Secondly, you must prayerfully exegete your audience.
It is far too easy to see a room full of “I love Jesus” smiles and think that everyone is fine.
The more informed your burden for the people is, the more genuine your passion will be. The better you understand the torture of someone’s prison, the harder you will try to get them out.
A few testimonies and prayer requests will intelligently attach your heart to your congregation’s plight.
You need to ask, “How different is your worldview from theirs? How will they react to your clothes? Physical appearance? Will they understand your Christianese version of English?”
Finally, during your final preparation and the delivery, prayerfully merge your God-encounter with your people-burden.
Ask God for one-liners, insight into how to apply Scripture specifically to your audience. Practice talking to the congregation. Begin pleading with and for their souls.
Ask God to consume every fiber of your physical, emotional and spiritual being with His message.
If you do these things, you should wake up on gameday with your spiritual engine running. Rivers of living water should be pressing against your heart, anxiously waiting for you to preach.
Then all you have to do is step into the pulpit and surrender yourself to your delivery.
