At Circle Church, the more we explored the adoration of God and familiarized ourselves with His qualities, the more we discovered about Him.

For instance, my background has always taught me that God is Creator. This is true, but it is only a partial extension of the total. God’s very essence is creativity and the creation is only one small outworking of His creativity. The source of man’s true creative expression is rooted in the nature of God. And, the Christian finds more and more creativity available to him or her as he or she aligns himself or herself with the Godhead.

This particular discovery was amplified in worship one morning as the choir sang from the rear of the hail, “How Great Thou Art.” The words to this hymn are overly familiar, but they were lent added depth and meaning when another sensory impression was added. One of our professional photographers had prepared a slide presentation which illustrated the words:

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power through all the universe displayed.

The photographer had earned his degree in cinematography from the University of Southern California, so anything he does in the visual realm is well done. The slides illustrated beautifully the measure and beauty of God’s creativity—from the minute to the grandiose.

We were very pleased with the growth of the choir and their increasing ability in a wide range of styles. Even so, there were rare occasions when certain songs could not be performed by them due either to the shortness of practicing time, or the lack of specific instrumentalists or even expertise. At such times we found that the utilization of recordings proved most helpful.

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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 can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

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.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Music has traditionally been considered one of the foremost means of praise. At Circle Church, as we grew in our understanding of what God is like, we came to believe there is a noticeable lack in hymnology regarding certain of God’s attributes.

Much has been written about His being all-powerful, wise, and holy, but what about the fact that God is personal or unique (the only one of a kind) or absolute? On occasion, having spent great periods of time trying to discover songs that are proper for certain attributes, we finally had to resign the effort.

We were not above changing words, however. Often a hymn listed under the category “Worship” in hymnals does not really address itself to God but is more a testimony of what He has done. A typical readjustment might take place in the hymn

God is love, His mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove.
Bliss He wakes and woe He lightens.
God is wisdom. God is love.

In the change, the words become

You are love. Your mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove.
Bliss You wake and woe You lighten.
You are wisdom. You are love.

This may be considered nitpicking by some. But, the changes make the psychological differentiation between simply relating a friend’s good qualities to another person and actually telling that friend you appreciate his good qualities.

For example, you might say, ”John has the most loving spirit.” In contrast, you might say, “John, I appreciate so much your gentle spirit of love. It sustains me and buoys me, and there are days when I don’t know if I could go on without your thoughtfulness.”

Does this example help you understand the subtle difference in worship that is so often lacking? Consequently, at Circle Church we forced ourselves to address the words of praise directly to God rather than allowing ourselves to be satisfied with simply chatting to one another about Him.

If we had sung a song of testimony during that portion of the service we called The Approach to God in Worship, I believe a dozen people would have buttonholed me immediately after the service and want an explanation. I would have been glad for this. It would show they understood worship and appreciated it for what it is.

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Pastor, when “sermon prep day” rolls around each week, do you face the task of preparing another sermon with a frown on your face? If so, you’re not alone. Many pastors literally dread preparing their Sunday sermon. There just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. The good news: David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

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.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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At Circle Church we tried to make the prayers as meaningful as possible. During the Christmas season while praising God as a congregation that He is Love, I brought my three little children to the platform—Randall, Melissa, and baby Joel. Holding the fat little number two son in my arms, I began my prayer:

Father,

I come to You this morning a father like Yourself. I appreciate Your gift of these children to me. I love them very much.

If it were required of me to send any one of them to a world I knew ahead of time would be hostile and eventually demand their death, I would not do it. I consider myself to be a loving father.

You are a totally loving Father, and yet You were not like I am. You gave Your Son to a sinful world. I praise You for Your love to me and to my family and to all of us here that You did not act as I would have.

But that in love you sent Christ into the world…

One Sunday morning while Ka Tong was praising God for His wisdom and great understanding, a second person began to pray at the same time saying,

“God, I am pleased that You can hear many voices at one time. Obviously, people in the congregation will have difficulty sorting out the thoughts the two of us are expressing, but I know You won’t have such a problem. I praise You for Your wisdom…

As the dual prayer continued, the truth of God’s intelligence came vividly alive to the whole congregation. And, I believe God responded well to what was being prayed because we were demonstrating that we truly meant our praise.

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No matter what type of Sunday sermon you need to create, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

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.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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I’ve been asking different people, “What makes a sermon memorable?” Some of the answers I’ve received haven’t been all that helpful, such as, “A really attractive preacher!”

More to the point was the individual who responded, “To be memorable, the sermon should have a specific application regarding what’s expected of me, then maybe even e-mail reminders throughout the week.”

Re-said, for this individual, a sermon had staying power when the speaker spelled out clearly and precisely what was expected by way of response and this was followed up by e-mail reminders every couple of days.

To some ministers this may seem like overkill. Then again, I’m sure there are those in just about every congregation who would see this as extremely helpful and would probably testify later that such a sermon was truly memorable for them.

Let’s agree, anyway, that a sermon needs to touch where people are living. Then it should also call for a clear response. Those listening should be able to say, “The pastor wants me to ______________________.”

If there are those in the congregation who might not know how to meet such expectations, the message should also spell out ways this can be done. For example, being challenged to become “master handlers of God’s Word” won’t help new Christians who know very little about the Bible and its complexities plus ways to go about studying it. So, the minister has to come up with “spiritual baby-steps” and maybe even e-mail reminders to those who indicate they would find such prompts helpful.

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No matter what type of Sunday sermon you need to create, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

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.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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