The following was one of my favorite few paragraphs in Dr. Lori Carrell’s new book Preaching That Matters:

 Given my respect for you as a member of the clergy, I’m uncomfortable saying what I’m about to say. However, as I report results of this research, I think it’s necessary to be straightforward. If your sermon communication content is going to be deeper, you are going to have to be deeper.

Depth isn’t something you can borrow from a source you find on a website. As a spiritual leader, you must go as far below the surface as possible. “Remote preparation” is an interesting term used by communication theorist Frank Dance for the sum total of life experience that contributes to speaker credibility and content depth.

For example, when Jane Goodall talks about chimpanzees, I listen differently than I do to a first-year college student who haltingly quotes from Goodall’s work. Speakers who live and breathe their subject matter are deeper.

No matter where you are in your development, pursuing greater and greater spiritual depth is necessary if you are to lead the spiritual journeys of others. You have to think and feel deeply, allowing your faith to seep further into your spirit with every passing day.

I imagine that most who are reading this book have rich spiritual lives, yet few if any of us would claim to be so wise that we are beyond the need for further spiritual growth.

 ———————————————

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

Guarding Self-Respect – Part 13: Readings – 4

Consider the mighty ways in which God used a dead stick of wood “God so used a stick of wood” can be a banner cry for each of us. Though we are limited and weak in talent, physical energy and psychological strength, we are not Jess than a stick of wood. But as the rod of Moses had to become the rod of God, so that which is me must become the me of God. Then, I can become useful in God’s hands. The Scripture emphasizes that much can come from little if the little is truly consecrated to God There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people. The problem for each of us is applying this truth to ourselves: Is Francis Schaeffer the Francis Schaeffer of God?

No Little Places

But if a Christian is consecrated, does this mean he will be in a big place instead of a little place? The answer, the next step, is very important: As there are no little people in God’s sight, so there are no little places. To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him—this is the creature glorified. In my writing and lecturing I put much emphasis on God’s being the infinite reference point which integrates the intellectual problems of life. He is to be this, but he must be the reference point not only in our thinking but in our living. This means being what he wants me to be, where he wants me to be.

Nowhere more than in America are Christians caught in the twentieth-century syndrome of size. Size will show success. If I am consecrated, there will necessarily be large quantities of people, dollars, etc. This is not so. Not only does God not say that size and spiritual power go together, but he even reverses this (especially in the teaching of Jesus) and tells us to be deliberately careful not to choose a place too big for us. We all tend to emphasize big works and big places, but all such emphasis is of the flesh. To think in such terms is simply to hearken back to the old, unconverted, egoist, selfcentered Me. This attitude, taken from the world, is more dangerous to the Christian than fleshly amusement or practice. It is the flesh.

_________________________
No Little People, Francis A. Schaeffer, InterVarsity Press, pages 17-18.

——————————————–

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

Guarding Self-Respect – Part 12: Readings – 3

“July 25th somethin’ happen’d. I was a tobarker stemmerdat is, I took de tobarker leaf an’ tor’d de stem out, an’ dey won’t no one in dat fact’ry could beat me at dat work. But dat momin’ de stems wouldn’t come out ter save me, an’ I tor’d up tobarker by de poun’ an’ flung it un’er de table.

“Fac is, bruthr’n, de darkness uv death wnz in my soul dat momin’. My sins was pile’ on me like mount’ns; my feet wuz sinkin’ down ter de reguns of despar, an’ I felt dat uv all sinners I wuz de wust. I tho’t dat I would die right den, an’ wid what I suppose’ wuz my Iars’ breath I flung up to heav’n a cry for mercy. Befo’ I kno’d it, de light broke; I wuz light as a feather; my feet wuz on de mount’n; salvation roll’ like a flood through my soul, an’ I felt as if I could knock off de factory roof wid my shouts.

“But I sez to myse’f, ‘John Jasper, you gotta hoi’ still til dinner.’ So, I cried, an’ laughed, an’ tor’d up tobarker, and flung it un’ er der table.

“Pres’ntly, I looked up der table an’ dar wuz a old man—he love me, and tried hard ter lead me out de darknes’. So I slip roun’ ter whar he wuz, an’ I sez in his ear, low as I could, ‘Hallelujah; my soul is redeemed!’ Den I jump back quick ter my work.

“But afer I once open my mouf it wuz hard ter keep it shet eny mo’. ‘Twan’ long befo’ I looked up der line agin, an’ dar wuz a good ol’ ’oman dar dat knew all my sorrers an’ had been prayin’ fer me all de time. Dar wuz no use er talkin’; I had ter tell her, an’ so I skip along up quiet as a breeze an’ start ter whisper in her ear, but jes’ den de holin’-back straps uv Jasper’s breechin’ broke an’ what I tho’t would be a whisper wuz loud enuf ter be hearn clean ’cross Jeems river ter Manchester. One man sed he tho’t de factory wuz fallin’ down. All I know’d wuz I had raise my fus’ shout ter de glory uv my Redeemer.”

[“De holin’-back straps broke” is a good description. In a moment, the factory was filled with Jasper’s shouts and the prayerful hallelujahs of Christian friends.]

“But fer one thing thar would er been a jin’ral revival in de fact’ry dat momin’. Dat one thing wuz de overseer. He bulged inter de room an’, wid a voice dat sounded like he had his breakfus’ dat momin’ on rasps an’ files, bellowed out: ‘What’s all dis row ’bout?’ Somebody shouted out dat John Jasper done got religion. But dat didn’t wurk ’tall wid de boss. He tell me ter git back ter my table, an’ as he had somethin’ in his han’ dat look ugly, it wuz no time fer makin’ fine p’ints. So I sed: ‘Yes, suh, I will; I ain’t meant no harm. De fus’ taste of salvation got de better uv me, but I’ll git back ter my wurk.’ An’ I tell you I got back quick.

“’Bout dat time, Marse Sam, he come out’n his orfis an’ he say, ‘What’s de matter out here?’ An’ I hear de overseer tellin’ him ‘John Jasper kick up a fuss an’ say he done got religion, but I done fix him an’ he got back ter his table.’

“De devil tell me ter hate de overseer dat mornin’, but de luv uv God wuz rolin’ through my soul, an’ somehow I didn’t min’ what he sed.

“Little art’r I hear Marse Sam tell de overseer he wan’ ter see Jasper. Marse Sam wuz a good man. He wuz a Baptis’, an’ one uv de haid men uv de ole Fus’ Church down here. So I wuz glad wen I hear Marse Sam say he wan’ ter see me. Wen I git in his orfis he say, ‘John, wat wuz de matter out dar jes’ now?’ His voice wuz sof like, an’ it seem’d ter hav a little song in it which play inter my soul like an angel’s harp. I sez ter him: ‘Marse Sam, did I ever give you eny trouble?’

“He look at me wid water in his eyes, an’ he say, ‘No, John, you never did.’ Den I broke ter cryin’ an’ sez ter him: ‘Marse Sam, ever since de fourth uv July I been cryin’ after de Lord—an’ jes’ now, out dar at de table, Gord took my sins ’way an’ set my feet on a rock. I didn’t mean ter make no noise, Marse Sam, but befo’ I know’d it de fires broke out in my soul an’ I jes’ let go one shout ter de glory uv my Savior.’

“Marse Sam wuz settin’ wid his eyes a little down ter de flo’, an’ wid a pretty quiver in his voice he say very slow: ‘John, I b’leve dat way myse’f. I love de Savior dat you have jes’ foun’ an’ I wan’ to tell you dat I do’n complain ’cause you make de noise you did.’

“Den Marse Sam did a thing dat nearly made me drop ter de flo’. He git out uv his chair an’ walk over ter me an’ give me his han’, an’ he say: ‘John, I wish you mighty well. Your Savior is mine, an’ we are brothers in de Lord.’ Wen he say dat I turn ’roun an’ put my arm agin de wall, an’ put my fis’ in my mouf ter keep from shoutin’.

“Marse Sam well know de good he done us. After awhile he say, ‘John, did you tell any uv dem in thar ’bout your conversion?’ An’ I say, ‘Yes, Marse Sam; I tell ’em befo’ I know’d it, an’ I feel like tellin’ ever’body in de worl’ ’bout it.’ Den he say: ‘You may tell it. Go back in dar an’ go up an’ down de table en’ tell all uv dem. An’ den if you wan’ to, go upstars an’ tell dem all ’bout it, an’ den go downstars an’ tell de hogshead men an’ de drivers an’ ever’body wat de Lord has done for you.’

“By dis time Marse Sam’s face wuz rainin’ tears, an’ he say: ‘John, you needn’ wurk no mo’ terday. I give you holiday. Afer you git through tellin’ it here at de fact’ry, go up ter de house an’ tell your mother; go roun’ ter your neighbors an’ tell dem; go enywhere you wan’ ter an’ tell de good news. It’ll do you good, do dem good, an’ help ter honor your Lord an’ Savior.’

“Afer awhile Marse Sam lif’ up dem kin’ black eyes uv his an’ say: ‘Keep tellin’ it, John! Fly like an angel, John, and wherever you go, tell it!’

“O happy day! Can I ever fergit it? Dat wuz my conversion mornin’, an’ dat day de Lord sen’ me out wid de good news uv de Kingdom. Fer mo’ dan sixty years I’se been tellin’ de story.“

_________________________
Rhapsody in Black, Richard Ellsworth Day, The Judson Press, pages 56-58.

——————————————–

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

Guarding Self-Respect – Part 11: Readings – 2

God Gave Me His Name

I am a light
I am His bride
An heir to His Kingdom
His cross at my side
I am His friend
A son and a saint

Anointed with love and mercy and grace
I will stand tall
And carry no shame
When I remember
God gave me His name.

Looking down at the ground
Shadows around me are all I see
They accuse and abuse
Stealing my value
Whispering lies to me

His name will move mountains
And shake up a kingdom with its power and authority
Though I am poor, though weak and afraid
I’ll hold my head high
And remember His name
Is my name.

_________________________
“God Gave Me His Name,” Christine Wyrtzen, Loveland Music, Copyright © May 1992.

——————————————–

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