Why Do We Have Church Anyway? – Part 26

January 7, 2011 by admin

The Episcopalian, Sam Shoemaker, defined the role of the pastor even more specifically as the playing coach, someone who, while trying to bring out the best in others, coaches from the hub of activity. He is extremely important, but he doesn’t do all the running and blocking and passing and play-calling.

When this philosophy and its implications are understood, we see the local church operating with the kind of precision maneuvers of a modern football team, where each man is alive to his exact function, yet there is great opportunity for spontaneity. If someone is sick in the church, there is no need to inform the chairman of the hospital visitation committee. Each member, aware of his unique gifts, knows when he should move to carry out his role. The same is true when an appeal is made for teachers, finances, flowers, etc.

As we move forward in this attitude, all those feelings so common to us before—”Do I have to?” “I did it last year.” “Get Someone else.”—begin to disappear. The man whose giving has for years kept the church solvent does not despair that he has led no one to the Lord, if this is not his gift. Nor does he begrudge being told of a financial need if contributing is one of his major roles.

It is now no, longer enough for me, as a pastor, to feel satisfied with a solitary display of my gift. My ministry must include assisting each one in our congregation to find expression for his particular gift or gifts, either within the framework of the organized church or beyond it.

My prayer time exemplifies this new attitude. My requests regarding members include a desire for wisdom to help each discover his spiritual potential and possible areas of service. Some need no help. Others, so accustomed to pew-sitting, present a greater challenge.

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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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Why Do We Have Church Anyway? – Part 25

January 6, 2011 by admin

God also speaks through the church to the outside world by means of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

FC_Dia_07_sm.jpg -- How the Local Church Functions

The natural gift to illustrate this concept is witnessing. For a long time I felt it imperative that we all speak to others about Christ. But now I believe that not everyone in the body has this specific gift. In fact, some Christian leaders have taken this difficult gift and tried to equate it solely with outreach. Is evangelism limited to “witnessing?”

What about acts of mercy, giving aid, hospitality? I believe there are many groups who will never be reached by our usual evangelistic efforts until some of the other gifts are exercised first. I am thinking of the hostility many blacks feel toward white culture, which even extends to what they have termed the “white Jesus.” It had been our experience at Circle Church that the simple gift of hospitality had to be extended to the people of our neighborhood before we ever had opportunity to exercise that more difficult gift—verbalizing our faith.

This concept of the church ministering through each member as he or she is empowered by the Holy Spirit greatly alters the role of the pastor. In his book, Company of the Committed, Elton True blood compares the minister’s position to that of a coach in charge of helping each player develop to the fullest of his potential for the sake of the team.

In Ephesians 4:11-12, a comma, which many scholars agree should never have been added, clouds the meaning of an important passage. It should read, “And his gifts were that some should be…pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints [no comma] for the work of ministry.”

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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.

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

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Overexposure

January 5, 2011 by admin

Some preachers make the mistake of getting so involved in the earlier parts of a service that by sermon time, people are already somewhat tired of their upfront presence. This results in the congregation losing interest in what’s preached sooner than they normally would. The minister who begins speaking for the first time with the start of the sermon has a much better chance of keeping people’s attention.

I don’t know why certain ministers feel the need to lead the call to worship, read the Scriptures, say the prayers, make the announcements, even involve themselves in the music elements, but it’s not all that uncommon to observe places where this is happening.
What this is called is overexposure. With film, it’s exposure to excessive light. In the church, it’s excessive exposure to a given personality.

Maybe I’m describing what happens in your setting. Can I suggest that you make one of your goals for next year to get others involved in some of these roles?

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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.

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

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Why Do We Have Church Anyway? – Part 24

January 4, 2011 by admin

Because Circle Church had an unusually young congregation, we were not as proficient with the business of incorporation and finances as a more experienced group would have been. After hobbling along for months, these affairs were finally taken in hand by a newer arrival, who soon had the administrative areas functioning smoothly and who transformed our financial tangles into a machine humming with proficiency.

Upon thanking him profusely for his willing assistance, I was taken aback when he looked me straight in the eye and replied, “Don’t thank me. I’m just doing my part in the body through the gifts God has given me.” When the people in your congregation start preaching your sermons back to you, you know your message is getting across.

Another illustration of how people within the body minister to one another through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how the pur poses of the local church are intertwined will prove helpful at this point.

Largely through the experience of interacting, Circle Church stumbled on the fact that it is virtually impossible for sensitive Christians to hear a brother articulating a need without trying to fill that need.

Having confessed in an interaction group one Sun day morning that the biggest obstacle she faced toward establishing regular devotions was the responsibilities of being a wife and mother, one woman was overwhelmed when her doorbell rang three times that week with separate offers from three individuals to help wash down the cupboards, mend clothes, and iron laundry.

Without the interaction none would have known her need, but when the need was shared, body ministry began to occur spontaneously throughout the congregation. These ladies were ministering as certainly with their gifts as I do with mine.

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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.

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

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