Learning Our Limits – Part 5: Seek God’s Will (continued…)

When Joan eventually had an audience with young Charles VII he decided to test her spiritual powers of perception. So he had one of his noblemen sit on his throne while he lost himself among the others of his court. George Bernard Shaw captures this historic moment in his play Saint Joan.

Young Joan is brought into the room. She’s dressed like a soldier. Her hair is bobbed, which causes the perfumed ladies in waiting to explode in almost uncontrollable laughter. But Joan explains, “I wear it like this because I am a soldier. Where be Dauphin?” (The word Dauphin refers to the prince or oldest son of the king. Charles is yet uncrowned.)

Young Bluebeard is pretending to be Charles. He’s twenty-five and is sporting the extravagance of a little curled beard dyed blue in this otherwise clean-shaven court. He responds somewhat condescendingly, “You are in the presence of the Dauphin.”

Joan looks him over quite carefully while everyone present watches in absolute silence. Then comprehending what’s going on, a smile lights up her face. “Coom, Bluebeard:” she chides. “Thou canst not fool me. Where be Dauphin?” And as laughter again breaks out, she looks over the group, makes a dive, grabs Charles by the arm, and drags him forward.

“Gentle little Dauphin,” she says, “I am sent to you to drive the English away from Orleans and from France, and to crown you king in the cathedral at Rheims, where all true kings of France are crowned”

Eventually, after more testing Joan was placed in charge of the king’ s troops. History records that she liberated the besieged city of Orleans in 1429. Before the battle, all the French soldiers were served Communion.

The World Book Encyclopedia says that Joan “defeated the English in four other battles. Twice she was wounded, but each time she recovered and went on fighting. Her orders were those of a military genius. She marched into the city of Rheims, where Charles was crowned King of France, with the Maid of Orleans standing at his side with sword and banner.”

Now Joan’s work was done and her visions ceased. Her desire was to return to her home. But Charles wouldn’t have it. There were many needs in his troubled world. Joan had performed incredibly well. Now further expectations were placed on her. The king convinced her to lead an attack on Paris, which was still under English control. The effort failed and she was wounded again.

Later, after being captured by French allies of the English, Joan was sold to the enemy for 16,000 francs. She was placed in prison and eventually put on trial as a witch and a heretic. Not yet out of her teens, she was burned at the stake, insisting to the very end that her visions and voices had come from heaven.

The story of Joan of Arc is a powerful reminder that we must know our limits and stick by them unless God makes it clear that He has other plans. I was in my fifties before I discovered I needed to set personal boundaries, so I’m not one to be critical of a teenager. But the illustration does prove helpful, especially in a discussion of survival skills.

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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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Learning Our Limits – Part 4: Seek God’s Will

It’s probably a good reminder to all of us that when we’re so busy we’re constantly shortchanging our time in prayer and God’s Word, whoever we are we need to make some adjustments. We need to get rid of some of the clutter of our hyperactive lives. Sometimes we have to say words like, “I’m honored that you’ve asked me to serve and I understand the need you’re talking about, but if I help I’ll shortchange higher spiritual priorities. So if I disappoint you, please understand that I must say no in order not to disappoint the Lord.”

Here’s something interesting I’ve discovered. Because someone feels God has led him or her to ask me to do something, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m supposed to say yes. The reverse is also true. When I sense God directing me to ask someone to do a job, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s God’s will for that man or woman to say OK.

God can direct a congregation to call a pastor and then whisper in that minister’s heart to say no to the invitation. The need or the request for help doesn’t always indicate God’s will.

The medieval Crusades I referred to earlier were a tremendous expenditure of time and money and energy. Some accomplished more than others, but most of the benefits were side effects, such as learning how to make better maps and ships that would eventually aid in the exploration of the new world The main goal of the Crusaders, to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims, went unrealized.

Some of the Crusades were fiascoes. When King Louis IX of France led the Seventh Crusade, the Turks surrounded his army, and he and his noblemen were freed only after the Christians paid a huge ransom.

The Children’s Crusade of 1212 was an utter tragedy. It involved two armies made up of boys and girls, most of whom were age twelve and under. They never reached the Holy Land. Many died of hunger, exposure, or as the result of other hardships. Some were sold as slaves or died at sea.

These events remind us of the dangers of getting too quickly involved in spiritual causes without first spending time talking to the Lord about them. And if possible, it’s always wise to consult with other mature believers as well.

Learning our limits. That’s an important survival skill. So when you do something well in an area of ministry, be aware that sooner or later other Christians may place expectations on you that go beyond what God has in mind. It’s important to stay close to the Lord. Your daily marching orders need to come from him.

A little over a hundred years after the last of the Crusades, there emerged in France the unique personage, Joan of Arc. Like most young women of that time, she could neither read nor write. But apparently she was learned in spiritual matters.

It was a dangerous day to be alive. The Hundred Years’ War was in process, and at this time much of France was under English rule. Young Joan, a peasant girl, felt commissioned by heaven to liberate her people. (To grasp the absurdity of such an idea, picture an uneducated American teenage girl asking to be made Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces!) But somehow this young woman began to capture the imagination of the French with her claims that God was directing her.

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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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Here is more really helpful information from Dr. Lori Carrell’s book Preaching That Matters:

 Sermon communication involves human interaction in which one person speaks and others listen. Quite obviously, preaching is a spoken act involving other people, yet the preparation for that activity is almost solitary and cerebral. My nationwide survey published in 2000 showed that fewer than 1 percent of preachers speak out loud during sermon preparation. Though that percentage has increased slightly in the past decade (especially among pastors seeking professional development), oral crafting of the sermon (talking out loud to bring clarity to ideas as the manuscript or outline is constructed) and oral rehearsal (speaking the sermon out loud start to finish prior to the preaching event) are still exceptionally rare practices among clergy. So, if you think and write in seclusion as you prepare for each publicly spoken sermon, you have lots of company.

In other public speaking contexts, the value of oral rehearsal is not in dispute, and consequently it is commonly recommended and practiced. In one study, my communication colleague Kent Menzel and I asked hundreds of college students at the University of Denver to document their speech preparation process in detail. Over thirty different preparation activities were carefully charted by the participants in that stud. When we analyzed all those types of preparation and the quality of the resulting speeches, only one activity predicted persuasive speech success. Though the speakers expected that time spent finding illustrations, outlining, “going over the speech in my head,” and constructing visual aids would make a significant difference, they were wrong. The one and only preparation activity that predicted success during the persuasive public speech was “oral rehearsal for another person.”

If you think those results are limited to students and would not be the same for experienced professionals—think again. In fact, the research specifically related to sermon preparation and transformative impact is also quite clear. Pastors participating in this study complete a week of communication training that includes receiving feedback from many sources. At the end of that week, they work with their coach to create a plan of action. For those preachers who change their preparation process to include oral crafting and rehearsal of the sermon, statistically significant changes in the transformative quality of their sermons have been documented. And importantly, the addition of oral editing and rehearsal does not increase overall sermon preparation time.

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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.

Share and Enjoy