Karen’s Sunday Message

My wife spoke at our home church on a recent Sunday. Our pastor was out of town. Her assigned text was John 15:1-8, where Jesus talks about Himself being the vine with us being the branches. A key response our Lord calls for is to remain or abide in Him.

In an early brainstorm group on the text, participants said they had no trouble understanding what Jesus was saying. Their problem was, in a busy schedule, how to do this. For Karen, this meant she wouldn’t have to use all that much message time explaining the text, because it’s not that hard for people to get their minds around. (Incidentally, surveys of ministers reveal that they normally spend most of their sermon time explaining their text.)

What was interesting to me was the quick admission that not only did most of those in the group say they weren’t very good at abiding in Christ, but they really weren’t sure how to do this. They assumed it meant spending more time meditating on Scripture, but hearing that general challenge from the pulpit would probably tend to make them feel guilty but not really help all that much.

Working with the group, Karen came up with some elementary goals such as thinking about where to find a quiet place they could go this week to spend a quality half-hour or hour just thinking and praying through one of several recommended Scripture passages (including John 15:1-8).

Her prayer is that in the weeks following her message, about 15% of the congregation will report back that they actually did this and whether or not they found it helpful. I’m rather curious to see what kind of feedback she gets over 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.

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