Think Proactively Instead Of Reactively – Part 3

Anti-Establishment

For some years the little country of Israel had been buzzing with Messiah talk. Stories had been circulating for twenty to thirty years about a miracle child King Herod had tried to kill, but who had escaped unharmed.

This kind of Messiah talk always made the Roman forces edgy, even with their overwhelming military superiority.

I’m sure the Jewish leadership of the time saw this newcomer Jesus as youthful. They probably did not appreciate His criticism of their traditional values. In fact, over the months and years, the young Jesus became increasingly dangerous in the minds of the establishment.

But they couldn’t articulate an alternative vision that captured the fancy of the people. Yes, they had a power, of sorts, but there was no longer any magic in their words. They knew they were no match for Christ, especially when He demonstrated supernatural powers.

For the Sanhedrin to affirm His message would require changes few in their ranks were willing to make. Here was a glass ceiling they had no intention of breaking. Their bottom line, wealth, seemed to have little meaning to Jesus. What mattered to Him was love—love for God and love for others. Treating people the way you wanted them to treat you was what He advocated.

In a way, Jesus was a bit of a comic figure to the leaders of His day. He seemed so naive, so idealistic, so ignorant of politics and power. “Treat others the way you want them to treat you.” Anybody with the least amount of sense could figure out in an instant how to take advantage of that philosophy. This was especially true of the Romans.

There are eras when nothing changes, no matter what. Then there are times when change is in the air. You can sense it coming; it appears inevitable. This was one of those times.

What would happen? Obviously the Jewish religious system wasn’t working well, except for the pious few.

Good or bad, it wasn’t long before the Jewish Council members knew that Jesus was walking a different path than they were.

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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, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will 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 Saturday or 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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Think Proactively Instead Of Reactively – Part 2

The Ultimate Visionary

Maybe my •comments on U.S. politics will help you appreciate some of what was experienced by segments of the Jewish population in Jesus’ day. Of course, He was significantly younger than either of our present leaders. Jesus was only in His early thirties when He started campaigning for a change in leadership.

Jesus’ visionary presentation—His dream—was about a new kind of kingdom, or kingship. Christ was saying that for people to know a better world, they needed to willingly recognize Him as their rightful leader, or king. Wherever He went He talked about this kingship, or kingdom. In a most appealing manner, He said that it was to the advantage of His hearers to buy into what He was offering.

“The leaders you have now—when you’re in deep sorrow, when you mourn, do they comfort you? Is that what Herod does? No. But you’re blessed, my friends, because now you can come under my rule. Under my kingship, those who mourn are comforted. Watch how I live among you. My way of life verifies what I’m telling you.”

“Listen to Me, this is good news! Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness, for what’s right in the eyes of God? In Pilate’s hall of judgment, is that where you expect to find righteousness? You know better. But under My kingship, you’ll discover what you’re looking for. I’ll show you what’s right in God’s eyes. When I’m on the throne, you’ll be satisfied and blessed.

“You who are meek—yes, you, and you, ma’am—is it to your advantage to be meek under Caesar? Not really. But under My reign it’s the meek—yes, you—who will inherit the earth.”

Christ’s kingdom talk was electrifying! The Jewish population longed for the revealing of the anointed one of God, the great Jewish King who had been promised, their Messiah. That’s what the word Messiah means, “the anointed of God.” The word Christ means the same thing. It’s Greek for “the anointed one.” Christ and Messiah are synonyms. One is a Greek word, the other is Hebrew. If I say Jesus Christ, that means the same as Jesus Messiah, Jesus the anointed one.

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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, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will 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 Saturday or 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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Think Proactively Instead Of Reactively – Part 1

It seems as if it was not long ago that two young men, Bill Clinton and Al Gore, were voted into the top leadership positions of our United States government. They were the first of the Baby Boomers to become President and Vice-President. (Yet nearly twenty years have passed. And in those years, we have added two more Boomers in President George W. Bush and President Barack H. Obama.)

Back in 1992, some viewed these Boomer upstarts as youthful, inexperienced, and even dangerous. Others said change was needed, and these men were at least talking about the right kinds of dreams. Those voters agreed with the media, that President George H. W. Bush couldn’t articulate a vision. The incumbent was obviously frustrated by the accusation. What was wrong with “traditional family values”? That approach had worked well in 1988. But somewhere along the way those words apparently had lost their magic, and now they sounded outdated, right of center, and too narrow for many 1992 voters.

Maybe it was just one of those times when change was inevitable. On the world scene communism had collapsed. And the U.S. military had convinced everyone of its overwhelming superiority in the miracle-fast Gulf War.

So to many at home, it seemed like a good opportunity to try fresh approaches—approaches that would benefit more than just the so-called establishment. Now was the time, during this new period of peace, to reduce our spending, to favor the working people instead of the wealthy, and to look at global concerns such as ecology and world hunger.

Today the nation is seeing even more change, that’s for sure! Some of it is good; some is scary. But it’s certainly true that these Boomers have taken, and are taking, us down new paths.

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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, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will 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 Saturday or 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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Better Ammo

Because I still travel quite a bit, I’m sure I get to hear more different speakers than the average preacher would. For example, this past week I listened to six messages. That’s in addition to the two I delivered. Four were of average length and two were more in the 45-minute range.

I would characterize the two longer messages as rifle shots. The four that were shorter, surprisingly, were more like buckshot. Said differently, the two (though longer) were carefully developed ONE-POINT talks. Each time, the preacher carefully set up the subject and soon those present became totally engaged in listening to the content of the message.

Regarding the four shorter presentations, unfortunately they contained so many diverse points or ideas that, after a while, I sensed people gave up trying to follow what was being said or why. Because I was sitting where people could see me, I was polite and pretended to be more interested than I really was.

The final shorter talk stuck with a given topic, but there was so much information given—including far too many Bible passages—that soon the speaker tired his listeners and, I would say, lost them.

My observation was that the length of time was almost irrelevant. Clearly the rifle shot was more effective than the buckshot! What captured people was a carefully developed, single-point message that had great, life-changing power.

———————————————

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, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will 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 Saturday or 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

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