This past week, I visited a church I’ve never attended before. I’ve driven by it many times, but never gone inside. The sanctuary was larger than I expected and breathtakingly beautiful. The pews were filled even though this was the second of three Sunday morning services.

To the speaker’s credit, he had a great voice, and at times he was quite funny. He also involved the congregation in his presentation, and as a storyteller I would give him an “A.” I also credit him for clearly stating what his overall subject was. You would have to have been asleep to have missed it. He also worked at making people feel good about being in church.

On the negative side, he failed to open the Scripture, and he came nowhere near identifying what I would call a text. I thought about what kind of response his sermon might be calling for, but I couldn’t come up with one. Maybe that’s why he didn’t make any kind of suggestions or “How To’s.”

As I left the sanctuary, I asked myself, “What was that all about?” The best conclusion I could come up with was that this minister had a great need to be liked and he truly was a nice, articulate, happy person.

Will I ever go back? No! I need something more than a nice, articulate, congenial storyteller! I believe, above all else, that people attend church because they want to encounter God and to hear a word from Him.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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Every pastor feels the relentless demand for new sermons. Sometimes Sundays seem like they happen every three days instead of every seven. Preach “a winner” this weekend, and before you know it, another one needs to be ready. How did our predecessors make it when they regularly preached on Sunday nights as well as on Sunday mornings?

Would you believe that for parishioners, what often seems unrelenting is the persistent challenge to be more and to do more, spiritually speaking? It’s like there’s a pitiless prodding for them to be dedicated to Christ and His Church in so many ways that, after a while, they just can’t keep up. There aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to accomplish what following Jesus apparently requires. “Not another sermon, please. I’m still working on the demands from the one you preached a month back about Jesus’ concern for the poor and the powerless!”

So what’s the balance point between this relentless demand for new and challenging sermons vs. the presented expectation for our hearers to be more Christ-like and to do more Kingdom-wise?

This tension only finds a solution when pastors and church members are consistently in dialog about what’s being heard, how quickly it’s being absorbed, and how much time is needed to put the truth and the expectations of sermons into practice. Are you regularly feeling your people out regarding how they are doing?

Are they showing signs of spiritual exhaustion? Do they need a month of sermons that are little more than “nice going, gang”? And what about an “I’m proud of you” message every so often?

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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A Methodist church I visited for the first time this past Sunday prayed during their worship service for Nigeria’s stolen girls. I’m sure you have been following this sad story. The fanatical Muslim group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria, and as of this writing, the majority of them are still missing.

I have attended a number of church services since this story first broke on April 15th, but this was the first time I heard what’s been happening ever mentioned by someone on a Sunday morning. It was the high point of the service, as far as I was concerned. This was the worldwide Church of Christ being His Body in a truly compassionate manner.

I have had a keen interest in this tragedy because I had the privilege of being part of a missions documentary that was filmed in Nigeria a little over a year ago. Since being there, one of my key Nigerian cameramen has died. Nigeria is Africa’s most-populous country, and probably the most like America in many ways.

I have not included mention of the stolen girls in my Soundbytes because I write those a week ahead of time and this given story has changed almost daily. But, I don’t believe it should be overlooked by our American churches. Please make sure that you call attention to the situation if it hasn’t yet been resolved. And at the very least, pray for these young girls and their heartbroken parents.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

Share and Enjoy