"Let your Light Shine Before Men..." Matthew 5:16

"LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN..." Matthew 5:16

The Recipe For Success-How prepared were you last week?

Remember the last time you bit into your dinner and thought, That could have used a few more minutes in the oven? Or maybe you've chipped a tooth on an overcooked charcoal burger?

Preparing a lesson is alot like cooking. Underpreparing is dangerous.: we end up reading the lesson from a script. It's unfocused and confusing. But overprepare and we lose the nutritional value and taste: we've looked at the material so much we're bored with it.

Here's how to be sure to pop the lesson out of the oven right on time, every time:

Review your next lesson, right after you teach the previous one. You're in teaching mode. Why not spend a few minutes thinking about next week?

Make the scripture covered in the next lesson part of your personal devotion time. This is a good way to prepare your heart and your lesson.

If necessary, prepare in chunks. Work on one section a night, deciding on the best ways to enrich the curriculum for your students. Whether you plan to use personal experience as an example or add your own object lesson, preparation is key.

It's never too early to start preparing but it can always be too late. As you prepare though, remember it can be possible to be overprepared. As silly as that sounds, it's true. You know you're overprepared when you've gone over the material so much it's no longer fun and engaging. You're overprepared if you can't imagine making tweeks and changes because the lesson is already memorized.

Prepare so you can be faithful to the content. But be sure you're having fun, too-that's what draws children into the learning experience.

The desire to overprepare is often a desire for control. Control is good but so is spontaneity. Relinquish that control to co-teachers or studenrt leaders. Give them a section of classtime to lead and let them prepare that section.

Enjoy the surprises.

And pray. Ask God to calm your nerves and guide you as you prepare.

gourmet chefs spend years practicing and fine-tuning their greatest recipes. Find what works for you, and bam! you'll be cooking up effective lessons evertime.