“I was glad when they said unto me…” – Part 8

One of the normal ways in which we can praise God is prayer. At Circle Church, we stipulated that if prayer was to be used during the time of worship, it must not drift into requests. Rather, it must stay centered on crediting God for His exceptional qualities.

Such praying should be very stimulating. We were in considerable agreement that most of the worship prayers intoned in the churches of our backgrounds were unplanned, uninteresting, and probably unheard by the people. We seriously doubted if they constituted worship at all. Quite possibly God wasn’t all that taken up with them either!

Somehow the sententious drone was a signal to tune out—to make a fast prediction on the score of the afternoon football game or mentally to serve the Sunday meal to waiting guests.

At Circle Church we wanted to make legitimate expressions of our deep appreciation to God for who and what He is. Therefore, the invocation, far from being thrown together, represented insight and thoughtfulness. It was not unusual for a staff member without a preaching assignment to spend an hour or two in writing the invocation.

In this example, you will note that the prayer doesn’t include requests. It centers totally on praising God for who He is.

Father, the cry of our country from thinking people is not for law and order but for justice. Justice only reigns where mandates are fair, enforcement is adequate, and capable people sit in judgment. Admittedly, our laws fall short. More offenders escape detection than are arrested. And today, judicial halos come tainted.

We praise You, Father, that Your commands favor no lobbying interest group. As Christians we admire Your wisdom that establishes guidelines for us that protect the freedom of individuals without endangering society. We are pleased to know that nothing escapes Your attention and that someday, as reigning Sovereign of the Universe, You will bring all to light. We honor You further by stating that we believe You to be an omnipotent God who is capable of enforcing your judgments; and these will be fair because You are omniscient.

You know not only the transgression but the background of the transgressor. You are infinitely just. No greater justice can be imagined.

We worship You. And unlike any other judge, You not only punish the offender, You reward the righteous.

Thank You. Amen

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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. 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 was glad when they said unto me…” – Part 7

The Approach to God in Worship

As I stated in previous blog posts, the morning service at Circle Church was built around a purpose sentence which was carefully written by whoever was scheduled to preach. In a single statement this captures the thrust of the sermon.

A characteristic, or attribute, of God was then chosen which corresponded with the selected emphasis. The choice of this attribute was extremely important because the entire first part of the service would be centered on that specific attribute.

For example, if the purpose sentence was “Building on the foundation of obedience to Christ’s teachings will result in stability during life’s storms,” the attribute chosen would probably have been that God is trustworthy.

Here’s another example. To emphasize God’s jealousy fits the purpose sentence from the Jonah story: “With grand designs for this world, God assigns exceptional abilities to His stewards and jealously expects these favors to be used by them in accomplishing His purpose!”

I will plan to share with you in a future blog post a list of God’s qualities for which He most certainly deserves our praise.

As the ingredients for the first third of the Sunday morning service were planned, we would ask ourselves, “In what way can we, as a congregation, best express to God our appreciation for this specific attribute? How do we attribute worth to (worship) God that He is by nature just, or holy, or everywhere present, etc?” If any unsuspecting member happened by the office during a staff meeting, he or she was often commandeered to share ideas with us. It was also not unusual for dinner guests to be asked, “If you wanted to praise God that He is love, how would you go about it?”

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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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“I was glad when they said unto me…” – Part 6

When the staff of Circle Church was all together on Tuesday, we would analyze the previous week’s service, examining carefully the integral whole, critiquing the sermon, stating what we felt was meaningful and what was not and why.

Then, we would begin to build the service for the following Sunday. The purpose sentence of the sermon was shared along with the general direction the sermon was to take. We would discuss whether the attribute of God which had been chosen was consistent with the theme which was to be preached. In our Saturday meeting we would check final assignments for the service, as well as listen to the sermon.

Before developing any further the exciting discoveries we have experienced in worship, it will be important for me to reiterate one point and to emphasize another.

First, we have clearly defined worship as “attributing worth to God.” Second, we chose a general three-part pattern for the morning service:

  • The Approach to God in Worship
  • God Speaking Through His Written Word
  • The Response of Obedience.

But, we were not inflexible in that form. If we needed to accomplish something that did not fit into this pattern on a given Sunday morning, we had no hesitancy in abandoning the outline and substituting a more appropriate format. The worst trap we could have fallen into would have been moving out of an inflexible traditionalism only to create a locked-in system of our own!

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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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“I was glad when they said unto me…” – Part 5

To assist our congregation at Circle Church in further grasping the thrust of each sermon, whoever preached tried to have an assignment printed in the bulletin on the preceding Sunday. It might have been a selected Scripture to read at home, or a mental exercise, such as thinking through the difference between happiness and joy. It might have involved discussing with a friend certain attitudes toward revenge. Here’s one example of a typical bulletin assignment:

Next Sunday Pastor Mains will preach from 1 Peter 5:8, 9 on what to do in the teeth of temptation. What temptation most repeatedly troubles you? As you face it this coming week, analyze and list the efforts you make to overcome it.

Often during the week, someone would call the church office asking what the assignment was, as they were unable to attend on Sunday. In all, I would estimate that about one-fourth of the people actually did what was requested—not as many as we would have liked, but 25 percent more than would usually be prepared if no assignment had been given.

I have already described in previous blog posts the process by which the whole staff at Circle Church helped to prepare the sermon. As far as the service was concerned, two jobs remained prior to the Tuesday staff meeting: to pick a fitting bulletin cover from the undated supply on hand, and to decide what attribute or characteristic of God best matches the purpose and emphasis of the sermon.

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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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