Media Ministry for the Rest of Us

1. Not just a sermon but a message

-A sermon is something you preach at church during the main service.

-A message is something you communicate everywhere possible to anyone willing to listen.

2. Signs you have more than just a sermon in you

-You consistently wish more people were present to hear your sermon.

-You consistently wish you had more opportunities to preach.

-You often feel frustrated that the people who need to hear your message are not in the room.

-You are able to communicate effectively in other ways than preaching. You are also an artist, writer, teacher, or simply something more than a preacher.

-You are restless as you contemplate this list. You know something is stirring within you, but you don’t quite know how to implement what’s in your heart.

3. Not just a message but a movement

-Do you want to grow a church or change the world?

4. Paper wall myths keeping us from moving forward

-Size Myth: Only big churches have media ministry.

-Money Myth: We don’t have enough money to be effective.

-Pride Myth: Only arrogant people build media ministries.

-Orphan Annie Myth: The media ministry will come out tomorrow!

5. Media ministry is an issue of obedience. If God says move, we move! He gives the desire, the strength, and the resource. It is our job to say yes and to move forward.

6. Media ministry next steps. Questions to help you move forward.

-How are you going to get God’s message in you to more people?

-What are the main obstacles keeping you from doing this? (internal/external factors)

-If God is calling you to take a next step, what is it? List the what, when, why, where, and how of your next step.

7. Inexpensive ways to immediately start influencing the world through media.

-Find a domain name that reflects your passion. Reserve it for under $20 bucks a year. This is not wasted energy. You will regret a life lived in fear more than a life full of foolish faith steps. Reserve several forms of your domain (.org, .com, .net). Once your ministry gets popular, someone else will own those domains if you don’t.

-Link your domain to a blog such as WordPress. Blogs are by far the easiest way to manage your website. They are free or almost free to run. Depending upon special features, you will only pay a minimal amount. Blogs also do really well in search engine rankings.

-Reserve a Twitter handle and a Youtube channel to accompany your domain name. Again, these are free services that will help you get the message out.

-Send your material to as many people as possible. Most people will reject you, but there will come a day when a door opens that no man can shut. When your postings are posted on other blogs, it will increase your audience as well as your blog’s ranking in other search engines.

-Free yourself from the church circuit. Try to get in a blog or web community that is hostile or indifferent to your church community. It might not grow your church, but it will help get your message beyond the walls of the church into the heart of culture.

-Forget about making money!!!!!! God knows the value of your material. Work for eternal reward. Someday you might receive money, but it is not the reason you are engaging in this activity. You are speaking, writing, tweeting, and posting because God gave you a message that you are trying to get to anyone and everyone willing to listen.

-Don’t forget traditional media. Newspapers are poorly staffed and underfunded. They need your content. Regularly send stuff for them to publish. They might reject you, but they might relent and publish something you’ve written. Radio and newspaper have greater trust in many communities. People will read a column over a post or listen to a radio show over a podcast. Traditional media gives the credibility that the material can be trusted.

-Speak and write more often with less content. Better to have regular small posts, than infrequent large posts. You want people to see your site as a place where they go for perpetual new content. You are a broadcast channel, not a resource library.

-Join forces with other like minded people. The best media sites have many collaborators, many aggregated stories, and many different opinions. Link your content and blog with other like minded media people. Better to create a site with 10 lesser known but great content providers, than to build a blog around one big named voice.

-Present yourself as a writer or a speaker before anyone wants to read what you write or hear what you have to say. Let God defend the worth of your desires. You don’t have to be arrogant, but you can be confident in your calling. Let God defend the worth of your labor.

-Repeatedly remind yourself that everything has value in the doing. You are not trying to engage in media for some future payoff. Instead, you are just sharing the message God has given you to anyone who will read or listen. If one more person hears, then you have already succeeded. Media ministry will not prove your worth or value. Engage in media because you already understand that God has given you value no one can take away. Be free and go out and share the Word with anyone willing to listen.

-Disregard anything I’ve said that doesn’t make sense to you. The Holy Spirit will lead you, so trust Him instead of anyone’s system.

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