Samuel Deuth's Blog, page 2

Preaching Forward Book Release!

 

The preacher is the lighting rod of heaven!

As a preacher of God’s word we’re called to bring His word to His people to see their lives transformed and conformed into the image of Jesus! To see that happen effectively we have to not only develop our communication skill, but we also must develop our character and clarify our calling.

That’s why I wrote my new book, Preaching Forward. In this book I take my 20 years of preaching experience and speak to the heart and character of the preacher as well as the practical “how to” of writing and delivering a message.

For more preaching resources like downloads, videos and articles, visit: preachingforward.com

To get a copy of Samuel Deuth’s new Preaching Forward book, click the link below or search for it on Amazon.

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New Book Release! The Preaching Forward Book Is Now Available!

[image error] IT’S HERE!

I’m so excited to officially announce the launch of my new book, Preaching Forward, in paperback and ebook formats on Amazon.

This book really is a culmination of my heart to encourage and equip those who are called into ministry and specifically those called to preach and teach the God’s Word. I had the great privilege of having preaching mentorship and coaching during my formative years from of the top communicators in the world, which is why I started the preaching resource and website, preachingforward.com. On there I have preaching protips from some top communicators, and many other great resources like our Preaching Essentials ecourse.

Over the years I began teaching courses at different Bible colleges on the topic of preaching, and I currently teach the Preaching Intensive course at the C3 Internship Program here in San Diego, CA.

As I began to shape out the material over the years and began coaching young preachers, I was stirred to put the book together and I couldn’t be more excited about the impact I believe it will have on preachers and as a result on the hundreds of millions of people that this book’s readers will boldly preach to!

CALLING, CHARACTER AND CRAFT:

In this book I focus on three primary areas of the life and calling to preach; your calling into ministry, your character that carries that call and the fundamentals of writing messages / sermons, effective preaching and sharpening your craft!

CHAPTER OUTLINE:

SECTION ONE | HEAVEN’S RESPONSE

Preachers: The Response of Heaven

Preachers Bring Good News

Preachers Show God’s Way

4 Focuses Before You Preach

SECTION TWO | CALLING

The Calling of God

Confirming The Call

Maturing & Clarifying The Call

Note For Itinerate Ministers

SECTION THREE | CHARACTER

The Call To Character

7 Character Tests All Preachers Must Pass

What Do You Do When Your Character Cracks

SECTION FOUR | CRAFT

The Craft of Preaching

The Message

How To Write Your Message

The Delivery

WAYS TO UTILIZE THIS BOOK:

If you feel called to preach, this is a great place to start to build your calling on a solid foundation. And if you’ve been preaching for a while but want to dial in your calling and hone your skill as a preacher and communicator, then this book will be perfect for you. Also, if you’re a director of a Bible College or Church Internship Program this would be perfect to use as a curriculum to teach your young preachers in training.

ORDER YOUR COPY AND ONE FOR A FRIEND TODAY!

Any questions let us know and we can’t wait to hear the impact of the book as you begin to read it, so please reach out to me on social or here on this blog once you’ve read the book!

Talks soon!

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The Religion Lie

One of the biggest lies of the enemy is wrapped up within the cloak of religion, so it appears just true enough for us to believe it.

The lie is is exposed and so is the truth in this passage we see for the Prodigal son.

Luke 15:17-22  (NIV) 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

You see that the lie comes out when the son is found coming to his senses in his mess and disfunction, he says, “I’m no longer worthy”. You see, religion will try to get you and I to buy into the lie that I’m only love by God When I do all the right things, or I’ll be loved when I reach a certain level of spiritual maturity.

This lie ends up paralyzing us because we’ll never be able to meet that standard and then we live in a constant state of fear in how we approach and think of God our heavenly Father… like the son who assumed that his dad would be angry, it’s hard to come to God if you assume he’s already disappointed and angry with you.

But the truth about a relationship with Jesus is revealed in the father’s response. His love for you is not based on or determined by your behavior. You are fully and completely loved by God! If you’ve choses to Follow Jesus and have received His grace to cover your sin, than you are in perfect and close relationship with God and in no need to try and prove or earn God’s love and approval… you are already fully loved, accepted and approved by God!

So, now we live and love from that perspective! We “do good” because we’re loved not to get God to love us!

As you take on this day and this life, don’t let the lies of the enemy get you back into trying to earn God’s love and approval! You’ve always had it! And your debt of sin, has been fully paid by what Jesus did on the cross!

If you haven’t downloaded our new Following Jesus App, check it out in your app store! And Check out the latest #FollowingJesusMerch at: https://followingjesusbook.com/collections/merch

 

3 BATTLES WORTH FIGHTING!

Are you avoiding wars that you should be fighting?

As I was reading my Bible reading plan (Life Journal Reading Plan), I came across an iconic story in 2 Samuel 11. It’s a sad story but powerful for us to lean into. It’s the story about when David commits the horrific crime of adultery and murder. And there’s so much we can pull out of this story to help all of us but what I want to focus on is what led him to get so off track. Notice what it says in the first first of 2 Samuel 11.

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” — 2 Samuel 11:1

What you’ll notice is that “in the time when Kings go off to war”, the king David “stayed home.” It was when David go off assignment that he got off track. When David avoided the battles he was meant to fight, he positioned his life for destruction.

Some of us in different areas of our lives are avoiding battles that we should be fighting! And if we continue to avoid these wars that we’re meant to be engaged in, there could be more lost than we realize. When we don’t take our place we end up giving up that space to the enemy.

So, with that in mind, let’s talk about 3 Battles We All Need To Fight, so we don’t give up ground to the devil!

1. Fight For Faith

Many Followers of Jesus are getting beat down and discouraged through all kinds of disappointments and struggles. But often that’s because we’ve forgotten that there’s an enemy that’s attempting to take us out and slowing attempting to get us to second guess the goodness of God. Which is why we must keep using our shield that God gave us which is Faith. In Ephesians 6, its says that we use the shield of faith to put out the attack of the enemy. So, one of the battles we have to keep fighting is the fight to stay focused on Jesus and stay in faith—no matter your current situation, you can trust God! If he said in His word and by His Holy Spirit than you can trust that He will do it!

2. Fight For Family

When I say family, I’m referring to our immediate family and our relationships in general. This is a fight that many of us have avoided because it requires forgiveness. Most of us lose the battle of relationships in the area of offenses. in 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love believes the best and keeps no record of wrongs. But, when we feel hurt and offended, it takes an intentional fight to push past those offenses and forgive. Keep fighting to keep the relationships that matter. This applies in our friendships, marriages, parenting and church family as well. Don’t lose relationships to offense!

3. Fight For Your Future

We can unintentionally assume that our future as a Christian is supposed to happen easily and without a fight. But, we see all throughout the word of God that while God has declared victory for us and given us the victory in Jesus, we still have to fight the battle and take the territory that God has for us! In the time of Moses, God told him to lead the people to the promises Land that He had for them! Then ultimately Joshua takes them into the promises land with the legendary battle of Jericho. But, after they take that initial city, they got complacent and weren’t taking ALL the land he had promised them, and Joshua ask them, “How long will you wait to take possession of the Land God gave you?!” If we’re not careful, we’ll get complacent and settle short of the future that God has for us! Fight for ALL that God promised you!

Praying for you! And I’d love to hear from you, go ahead and comment below! And Check out some of the new Following Jesus Merch:

A Future Full of Hope!… because of the cross

Just waking up after an incredible time of celebrating what Jesus did on the cross with my C3 Church family! Last night we reflected on the death of Jesus and the power that was released on humanity because of it!

I titled this article “Hope & Future”, because the cross is what unlocked our future and hope! The Bible says in Jeremiah, that God has plans for us. Good plans! That even in itself could be a question for many. They’d assume that God has plans, but most likely plans to punish and reprimand us for all of our wrongs, but rather the focus of the plans of God are for good, and for a future full of hope!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Today, I wanted to encourage us to call our attention not to the grief of the loss that happened on the cross, but to the hope that the cross produced for us. The Bible even says that it was the “joy set before him” that caused Jesus to endure the cross. And what was that Joy?? I suppose there could be many facets to that joy, but certainly at the forefront of it was you and me. The joy was that our future would be full of hope again. The joy was that the cassam of sin could be bridged and we could be brought close to Himself again!

The Joy Of The Cross was that you and I could now have access to a future full of hope!

All throughout God’s Word we are called to put our HOPE in God. Maybe you’ve heard that you shouldn’t get your “Hopes up”. But, it depends on what your hope is in. Hope is a joyful expectation. And you can put a joyful expectation in Jesus. He is firm, constant and eternal. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so we can confidently and joyfully fix our attention on Jesus!

Are you feeling shaky, worried or uncertain today? I want to call your attention back to the cross. It was at the cross that Jesus redeemed humanity from the curse of sin and death and it is through Jesus that we now have victory and hope!

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

 

Featured image is from Pastor Phil Pringle

 

4 Reasons Churches Stall & One Simple Principle That Can Accelerate Church Growth!

Over the past 10+ years of training and coaching pastors and church leaders, there’s one common barrier that I’ve seen limit growth and impact—that barrier is when a leader doesn’t empower the team. When we don’t delegate and empower well, we put a lid over our churches growth potential. These few verses in Acts highlight the link between empowering and growth.

Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” — Acts 6:2-4

First, we’re reminded of the necessity to stay focused on our primary responsibilities and functions of the role we’re called to. In this specific set of verses the main focus that the apostles needed was on prayer and ministry of the word, and note how easy it is to get distracted with all of the genuine needs of the people in our churches. Each of us has primary functions and things that we must maintain focus on, and if you’re a lead pastor or primary ministry leader than vision, and ministry must remain a primary focus. And, when we read the conclusion of this passage we realize that the Apostle’s ability to delegate, empower and stay focused on what they needed to do, directly impacted the growth of the church.

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. —Acts 6:7

Growth only happens when we RELEASE responsibility rather than hold onto it. Like a seed, it only grows when planted. As church leaders we’ve been given by Jesus a bag full of seeds, what are we doing with those seeds/leaders? Holding or planting? Controling or empowering? And we must see delegation more as empowering and releasing people into their gifts than just handing out tasks. Task delegation doesn’t require our people to engage their creative God-given potential, but when we release authority into their hands and empower them, you’ll see them flourish!

Here’s a few common reason why we get trapped into not empowering people:

The Moses Complex

Sometimes we feel that as the lead pastor or department leader that we’re the one that needs to have all of the answers. And while as the lead pastor you’re setting vision, if we make the “buck” or most answers stop with us then we put a limit on our capacity. Take that superman/wonder woman pressure off yourself and begin to empower and turn the responsibility over to them.

We have to set the Culture

Yes, as the leader we need to shape and set the culture of our teams and overall church, most of the time that ends up becoming a crutch that we lean on for way too long. Your team is more ready than you realize. Remember that you were inexperienced when you stepped into your role but someone trusted and released you into that calling!

The Perfection Freeze

In our pursuit of an excellent team or service experience we can often create a freeze in the potential of the team. As the leader you carry a great weight and in our very proformance culture it’s easy to create the opposite experience on our teams than we want. Most leaders want to see the potential and capacity in their team launched and released, but when you’re dealing with young or developing leaders, if you are overly “jumpy” on creating that perfect church culture and excellent service experience, we can end up creating a gun-shy feeling in our teams where they’re nervous to step out because their afraid to fail. Make sure that you create space for people to fail.

I’ll Delegate When I have Leaders

We can often think, If I had the leaders then I would release. But part of the reason why no leaders are emerging is because we’re not creating space for them. The more that people see you creating room or creating a demand for leadership the more you’ll see those leaders emerge. When you publicly celebrate and give people a shot then you’ll subconsciously send the signal to your church that this is a leadership house that sees, develops and releasing people into their gifting.

So, if you feel like you have a lid on your growth as an overall church or in a specific department, this may be one of the areas to evaluate. Review your daily, weekly and monthly focus and responsibilities: figure out what things you can release and empower someone else to carry. And if you’re wanting to see more leaders emerge, consider more ways that you can create for people to stretch their gifts. In San Diego, (My Pastors) Ps Jurgen & Ps Leanne have done a great job at constantly creating areas for people to stretch their gifts and develop as leaders. As a result, we have an abundance of leaders.

The more you release, the more you’ll be able to focus, which will result in vision being accomplished, more disciples being made and the church growing!

For more on creating a healthy and growing church culture, check out Pastor Jurgen Matthesius’s new book Leadersight:

Accelerate Church Growth With This Simple & Powerful Decision! | Empower & Release

Over the past 10+ years of training and coaching pastors and church leaders, there’s one common barrier that I’ve seen limit growth and impact—that barrier is when a leader doesn’t empower the team. When we don’t delegate and empower well, we put a lid over our churches growth potential. These few verses in Acts highlight the link between empowering and growth.

Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” — Acts 6:2-4

First, we’re reminded of the necessity to stay focused on our primary responsibilities and functions of the role we’re called to. In this specific set of verses the main focus that the apostles needed was on prayer and ministry of the word, and note how easy it is to get distracted with all of the genuine needs of the people in our churches. Each of us has primary functions and things that we must maintain focus on, and if you’re a lead pastor or primary ministry leader than vision, and ministry must remain a primary focus. And, when we read the conclusion of this passage we realize that the Apostle’s ability to delegate, empower and stay focused on what they needed to do, directly impacted the growth of the church.

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. —Acts 6:7

Growth only happens when we RELEASE responsibility rather than hold onto it. Like a seed, it only grows when planted. As a note, we must see delegation more as empowering and releasing people into their gifts than just handing out tasks. Task delegation doesn’t require our people to engage their creative God-given potential, but when we release authority into their hands and empower them, you’ll see them flourish!

Here’s a few common reason why we get trapped into not empowering people:

The Moses Complex

First would be the Moses complex: we feel that we’re the lead pastor that we’re the one that needs to have all of the answers. When the “buck” always stops with us than our capacity alone will be the lid. Take that superman/wonder woman pressure off yourself.

I Have To Do It All

Another subtle reason we don’t empower people is we feel the need to personally show and display the culture for our team or church. While this is a key part of the beginning of building the church, we often hang onto this far beyond when we need to. People grow as they do.

I’ll Delegate When I have Leaders

The other common barrier would be feeling like you don’t have the leaders you need to delegate to. We can often think, If I had the leaders then I would release. But part of the reason why no leaders are emerging is because we’re not creating space for them.

So, if you feel like you have a lid on your growth as an overall church or in a specific department, this may be one of the areas to evaluate. Review your daily, weekly and monthly focus and responsibilities: figure out what things you can release and empower someone else to carry. And if you’re wanting to see more leaders emerge, consider more ways that you can create for people to stretch their gifts. In San Diego, (My Pastors) Ps Jurgen & Ps Leanne have done a great job at constantly creating areas for people to stretch their gifts and develop as leaders. As a result, we have an abundance of leaders.

The more you release, the more you’ll be able to focus, which will result in vision being accomplished, more disciples being made and the church growing!

For more on creating a healthy and growing church culture, check out Pastor Jurgen Matthesius’s new book Leadersight:

NEW PODCAST: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT JESUS!

 

Hey fam! I’m so excited to announce that we’re launching a new podcast called, Following Jesus! I wanted to create a space where I could have some honest, passionate, practical and fun conversations around how we actually live out this life with Christ in our everyday lives. So, this podcast will have some episodes where I’m digging into a specific topic and some that I’ll have a conversation with a friend on how they’re following Jesus within the context of their worlds!

Join the new podcast family!! Click the link or the image to listen, subscribe and if you’d do me a favor and leave a review and rating for the podcast!! That would help so much in helping us get those conversations and encouragement out to more people!

Also, this is not just a one way dialog, we want to hear from you and build shows around your comments and questions! So, comment below on this blog what kind of topics you’d like to have me and my guests talk about!! No topic is off limits!

Check Out The First Episode: A great conversation with my friend Zach Windahl!

He Is With You! A Reminder this Christmas! (Free Devotional)

We have a world looking for the Joy to the World and the Peace on Earth that our carols and holiday parties highlight but many never quite seems to be able to find that rest the soul truly needs. Why? Well, there may be a few things that contribute to this but the primary thing is that we’ve forgotten (or never been told) that incredible name that God revealed himself as in Jesus. That name is IMMANUEL.

It may just sound like a word or name you’ve heard in a Christmas Carole or something on a church reader board, but until you get your own personal revelation of this name, you’ll never have joy on earth. This is truly one of my favorite aspects of the God we follow! And something I love talking about, writing and is often the focus in my preaching!

Matthew 1:21-23 (NIV)21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves. because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

His desire when he came was to reveal himself as “WITH US”!! He’s not a distant savior or uninterested creator that set us in motion and left us alone, rather he got personally involved and investing in coming to be with us and invites us to walk with him! When my daughters feel afraid of the dark they want to come close to me and know that I’m with them. As soon as they know that I’m with them, they can enter into the “scary” situation. In the same way, many in the world are living with fear and loneliness because they don’t know or have forgotten that God is with us! When we invite Jesus into our lives He commits to walk with us! And the Bible reminds us that He will never leave us!

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I created a 7 day devotional on this topic that I’d encourage you to go through on the YouVersion Bible app. I know this will bring the peace to your world this Christmas season and new year!  You can click here to read the IMMANUEL devotional on the youversion Bible App,

Merry Christmas to you all! Praying for fresh joy, peace and hope to meet you this year! Also, I’m launching a new podcast in the new year and I’d love for you to check it out! (Listen to the Following Jesus Podcast)

 

 

Each of the 7 days begins with a short encouraging devotional and a few key verses to help you connect with our creator, father and savior!

 

Preach Preacher! This is no time for silence!

If you’re called to preach than you cannot be silent!

One of the things I emphasize in the Preaching Essentials E-Course is the importance of those of us who are called to preach, stepping up and into their calling!

Silence will leave you unfulfilled and create collateral damage in your world!

Like in the story of Queen Esther, if she remained silent, God would raise up another to rescue His people, but Esther’s family and current generation would perish. Step into your calling as a preacher and bring the messages that God put in your heart to bring!

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. — 2 Timothy 4:2