Sermon Tone Analysis

The Importance of Evaluation

It’s a Comamnd

Lam 4:

1 CO

2 CO

We can’t separate our hearts from our ministry so we need to evaluate our ministry along with our hearts.

A big part of evaluation will be the HS illuminating where we need to be moving.

However there needs to also be some structure to evaluating your ministry.

Four Evaluation Questions

1. Have we identified the primary Biblical purpose for this program?

All ministry must flow out of a biblical foundation.

It not, stop.

Matthew

The Five purposes of the church should drive all of our activities n ministry.

Five Biblical purposes for the Church come out of these.

These are the purposes for any ministry.

Biblical Command Familiar Term Definition

Love the Lord Worship Celebrating God’s presence in our lives

Love your neighbor Ministry meeting needs through serving

go and make disciples Evangelism sharing the Gospel with lost people

Baptizing them Fellowship Christians connecting through relationships

Teaching them to Obey Discipleship teaching Christians How to live for the Lord

Everything you do for students should fall into one of these categories.

2. Are we reaching our target audience with this program?

After determining that your program has a biblical basis, decide whether you’re targeting the right group with this program.

Think about your personal life.

Neighbor, boss, casual friend, best friend, restaurant server, stranger, co-worker who isn’t a Christian, a telemarketer, and your spiritual mentor.

You would not show the stranger your pics of your children.

You would not be surprised that your best friend went into the kitchen and grabbed something out of the Fridge.

Imagine that you are going to share the Gospel with each of these.

You would do it differently with each group.

with your Best Friend, you would really need to live forgiveness before you talk about it.

With the non-Christian co-worker, you would use non church and simple language to share.

It’s the same in your youth ministry.

No one thing reaches everyone.

That’s why Maximum Impact seeks to reach people who are different.

That’s why you need a team… you can’t possibly reach them all.

Here are some possible targets:

Non-Christians, Christians, Non-churched, Churched, Christian Leaders, Forced to attend, Attends for social interactions, Confesses Jesus, Student Leader, Community, Crowd, Congregation, Committed - Core

“When you aim for a specific target, you can deemphasize other targets during that one specific program.

If your Sunday school program targets committed Christian students, you understand when non-Christians attend and don’t comprehend everything.

students, you understand when non-Christians attend Likewise, if your Sunday school targets non-Christians, you’ll understand when committed Christians don't feel challenged”

“Spiritual growth, without exception, involves some level of frustration.

When a program targets a specific spiritual commitment, those less spiritually mature are critical and say,“We don’t need that.”The

significantly more mature are frustrated and say, “Why aren’t we going deeper?” Comments won’t sting when you have taken time to specify the target for your programs.

You can respond to criticism with confidence, rather than defensiveness”

When you learn how to target groups, you will be much happier

Excerpt From: Doug Fields.

“Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry.”

Apple Books.

https://books.apple.com/us/book/your-first-two-years-in-youth-ministry/id398992695

Excerpt From: Doug Fields.

“Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry.”

Apple Books.

https://books.apple.com/us/book/your-first-two-years-in-youth-ministry/id398992695

3. Have we met our specific intended outcomes for this program?

What are your intended results?

Small groups?

fellowship, discipleship?

If one of your students brings a non-Christian friend to a small group that is made of up of Christian kids, he may not feel comfortable… kid might say something to you and you can point him to your “seeker friendly service.”

Evangelism program - salvations (hands raised or making disciples) or teens trained to go out and share

4. Are your leaders fulfilling their responsibilities for this program?

You have to give them meaningful things to do.

Chaperones don’t last - shepherds do...

Leaders should embody the following roles:

Lover of God -

Pastor/Shepherd -

Leader - Maintain focus on intended outcomes… living life t

Leader -

Servant -

Communicator

Are they making the meetings and planning their ministries?

Staying in touch with students?

Four Steps to Answer Your Evaluation Questions

1. Discern the Real -

Strive for objectivity

Observe without responsibility

Talk to Others

Write Down Your Conclusions

Review with a Trusted Source

“Strive for objectivity.

It may be difficult to be objective depending on how much blood, sweat, and tears you’ve invested into a particular program.

We often see only what we want to see.

Observe without responsibility.

If you play a major role in the program (say, teaching the lesson), then find someone else to take over your responsibilities for a week or two so you attend to observe.

Other responsibilities can hinder objectivity.

▪ Observe without responsibility.

If you play a major role in the program (say, teaching the lesson), then find someone else to take over your responsibilities for a week or two so you attend to observe.

Other responsibilities can hinder objectivity.

it’s difficult to stand back and only observe.

Don’t be fooled into thinking,“ you can teach during this program and evaluate everything else.”

It doesn’t work.

When you teach, you are busy reading your audience, thinking about your message, wondering who the student is that’s flirting and so forth.

Your best evaluations happen when you show up with no responsibilities.

Talk to others.

Get feedback from others regarding particular elements in your program.

You don’t need to walk these people through four evaluation questions.

Simply ask a few directed questions: “As a leader of this program, what do you feel your responsibility is?” or “What do you think about the music on Wednesday nights?”

Seek feedback from a variety of participants[…]”

▪ Talk to others.