Subscribers can access the first part of this interview by going to Back Issues and selecting "Heart of the Matter" from the September/October 2007 issue of Rev!

Best-selling author Max Lucado, whose latest book is 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, continues his conversation with Rev!, responding to our questions about how he develops his messages and what he's discovered about preparing and equipping people to serve.

Obviously you'd never admit this because you're such a humble guy -- but a lot of pastors see you as a model communicator. Can you give us any ideas or share your wisdom about message development?

LUCADO -- You're kind to say that. I love to preach. I don't consider myself a great preacher, but I love to preach and I really work on it a lot. What really works for me is to reduce the sermon down to one sentence. If I can reduce the sermon into one sentence, then I feel like I know what the core of the message is that I'm trying to communicate. My weak sermons make too many points. My best sermon makes one point. I learned this through writing. My editor, Liz Hayne, would often send manuscripts back to me saying, "You know, you're just making too many points in this chapter and consequently you aren't making any of them well." So she urged me, "Why don't you just decide what your big point is here?" That's been my model. The most practical lesson I have to offer people is -- summarize the sermon in one sentence and have every illustration and point feed back into that one point. I tell you that will skinny a sermon down too.

What's your weekly rhythm from Monday through Sunday?

LUCADO -- My Sabbath is Friday because we have Saturday night services and then Sunday morning services, so that gives me a chance to really decompress and rest for the weekend. My favorite Sabbath is just to hang out with my wife. We have a great nature park to walk in near our house, and I'm into triathlons, so I'll go out and do a run or do a bike ride.

Saturday noon I start honing in for the services. We have two services Saturday night and then three on Sunday. I force myself to take the rest of Sunday off. It has to be a really big deal for me to go to a meeting on Sunday night because I just do better if I go home and rest -- allowing whatever I depleted to re-enter my system.

Monday is meetings. Tuesday is all-day study. Wednesday is meetings again, but I try to save at least some time in the afternoon to get ready for Wednesday night because I host the prayer service. Then Thursday is study. I have two study days and two meeting days. That's the rhythm that works best for me.

Do you speak in series, and how long and how far in advance do you plan?

LUCADO -- I do series, yes. I pretty much let the topic drive the series. For example, 3:16 really defined itself. I think it was a 13-week series, which is great -- that's a good length. I did a series on the life of David that I really enjoyed. It became the book Facing Your Giants. But I divided that into two parts, it was a total of 26 sermons, so I divided it into two 13-week series, one in the spring and one in the fall.

How far in advance do I plan? I try to map out a sermon series about a month before I start it, so I can get everybody on board with what I'm going to be teaching. But I've never been good at speaking with the original mapped-out version -- I always want to add another sermon or take a sermon out, so the staff has come to know that it's certainly not written in pencil, much less stone. I'm going to be doing a lot of erasing.

Sue Mallory has said that you've really embraced the Ephesians 4 equipping value -- how did you come to the realization that preparing and equipping the saints for works of service was the best way to go?

LUCADO -- We had a fellow on our staff for a short time who came in as an executive minister, and he'd focused on this particular topic all of his life. Scott helped me to understand the uniqueness of individuals and introduced me to the founder and director of People Management Incorporated. I just immersed myself in the whole idea that each one us is unique, each one of us has a unique assignment in life, and that we really honor God when we do most what we do the best. That became a teaching series at the church, and like many series it became a book, Cure for the Common Life. We turned that series into a Saturday seminar at the church so that people could spend a day exploring their unique abilities and strengths. Then we tried to help them plug into the church.

We work really hard, but I would still give us a B on it. The concept of people discovering their unique abilities is a tough one in church life. Number one, I think it's still new to people. They haven't really bought into it. Then number two, building your church around people's giftedness is sometimes not -- I hate to say this -- it's not as practical as we want it to be. We want a Sunday school teacher next Sunday in the children's department. I don't care what his gift is. I think we're still working through the best way to do it. But we're sure giving it an effort.

What's the difference between fulfilling ministry versus filling ministry slots?

LUCADO -- If you allow people the privilege of serving in their strength, if you help them discover their uniqueness, then they're going to serve -- then the Holy Spirit is going to really invigorate that ministry. There are times that we still have to fill slots, but if we can just see that as a temporary basis, and if we can see the church as a training ground to help people discover their uniqueness, I really think we're connecting with what the Apostle Paul taught us in Ephesians 4.