When Mel Warren first came on the staff at Circle Church, it was often difficult to ascertain his true feelings toward the rest of us. He was vocal on the black issue and how it related to the Christian church or to social concern, but the short time together hadn’t given us a personal knowledge of one another.

One afternoon Mel returned from a speaking trip out of state. On the plane he had fallen into conversation with his seat companion—What is your job? Where do you live?—that sort of thing. The businessman was so moved by Mel’s account of his work in the inner city that he extended a hundred dollar bill at the end of the trip.

Mel split the money five ways. He gave a portion to each of us. From that point on we had no more question about Mel. We reasoned that when a Bible school student, whose wife is working to put him through school, shares a windfall of that proportion, he must feel as intensely about you as you do about him!

At this point, I am in my middle thirties, but this is my first pastorate. I wonder if I could have endured the strain of this honest relationship five years later in life. As individual members of a staff, we are deliberately choosing to submit ourselves to the authority of the group. I am extremely grateful the team concept happened at Circle Church when it did.

Often after our confrontations, Al prays, “Thank you, God, for the luxury of the staff.” One afternoon our district superintendent dropped by the office on a Tuesday, staff day. He was amazed at the openness and stated that he wished every church staff could be this same way. He didn’t know the half of it! Because of his presence, we were all on particularly good behavior!

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Whether you need to create a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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For years now I have been carefully listening to sermons from all kinds of preachers. Many of these messages I heard while sitting in pews, folding-chairs, stadium seats, whatever. Others I listened to in my car or watched at home on television. I have also attended more than my share of national conferences where the “best of the best” have spoken. I’ve even analyzed sermons from past pulpiteers I’ve read in books.

An odd question I have been attempting to settle in my own mind relates to the transformational aspect of what’s been preached. Did the message result in changed lives? One conclusion I have come to is that sermons with one main point are usually more effective than sermons with more than one main point.

I’m not saying that one-point preachers are better than two- or three-pointers. It could be that the effectiveness of a given sermon is as dependent on the listener as it is the speaker. But the countless questions I’ve asked of laypeople through the years convinces me that they pay close attention when a sermon has just one point, they remember longer what was said, and they are more likely to incorporate the given truth into their lives.

This observation may not seem all that earth-shattering. I make the point, however, because the majority of sermons to which I’m exposed still have more than one point!

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Whether you need to create a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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So before reaching our second birthday at Circle Church, there were five of us on staff—three full-time, two part-time; three whites, one black, one Oriental—myself, Ka Tong Gaw, Larry Mayfield, Al Nestor, and Mel Warren.

I had always envisioned the benefits of a team effort. I am wary of the concept that says God speaks exclusively through one individual whom he chooses. Although I do believe that this happens at times, it seems to me to be fraught with inherent dangers.

We all know Christian leaders, over-impressed with their own grandeur, who refuse to submit to the advice and direction of workers holding lesser positions. So enamored of their own individual works are some, that the Spirit of God is no longer with them. It appeared to me that the team concept was a natural safeguard against the insidious power complexes that people in places of authority often experience.

My concept of a team was that of a whole containing equal parts. All of us would be called “pastor,” with each man having differing areas of responsibility. I once asked a minister with whom I worked if he believed in a team effort. His reply was, “Yes.” But, I soon discovered that his idea of a team was that of one big chief who set all the policy, made all the decisions, and then ordered all the little chiefs to carry out his desires.

It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of this genuine team concept we implemented at Circle Church. It was made possible both by the willingness of our congregation to forgo a building and by the help of outsiders interested in a city ministry.

Let it also be made abundantly clear that the relationships were not easy. In some ways, our personalities were diametrically opposed to each other. We were very strong individuals who were learning to attain an atmosphere of complete honesty with one another, having established a precedent which allowed someone to say, “I disagree.”

For example, I learned that a southside Chicago African-American Christian has very strong views about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he is not going to be swayed by my ideas, especially when I admit to ungrounded biases or a lack of reading.

I discovered from Ka Tong that a Filipino regards what I term “American generosity” as American imperialism. We have hassled over such issues as abortion, pacifism (Ka Tong heatedly charged Al once with being a draft dodger, and that evening felt so chagrined he drove to Al’s home asking forgiveness), students’ rights, eternal security, who is a good Board member, whether to use hand clapping in the morning service, salaries—in short, just about everything!

These heated, volatile exchanges could easily have blown us apart, but we learned when to force ourselves to pray, and in those still, precious moments we remembered our common cause.

A rare camaraderie formed, and we now all had the courage to be ourselves before one another. We had developed the patience to try to understand and the desire to love and learn. None of us is the same as when we first met. We are all better men for the interaction and continued to be because that often painful process did not stop.

We learned that unity in Christ doesn’t mean that people have to be identical. It means we can be united in spite of our differences. We experienced in microcosm what we wish the total congregation could know in this depth.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help you learn how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.

For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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As time passed, it became apparent to me that an African-American would be needed on the staff if we were really to do anything significant. My background had left me woefully ill-equipped to deal with these intricately difficult conditions.

The first time Karen and I invited the Cuff family for dinner, we visited Lincoln Park Zoo with all the kids before returning home together for the meal. Since we parked the car by the rear courtyard, we naturally went in the back door. I’ve had no history of being compelled to use back doors because the occupants of homes or businesses considered me to be socially inferior, but Abraham has. It was not until much later that we realized what a social gaff this had been. Fortunately, Abraham entered the front door enough after that to realize we didn’t care which entrance he used, only that he came.

I have been stretched and opened since we first began this inner-city phase of our ministry. My contacts with African-American pastors and social workers and ghetto dwellers have been multiple.

Karen privately conducted an intense study on the causes and structure of poverty, but there are still innuendos and implications which are beyond both of us because we have never experienced the humiliations. I have come to the conclusion that there are many things 1 will never be able to understand because I am not black. I must simply accept them because my black friends say that they are so.

Our congregation was very open to hiring an African-American man. Because we were so young, much of the prejudice and inhibitions an older group might have demonstrated in the late 1960’s simply did not exist, or if they did, were being dealt with by the individuals who held them. We wanted an integrated church. That seemed to be one of the distinct advantages of an urban work—the possibility of ministering to different races.

So Ka Tong, Larry, and I began looking for a new partner in ministry. We talked to several fellows of varying ages and soon began to realize that finding a qualified man, evangelical in his theology, who is truly black in a conceptual sense, was not the easiest task in the world. The details were all covered with each applicant—salary, vacations, expenses, etc.—and when each one left, we would all laugh together knowing that though we talked big, there were really no funds to begin with.

It was Larry who came into the office one day and said, “There is a young black in his last year at Moody who is quite militant. His name is Mel Warren, and maybe we ought to talk to him.” Mel came for the interview, his hair curling tightly into a natural, and wearing a. dashiki. His awareness of the problems of his people had been developed through experience and study. After he shared his experience of finding God while stationed with the Air Force in Spain, he expressed his sincere present desire to serve Christ.

There was no question in our minds but what we had found the person for whom we were looking. The big question was how we were going to underwrite a part-time salary.

Our funds were low and some of our regular givers had just transferred to the Zion Church, making it necessary, therefore, to raise the money from outside sources. Again, we began praying and making contacts, and within four weeks the support had been raised. Our congregation approved of Mel. The only static seemed to come from Larry, who wondered if our new staff member would please cooperate and grow some “soul” sideburns.

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You can learn how to develop highly relevant Sunday sermons that grab the attention of your congregation and help your listeners respond effectively to the deep truths of God’s Word. David Mains and Mainstay Ministries have a whole range of helpful solutions. Do you need to prepare a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon? You can find help on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.

For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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