Several months ago, BCL's Rachel Willoughby interviewed Nancy Ortberg for a download on BuildingChurchLeaders.com. Nancy had some fantastic things to say about how to lead and teach well. Below is a brief excerpt of Rachel's favorite section of the interview. To access the full interview and other insightful articles on the theme of teaching adults, click here.

Rachel: As you prepare to speak, how do you plan to engage the audience?

Nancy: You have to think provocatively while you're preparing the message so that you are prepared to use stories or something from your research to put a new slant on a familiar idea. When you're speaking to people who have been following Christ or have been in church a long time, familiarity with a passage is sometimes your worst enemy. People assume that they know what a passage says and how to live it out.

Scot McKnight writes that people change in two circumstances: when they're on a quest or when they're in a crisis. Now, I can't send people on a quest, ...