It was one of those days when there was so much I wanted to say. But clouds were forming on the horizon. Announcements and welcome lasted 15 minutes. The children's sermon went for 6 more. And note to self - video clips count as time out of your portion. They are not an added bonus that everyone goes away feeling glad they got.
With the two videos, yours truly grabbed an amazing 50 minutes. Uh huh.
So yeah, an hour and a half was what we took from start to finish today.
It wasn't as bad as the three hours "There Will Be Blood" took from Bunny, Sean and me yesterday.
But it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Content in context, delivered with passion - yeah. Clips were both great and supported the theme extremely well.
BUT... I was too long. Way too long. And what I think could have really been impactful was made less so.
I'm posting this to remind me if I ever get that idea again. Although Bunny and Sean will probably handle that. :)
Showing posts with label expository preaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expository preaching. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
If I Had Only One Sermon
Today was one of those days that had me wondering just what God was up to. Bunny was away doing her amazing artist stuff, and I was left along at home to read, study and pray (oh and freeze! It's cold here today). As I wrote earlier, I've been reading the "red letters" - everything Jesus said in the Scriptures - this week, getting ready to preach a series based on them.
The way my mind works though, I go into "immersion mode", where I soak up everything I can on the text I have before me. It's not uncommon for that work to generate 50-90 pages of notes for a 40 minute Sunday morning sermon. I'll do all the background stuff, word studies, scan other versions, and read the text over and over and over. Then I have to walk away for a while and do something else.
Today when I did that, I was reading an excellent book by Kenneth Bailey on Luke Chapter 15. Bailey writes from the background of someone who knows the lifestyle of the Middle Eastern peasant intimately. I have been blown away by his insight. He's like Rob Bell on steroids.
If I had only one sermon to preach, it would be on the three "lost" parables in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. I haven't done much "candidating" in my career, and have only done two "revivals". I'm a pastor. I need to know the people I'm helping connect to God in order to be truly effective.
But let me preach Luke 15, and I would stand in front of anyone or any crowd. It speaks so deeply to me. I've been that prodigal. I have prodigals I love dearly. I've been that older brother, and known quite a few in the churches I've been a part of and led.
And that Father... oh, that Father. How I long to love like that. How thankful I am to be loved like that. How I want to see our church full of people willing to love like that!
There are other texts that move me, but if I had only one sermon - Luke 15.
The way my mind works though, I go into "immersion mode", where I soak up everything I can on the text I have before me. It's not uncommon for that work to generate 50-90 pages of notes for a 40 minute Sunday morning sermon. I'll do all the background stuff, word studies, scan other versions, and read the text over and over and over. Then I have to walk away for a while and do something else.
Today when I did that, I was reading an excellent book by Kenneth Bailey on Luke Chapter 15. Bailey writes from the background of someone who knows the lifestyle of the Middle Eastern peasant intimately. I have been blown away by his insight. He's like Rob Bell on steroids.
If I had only one sermon to preach, it would be on the three "lost" parables in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. I haven't done much "candidating" in my career, and have only done two "revivals". I'm a pastor. I need to know the people I'm helping connect to God in order to be truly effective.
But let me preach Luke 15, and I would stand in front of anyone or any crowd. It speaks so deeply to me. I've been that prodigal. I have prodigals I love dearly. I've been that older brother, and known quite a few in the churches I've been a part of and led.
And that Father... oh, that Father. How I long to love like that. How thankful I am to be loved like that. How I want to see our church full of people willing to love like that!
There are other texts that move me, but if I had only one sermon - Luke 15.
I'm reading the red letters again today
Jesus was always saying the unexpected. Just when his followers thought they had him figured out, he’d open his mouth and amaze them once more…People were flabbergasted when he said they should love their enemies. They were aghast when he said to turn the other cheek when someone crossed them. They were intrigued by his parables and mesmerized by his description of God’s kingdom. His listeners were awed by his wisdom, inspired by his morality, and melted by his love.
-Lee Strobel(What Would Jesus Say, p.12)
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
New Year, New Series
Christmas is behind us now, and we've crossed the threshold of the New Year. I haven't yet had to write 2008 but I know how to make a seven into something eight-ish, so I'm good. Time to move on from the "Nights Before Christmas" series of sermons.
Started thinking before the holidays about this, praying what direction to go in next. Several factors involve themselves in the preparation process. Number One of course is what is God directing? There have been times when it was extremely clear what I should preach. That could be driven by the circumstances we found ourselves in as a church, or a pressing need that presented itself, or a realization over time that the church was in need of instruction in a certain area.
For a few years, I actually followed the Lectionary in order to try to cover as much as the whole counsel of God's Word as I could. In another couple of years I tried to follow the SBC lectionary - the Adult Sunday School quarterly. :) Yes, I would preach ahead of the next week's lesson in the Sunday School texts, hoping to go deeper and give more context than they would receive in their lessons. I was helped in that by some great resources put out by the EXTRA! staff at Lifeway.
The goal in both was to try to deliver one consistent message each Sunday instead of three different ones. When you think about it, the average Baptist who comes to every opportunity on Sunday will hear a SS lesson which applies to life in one area, a sermon which probably is in another, and then finally a Sunday night sermon or small group. Three messages, three applications - all of which will be mostly forgotten by Monday afternoon.
So my idea was to take each Sunday as a teaching unit, and pound one Big idea from three angles. General context and application in SS, Broader context and application in the morning sermon, and then that night to really focus on parts that might be nuances but were more than incidental in the text. For example I might do a word study that night to help flesh out a concept, or I might do a character study of someone involved in that morning's text.
I still really like that, and believe it has the most potential for transformation, however present structure and circumstances being what they are, it is a nonstarter. If I was in a plant, the small group lesson would come as further exposition and application of the Sunday morning sermon. But I'm not in a plant.
So here I am.
With a mix of people at various stages of spiritual growth, with a varied demographic of ages and education, with varied backgrounds as far as church and region. In general, we need to be better at applying what we already know of the Bible to our lives, we need to have a more consistent ability to see the world through a Christian world view, we need to be able to share our ideas in the marketplace of ideas effectively and clearly across all those demographic lines and tribal boundaries. And we need to grow as a church on mission.
Oh is that all?
I should just tool over to see what Fellowship, or Granger, or Northpoint is doing and buy their last series. The most effective church in the area, far and away the one that has grown the fastest, does that, and has done that for three years. But I can't do that. They don't know New Hope like I do, and I have precious little in common with any mega. At times I'm not sure we're seeing the same world.
So I pray, and I think about the people who are most likely to be out in front of me as I deliver the message. Will this series reach them? Is this what God would have me do?
One other factor - what can I do best?
The craziest thing has happened to me. Without wanting to or meaning to, I've gone from a topical preacher to an expository one who is far more comfortable with a passage than a series of verses spread out over the Bible. When I first began, I could preach topical sermons - really well at times. But now, I struggle with it.
Today I'll read every word Jesus ever spoke that's recorded in the Scriptures as I pray about a series on "The Red Letters" which will probably come mostly from the Sermon on the Mount and if it goes well, the parables. I'm also looking at the book of Romans and for Wednesday nights (we're through with Numbers) whether to continue into Deuteronomy or skip it.
By tomorrow, I hope to have clear direction and begin serious prep work for whatever God leads me to do. Pray with me that I'll be a willing vessel for His awesome Truth.
Started thinking before the holidays about this, praying what direction to go in next. Several factors involve themselves in the preparation process. Number One of course is what is God directing? There have been times when it was extremely clear what I should preach. That could be driven by the circumstances we found ourselves in as a church, or a pressing need that presented itself, or a realization over time that the church was in need of instruction in a certain area.
For a few years, I actually followed the Lectionary in order to try to cover as much as the whole counsel of God's Word as I could. In another couple of years I tried to follow the SBC lectionary - the Adult Sunday School quarterly. :) Yes, I would preach ahead of the next week's lesson in the Sunday School texts, hoping to go deeper and give more context than they would receive in their lessons. I was helped in that by some great resources put out by the EXTRA! staff at Lifeway.
The goal in both was to try to deliver one consistent message each Sunday instead of three different ones. When you think about it, the average Baptist who comes to every opportunity on Sunday will hear a SS lesson which applies to life in one area, a sermon which probably is in another, and then finally a Sunday night sermon or small group. Three messages, three applications - all of which will be mostly forgotten by Monday afternoon.
So my idea was to take each Sunday as a teaching unit, and pound one Big idea from three angles. General context and application in SS, Broader context and application in the morning sermon, and then that night to really focus on parts that might be nuances but were more than incidental in the text. For example I might do a word study that night to help flesh out a concept, or I might do a character study of someone involved in that morning's text.
I still really like that, and believe it has the most potential for transformation, however present structure and circumstances being what they are, it is a nonstarter. If I was in a plant, the small group lesson would come as further exposition and application of the Sunday morning sermon. But I'm not in a plant.
So here I am.
With a mix of people at various stages of spiritual growth, with a varied demographic of ages and education, with varied backgrounds as far as church and region. In general, we need to be better at applying what we already know of the Bible to our lives, we need to have a more consistent ability to see the world through a Christian world view, we need to be able to share our ideas in the marketplace of ideas effectively and clearly across all those demographic lines and tribal boundaries. And we need to grow as a church on mission.
Oh is that all?
I should just tool over to see what Fellowship, or Granger, or Northpoint is doing and buy their last series. The most effective church in the area, far and away the one that has grown the fastest, does that, and has done that for three years. But I can't do that. They don't know New Hope like I do, and I have precious little in common with any mega. At times I'm not sure we're seeing the same world.
So I pray, and I think about the people who are most likely to be out in front of me as I deliver the message. Will this series reach them? Is this what God would have me do?
One other factor - what can I do best?
The craziest thing has happened to me. Without wanting to or meaning to, I've gone from a topical preacher to an expository one who is far more comfortable with a passage than a series of verses spread out over the Bible. When I first began, I could preach topical sermons - really well at times. But now, I struggle with it.
Today I'll read every word Jesus ever spoke that's recorded in the Scriptures as I pray about a series on "The Red Letters" which will probably come mostly from the Sermon on the Mount and if it goes well, the parables. I'm also looking at the book of Romans and for Wednesday nights (we're through with Numbers) whether to continue into Deuteronomy or skip it.
By tomorrow, I hope to have clear direction and begin serious prep work for whatever God leads me to do. Pray with me that I'll be a willing vessel for His awesome Truth.
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