Being a pastor of a church can be emotionally exhausting.  At times, it really does feel like riding an emotional roller coaster.

In a single week, you can cover.

• rejoicing with a new convert who is growing in their faith
• hurting with a young couple who lost a baby
• conflict with a board member
• preaching and feeling like you really connected
• learning that your illustration really offended someone
• guilt about how much family time you’re spending
• excitement about a new tither
• frustration with your building

Nah, never mind.  That can all happen in ONE DAY.

There’s a lot to be said about the topic of how to handle the emotional ups and downs of pastoring… and I can’t cover it all in one video.  But here’s one key that I think is crucial:  Your ability to handle, embrace and even rejoice in chaos.

For more, here’s today’s 5 Minute Mentoring Video:

A Word from Our Sponsor:

This video series is brought to you by SermonSubscribe, providing quality preaching by video.

Are you burned out as a pastor? Need someone to help lift the preaching load for a time? Do you need a sabbatical, but not sure how you will fill the pulpit?

Are you on a pastoral search committee, but you’re struggling to find a good candidate, and make sure someone is able to preach every weekend? Did your pastor retire, and you’re looking for a new one… but you have to bridge the gap until you can hire a new pastor?

You need to check out SermonSubscribe (www.sermonsubscribe.com). Each week, I preach live in Oklahoma City, edit the High-definition video, and send it to churches across the United States. By the middle of the week, those churches have a quality Biblical sermon to download, handouts to print out & copy… and all of this for far less than it costs to bring in a special speaker or interim pastor.

Have questions?  For pricing, or common questions, please visit www.sermonsubscribe.com.

This goal with this session was to make it inspiring as much as it is informative…

A discussion of how to get your church over the hump of INACTION, and a discussion of how the church in Acts moved forward when they were faced with the question of putting THEIR plan into action…

Below, you’ll find the handout and video for the month!

I remember when the professor stood in front of our class, and passed out copies of the 5 year vision plan of a young, visionary pastor he had known.  It was detailed, multiple pages… and quite ambitious.

Then the prof read the resignation letter of the chairman of the church board.  And another board member.

And then, he read the resignation letter of that young, visionary pastor.

None of you want to be that person… big dreams, no ability to get people to follow.

So how can we build that ability?  Demonstrating character & competence in our decisions over time.  That’s what today’s 5 minute mentoring video is about, inspired by a concept in a John Maxwell book.

Check out the video below:

#4 – Getting Permission To Change Things from Darrell Stetler II on Vimeo.

A Word from Our Sponsor:

This video series is brought to you by SermonSubscribe, providing quality preaching by video.

Are you burned out as a pastor? Need someone to help lift the preaching load for a time? Do you need a sabbatical, but not sure how you will fill the pulpit?

Are you on a pastoral search committee, but you’re struggling to find a good candidate, and make sure someone is able to preach every weekend? Did your pastor retire, and you’re looking for a new one… but you have to bridge the gap until you can hire a new pastor?

You need to check out SermonSubscribe (www.sermonsubscribe.com). Each week, I preach live in Oklahoma City, edit the High-definition video, and send it to churches across the United States. By the middle of the week, those churches have a quality Biblical sermon to download, handouts to print out & copy… and all of this for far less than it costs to bring in a special speaker or interim pastor.

Have questions?  For pricing, or common questions, please visit www.sermonsubscribe.com.

When was the last time you felt like you had ENOUGH time?  I’m guessing it was on the 12th of Never.

Time management is one of the toughest things about being a pastor. Preaching, family, discipleship planning, worship… Demands on your time are never-ending, and time-wasters abound.

Have you ever:

• Fielded phone calls that took you off on a wild-goose chase?
• Lived most of a month in “crisis mode?”
• Found yourself mired in work that doesn’t contribute to your goals?
• Suddenly realized you wasted more time than you should have on other people’s priorities?

Few things are more frustrating than getting to the end of a week, and feeling like “I’ve been busy, but I didn’t get the most important things done.”

Today’s video gives a helpful tool from Steven Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.  It’s a time management matrix that helps you sort out the volume of roles & tasks, to help identify which ones help you live with more intentionality and less stress.

Check out the video below:

#2 – 5 Minute Mentoring – Time Management Matrix from Darrell Stetler II on Vimeo.

Hi, welcome to a new feature on the blog!

5 Minute Mentoring is a new feature brought to you by SermonSubscribe.  It’s designed to be a quick hit of practical tools-you-can-use, something that will help you organize, decide, be less stressed, more prepared.

How do you share the Gospel?  Do you have a prepared presentation, or do you just “wing it?”  I am a big believer in being prepared “to give an answer to any man that asks a reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).  I’ve always keep a presentation of the Gospel on tap, so I can succinctly explain it in whatever time frame the Lord gives me to witness.

For some years, I used the “cross bridge” diagram.  But something bugged me about it… I couldn’t place it until I saw someone share a different one.

In the last few months, I’ve made a change in how I share the Gospel.  This method, called the Three Circles, does a better job of explaining the Kingdom and sanctifying nature of the Gospel, instead of simply ignoring it for a simple transactional focus for salvation.

But check it out for yourself and see what you think:

5 Minute Mentoring #1 – Gospel Presentation from Darrell Stetler II on Vimeo.

If you’re interested in purchasing a tract based around this, try this one, which comes in both an app and printed form you can order for your church.

Hope you can tune into the Spirit and see a chance to share the Gospel this week!

Thanks for what you do, pastor!

This video series is brought to you by SermonSubscribe, providing quality preaching by video. Are you burned out as a pastor? Need someone to help lift the preaching load for a time? Do you need a sabbatical, but not sure how you will fill the pulpit?

Are you on a pastoral search committee, but you’re struggling to find a good candidate, and make sure someone is able to preach every weekend? Did your pastor retire, and you’re looking for a new one… but you have to bridge the gap until you can hire a new pastor?

You need to check out SermonSubscribe (www.sermonsubscribe.com). Each week, Darrell Stetler II preaches live in Oklahoma City, edits the High-definition video, and sends it to churches across the United States. By the middle of the week, those churches have a quality Biblical sermon to download, handouts to print out & copy… and all of this for far less than it costs to bring in a special speaker or interim pastor.

Have questions?  For pricing, or common questions, please visit www.sermonsubscribe.com.

Welcome to Session #2 of Church Revitalization Coaching.  This is a crucial session.  I am praying for you and your church as you watch it, because it’s a tough one to put into practice — but it’s SO important!