorted him away, yeah, through a door, never to be seen again. He was not out with the people, and I'm sure there's good reason for that. Maybe it's a security thing for him, and you know, I'm I'm sure he's very approachable and all that. However, I was just so disappointed because I was like, My one chance, yeah. And then it was like, Where to go? Where to go? And everyone's like, Go, go talk to him. I'm like, he's leaving So I missed my chance. So whatever. Whatever.

Coaching Program Invitation

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Hey, quick question for you. Have you ever felt like you were working really hard in your youth ministry every week, but you don't know what the next step is or how to grow your youth ministry? Well, you are not alone. And that is exactly why we created our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator. Inside the program, we're gonna walk you step by step through strategies, systems, leadership principles that help ministries grow, both in size and in health. This isn't just theory, it's the exact framework we've used and taught to youth pastors all over the country and even globally. In addition to the course and coaching, you will also have the opportunity to join a cohort community where you can meet with other youth leaders who are on the same journey to encourage each other, share ideas, and stay accountable as you put things into practice. So if you're looking for a clearer path to grow your ministry, head over to grow your youth ministry.com to see everything that's included. Once again, that's growyouryout ministry.com. All right, let's get back to the episode.

Prayerlessness Kills Power

SPEAKER_02 23:07

And then the last thing you should avoid before getting on stage that we'll talk about today is prayerlessness. And that obviously kind of goes along with the worship thing, but I love this quote by Jim Cymbala. He said, prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God. Because when we don't pray over our message before we start it, while we're prepping it, before we give it, uh, we're really saying, I'm gonna do this on my own strength. And we, like Jim said, we declare that independence from God of like, I've got enough skills, I have enough gifting, I have enough know-how, I have enough experience, I have enough expertise that we think I got this, I can prep something good. Again, are you giving a speech or are you preaching a sermon? Because you need the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, make connections for you. There's so many times, and I know pastors say this all the time, where I will preach something I never wrote down, I never intended to preach. The Holy Spirit was still giving new stuff in the very moment. And it's like you when you pray and pray and pray, again, what are you doing? You're inviting the Holy Spirit into that space to use, he's the one who gave you the gift, right? So don't hoard it and like use the gift just like in your own strength. Like, well, I'm a good teacher. It's like, well, the reason you're a good teacher is because the Holy Spirit gave you that gift. So it would make complete logical sense to bring him into that process, pray through that process and ask him to show up, like, and sometimes I'm praying literally during the message. Like, I might be speaking words, but behind my eyes, you know, there's a prayer going on. And so just drench your messages, your preparation, even when you're up there on stage, just drench it in prayer because you're asking the Holy Spirit to show up and do what actually you can't do. You know, without his power, you just have some words that are well crafted and well thought out. But it's the power of the Holy Spirit that's going to do the life change, you know. So don't neglect that prayer because then, you know, to put it a different way, it is declaring your dependence on God for your message.

Listener Comment And Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Strong. We did an episode a while back about how to give better sermons. So make sure you check that one out so you can uh improve things before you go on stage and then while you're on stage. Uh, we'll do a community comment of the day. This comes from Bible fan, who said, uh, this is my favorite youth ministry podcast. The tips and ideas shared are ones that you can easily implement in your own context and apply to many size youth groups. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Okay, honestly, my favorite comments are the ones that basically say you are doing exactly what you are trying to do. You know what I mean? Like that is the definition of the goal of this podcast. And to hear Bible fans say that, it's like, thank you so much. Because then you just gave us confirmation what you're trying to do is being accomplished. Well, it's been six years that we've been doing this podcast. So I would like to know that it is accomplishing its goal.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

It is going to be.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Yeah, you do. What?

SPEAKER_01 27:03

If you knew how many takes it would take to get me to say one sentence.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

Okay, that is true.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

That's what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Oh, I thought you meant like producing it and editing it and all the things.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

It should always be behind the camera.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Then who would I talk at?

SPEAKER_01 27:22

The camera. No. The people listening and watching.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

I'm a much better talker when you're sitting here.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Well, let's put a picture of me up. Thank you, Bible fan. We appreciate that. And thank you guys for watching and listening. And we'll see you next time.