Who is driving the "verbs" in your life? Jesus or you?

Here's some great nuggets from an article by Todd Wilken called "A Listener's Guide to the Pulpit":

“A sermon that mentions Jesus but still has you driving the verbs is still about you, not Jesus. The Gospel is all about what Jesus does for you. A sermon about what you do for Jesus isn’t the Gospel. For the Gospel to be preached, Jesus must be driving the verbs.” (Ask) ‘Who is driving the verbs?’ Is Jesus active or passive? Is Jesus doing the action or is He being acted upon? There is a difference between a sermon that says ‘I love Jesus,’ and a sermon that says ‘Jesus love me.’ One is talking about you, the other is talking about Jesus. There is a difference between, ‘Give your life to Jesus,’ and ‘Jesus gave His life for you.’”

“The Gospel isn’t Jesus your example, educator, life-coach or therapist. The Gospel is Jesus, your crucified and risen Savior from sin and death. So, listen for the Scriptural verbs of salvation: The Jesus Who lived for you, suffered for you, was crucified for you, died for you, and rose again for you. The Jesus Who forgives you, redeems you, reconciles you and has mercy on you.”

“A sermon that doesn’t mention Jesus isn’t about Jesus. Since you can’t preach the Gospel without mentioning Jesus, a Jesus-less sermon is a Gospel-less sermon.”

“Often, the difference between good preaching and bad preaching is not in what is said, but in what is left unsaid. More often, what is left unsaid is the Gospel itself.”