I spent the better part of the last two weeks helping edit a book by my close friend K.P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia. Occasionally he asks me to do this because English is not his first language.

K.P. is a marvelous preacher. He’s also a strong writer. As I worked on his new manuscript, I would say that it is next to impossible for a reader to miss what K.P. feels is important. He writes with passion about the plight of the Dalits, the untouchables of India, and especially about their children. For some 3000 years these hundreds of millions of people have been little more than slaves to their upper-caste masters.

In the past decade, K.P.’s mission organization has established schools where now some 60,000 Dalit children are being educated and taught about Jesus. The results have been spectacular. His goal is to raise that number to a half a million, and he wants his readers to prayerfully wrestle with whether or not they sense the Lord challenging them to help in this strategic effort.

His book paints an incredible picture of the need, but also of the great joy that comes to those who become sponsors. By the last page, readers know they need to make a decision one way or the other.

This is what effective communication does. Relating this specifically to preaching, I believe that a good sermon presents the case for living Christ-like in a given manner, explains clearly what that involves, and then encourages people to take the necessary steps to get there.

Here’s a good question to ask yourself as you put your next message together. What part of my sermon do I think is important for my people to wrestle with, not only while I am preaching, but during the week that follows as well? If nothing comes to your mind, or you have to admit your answer is rather feeble, you probably won’t be preaching a sermon that will be thought about for very long!

———————————————

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.

Share and Enjoy

A simple prayer may fittingly introduce the sermon. For example:

“God, we have been praising You to the best of our ability, and we trust that You will accept what we have done as a sincere expression of our feelings, thoughts, and convictions. Now help us as we listen to You speak to us through our pastor as he opens Scripture. Give us insight into Your truth and a desire to apply it to our lives. Amen.”

Again, whatever is used during this time must result in a positive reply to the question: “Is this a means by which the congregation can be better prepared at this point to comprehend the message I am going to give?”

Properly and carefully preparing an audience for a lecture is about as basic to good programming as one can get. Yet, it is amazing how little this primary knowledge is applied. The countless situations where a congregation moves into a message cold are unbelievable.

Once, many years ago, I was invited to speak in a very fine suburban church. My sermon dealt with the dynamic principle of Christians being a third force of reconciliation in our divided American society. I shared words of Christ that I felt related to war, poverty, and racial division. It was a vital and pertinent message! Before I spoke, however, a dear lady sang about flowers and birds—pastoral allusions that even by the wildest stretch of imagination had no bearing whatsoever on what I was saying. It is this kind of ludicrous contrast that careful planning seeks to prevent.

———————————————

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.

Share and Enjoy

As we planned worship services at Circle Church, many times we found secular sources to be especially effective. Scripted readings from the week’s newspaper columns dramatically amplified the dilemma of man. Phrases of contemporary writers poignantly displayed the despair felt in today’s world.

While preaching on the millennial reign of Christ and that eventual Utopia He will establish, the topic of mankind’s historic yearning for a perfect place was introduced by reading portions from a Time magazine editorial on Utopia which had appeared the preceding week. In fact, three members of the congregation who had read the preparation assignment in the bulletin had called to tell me about the editorial.

Since so much of our younger generation moves to the prevailing mood of music, even secular pieces can help to prepare a congregation for the theme of the sermon. A few phrases from Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love,” played from a recording provided a perfect bridge to this sermon opening statement:

“My theme relates to the often-heard request of today’s world. Much of popular music is emphatically stating that the world is starved for love. My emphasis today is: ‘Christ repeatedly taught that His followers should demonstrate an attitude of love for others.’”

Of course, we much more regularly employed sacred music as a sermon introduction, including congregational hymns, choir, solos, etc. The general message of music used just before the message should be, “Having worshiped God, we are now anxious to hear Him speak to us. Let us open our understanding to His truth.”

———————————————

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.

Share and Enjoy

God Speaking Through His Written Word

The second part of our morning service we have entitled “God Speaking Through His Written Word.” While many ministers limit the impact of what they have to say to preaching, at Circle Church we felt that the entire middle part of the service should emphasize the main thrust.

Therefore, in preparation, we ask, “How during this time can we (1) best prepare the congregation for the sermon, and (2) at its conclusion underscore what has been said through the use of a different tool?” Here’s some of what we learned in answering these questions, week after week.

Preparation of the Congregation. While preaching on the fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel, I felt it was necessary for the people to attain a feeling of the grandeur of ancient Babylon in order to understand Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and subsequent humbling by God. This story was being used to illustrate the main thrust, “Those who walk in arrogance, God is able to abase; but when we are humble in our attitude toward Him, God is pleased.”

After the worship and just prior to the sermon, we presented a brief filmstrip on “Babylon’s Glory,” which conveyed information pertinent to the topic and in a far more appealing way than I could ever have done verbally. I began the sermon not only with the enlightened understanding of the people, but with their interest as well. In preparation for that Sunday, the usual question was asked: “After the time of worship is there an additional way to prepare the congregation for the sermon?”

If the biblical text is narrative, the various parts can be scripted for different voices, such as Luke’s account of the wise men questioning Herod about the birth of a baby king. Contrast this type of communication to the normal pattern of beginning a sermon by reading the text.

———————————————

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.

Share and Enjoy