Uplift Teaching Preparation and Discernment Process

At Uplift, we believe preaching and teaching are sacred trusts. When someone stands before the people of Elohim, they are not simply sharing thoughts. They are stewarding a moment where Heaven meets earth. Because of this, Uplift, under the direction of Elohim, has created a very intentional approach to teaching preparation.  Our goal is not control. Our goal is coverage. This process is not designed to put a lid on the speaker. It is designed to place loving oversight around the message before it reaches the people. We want to understand the direction of a teaching while it is still being formed in the heart of the speaker, not after it has already been delivered publicly.

We also believe in one-topic sermons. We deal with one thing at a time. This ensures the message is clear, thoughtful, and memorable. When someone walks out of worship and is asked, What did they preach about today?, the answer should be simple and unmistakable. The people should be able to clearly name the one thing Elohim sent through that message. This process helps make that possible.

The questions below are not meant to replace prayer, study, or the leading of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). They are intended to partner with them and to help both the minister and leadership clearly see what Elohim is saying and how it is being communicated. Feel free to review the Teaching Preparation  Questions  Overview or scroll down and complete the form

Teaching Preparation Questions Overview

Each question serves a specific purpose. Together, they move a teaching from revelation to clarity, from obedience to transformation.

Question 1

What is Elohim telling you to tell His people?
Purpose: Information
What this question is getting to:
  • Identifies the single governing idea of the teaching
  • Clarifies what you are hearing, not where you heard it
  • Allows Elohim to speak through Scripture, prayer, study, or lived experience
  • Establishes one clear focus for a one-topic sermon
  • Prevents multiple ideas from competing within the same message

Question  2

Why do they need to know this?
Purpose: Motivation
What this question is getting to:
  • Reveals the burden behind the message. Why is this word necessary now?
  • Reveals barriers such as pride, distraction, fear, disobedience, or spiritual drift
  • Connects the message to the real condition and challenges of the people
  • Explains why the message matters and cannot be ignored

Question  3

What does the Bible say they need to do about what you have told them?
Purpose: Application
What this question is getting to:
  • Moves the teaching from hearing to obedience
  • Anchors action in Scripture rather than opinion or preference
  • Clarifies what faith looks like in practice
  • Prevents vague or abstract application
  • Shows how the Word is meant to be lived

Question  4

What does the Bible teach us will happen if they do it?
Purpose: Inspiration
What this question is getting to:
  • Establishes hope rooted in Scripture
  • Reveals what Elohim promises or produces through obedience
  • Awakens faith and trust in Elohim
  • Encourages belief without exaggeration or hype
  • Inspires movement toward obedience through truth

Question  5

What is the benefit of what they have been taught and what they are doing?
Purpose: Transformation
What this question is getting to:
  • Reveals the deeper fruit of obedience
  • Highlights how lives, hearts, and relationships with Elohim change
  • Moves beyond outcomes to lasting spiritual growth
  • Connects obedience to intimacy, freedom, peace, and maturity
  • Shows that the Word produces transformation, not just inspiration

Question  6

Take the teaching and summarize it in two lines that rhyme.
Purpose: Reiteration
What this question is getting to:
  • Forces clarity and focus into a single thesis statement
  • Reveals whether the message is truly one topic
  • Helps the minister say the message plainly
  • Creates language that is memorable and repeatable
  • Increases retention and resonance with the people

Question  7

What is the primary passage and what are the supporting or background passages?
Purpose: Foundation
What this question is getting to:
  • Anchors the teaching in Scripture
  • Identifies the primary text carrying the message
  • Clarifies how supporting passages illuminate the main idea
  • Prevents scattered or out-of-context Scripture use
  • Ensures faithful handling of the Word

Teaching Preparation Form

Please complete the form below if you are preparing to teach or have been asked to speak at Uplift.
Taking time to answer these questions helps bring clarity to the message Elohim has placed in your heart and allows leadership to walk with you in support and alignment as you prepare.
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