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How to Preach Like an NFL Linebacker

Wednesday and Thursday

I lumped these two days together because for many NFL teams, Wednesday and Thursday are the busiest days of the week. This is when they put in the game plan for the upcoming Sunday. These are the days where players are in pads and helmets. These are the heavy hitting and heavy lifting days. The bulk of the work for the week is done on these days.

Similarly, preachers would benefit from doing the bulk of their sermon prep on Wednesday and Thursday, as opposed to waiting until Saturday night to get a word for Sunday morning. Dr. Floyd Flake of the Greater Allen Cathedral in New York says that he makes sure that his sermon is complete by Thursday of each week. This is a great model to follow because it eliminates (or at least lessens) the stress associated with Saturday night for most preachers. If the majority of the work were done by Thursday, many preachers would have much more enjoyable weekends!

Friday and Saturday

These are usually two of the lightest days of the NFL workweek. Usually, players don’t wear helmets and pads. They’re normally in shorts and doing “walk throughs” of the game plan for Sunday. In essence, they are just reviewing the work they have already done and making sure that everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to do.

Preachers should be using Friday and Saturday to do the same. While many of us reserve Friday and Saturday for the heavy lifting and heavy hitting days, in actuality, it would be better for us to be doing “walk throughs.” This should be the time when you are reviewing your manuscript or outline and just making final edits or preparations for Sunday. This is when you can add that final illustration or rework that introduction. In other words, this is a time for cosmetics…not construction.

Sunday

Sunday is the BIG day. All the preparation means nothing if you don’t perform. Get in the game, remember the game plan, and fulfill your assignment, and at the end of the day, you’ll have more victories than losses. Which is more than I can say about my Redskins! 🙁

Editor’s Note: I have to thank my friend, Joshua Symonette (@jsym), for his help with this post. Josh played for the Washington Redskins and has served as a Youth Pastor. His knowledge of both football and preaching have been an invaluable resource for me. If you’re on Twitter, be sure to thank him for me!  

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tejadohanchell@churchleaders.com'
Dr. Tejado W. Hanchell (TWH_PhD) is a 21st century “leadership liaison” whose passion is to help connect people and organizations to their purpose. He is a coach, consultant, and counselor and is a leading strategist on leadership and succession planning for churches, non-profit organizations and corporations. Dr. Hanchell has over 15 years of leadership experience and brings a wealth of wisdom to help enhance lives and increase productivity. He currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Mount Calvary Holy Church of Winston-Salem, NC (“The Church Committed to do MORE”) – the “Mother Church” of the Mount Calvary Holy Church of America, Inc., where Dr. Hanchell also serves as General Secretary and International Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry under the leadership of Archbishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.