The Sermon-Sucking Black Hole

January 1, 2014 by admin

Some people believe there is a Loch Ness Monster. Others swear an Abominable Snowman exists. But what about a Sermon-Sucking Black Hole? Never heard of it?

After the Sunday service, ministers are usually thanked for their words or told how helpful they were. But later that same day, not too many attendees can remember what they heard preached. Usually by Tuesday the recall is all but gone. That’s why certain people suspect that somewhere between the pulpit and the parking lot there is a sinister Sermon-Sucking Black Hole!

It’s true that nobody should be expected to remember everything said during a Sunday sermon. But it hardly seems too much to expect that listeners recall what the basic topic was. And because Scripture is written so we will know how to both think and act, the life response is also important. After listening attentively to a sermon, people should be able to quickly say what the subject was and how that topic affects the way they live.

Finally, if they don’t know how to do what is being called for, some help should be offered regarding the “how to.” For example, a sermon about meditating on Scripture is probably going to need some practical handles.

Who can say whether there’s a Loch Ness Monster or an Abominable Snowman? But nobody talks seriously about a sinister Sermon-Sucking Black Hole when they simply get used to listening carefully for…

What the sermon was about
What response the sermon called for
What helpful, practical suggestions the sermon offered

———————————————

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

From Nothing to Something – Part 8

November 2, 2010 by admin

After much prayer, we had asked Ka Tong Gaw to become a staff member at Circle Church. Making noisy assurances that a miracle was going to take place, and finding nothing happening as the days passed, I felt pressured to do something I had never done before. I began to fast, asking God to make provision for Ka Tong’s salary.

Eating only one small meal a day (not being of spiritual giant proportions yet) and informing no one of my plan, I began the experiment on a Thursday. By Wednesday of the following week, God was to have done his work, so that I could make a grand announcement as the Board met again that evening.

By Wednesday not a penny had come in. I was obliged to go to a ministers’ breakfast, and although I attempted to arrive late in order to miss the meal, they were running behind schedule and I had to eat anyway. The prospect of having to forego supper made it a long, hungry day.

The evening Board meeting came and went. The phone rang a couple of times and my heart leaped quickly, because I was sure it was some wealthy man burdened by God to underwrite this need. Once it was Karen’s mother and the other time one of those helpless individuals in every ministry who desperately needs to talk and talk without purpose and without reason. Karen served brownies—crumbly rich, chocolately sweet—how good they looked! God seemed to be adding insult to in jury!

Finally, when everyone was gone, Ka Tong turned to me as he was putting on his coat. “By the way, Dave, what was the big announcement you had me come to hear?” My self-imposed tribulation had not worked patience. I could have hit him.

Isn’t it interesting how God sometimes unfolds His work of grace in a cliff-hanger sort of way? We knew God was at work in our midst. But now, we’re waiting on Him for yet one more act of His grace. We had already experienced a great outpouring as he led us through the process of giving birth to a new church plant in downtown Chicago in the turbulent 1960’s. I invite you to return and follow this narrative as it unfolds. If you do, I think you will enjoying reading some of the key lessons we learned along the way.

———————————————

Pastor, when “sermon prep day” rolls around each week, do you face the task of preparing another sermon with a frown on your face? If so, you’re not alone. Many pastors literally dread preparing their Sunday sermon. There just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. The good news: David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help, whether you need to create a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon. 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.

For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

Share and Enjoy

Finding A Role That Works – Part 15

October 15, 2010 by admin

Because of the predominantly youth/student status of the core group that would make up our new church, it was impossible to guarantee a secure financial salary. Some of us had been saving our tithes for several months, but the “pot” was not very large. Still, since God had led completely in every other area, I decided to trust Him for our livelihood.

Karen, however, who at that time seemed less inclined toward the mystical, agreed to provide day-care for Bruce, a three-month-old infant. Her explanation for this extra responsibility was that it was a ministry to the struggling grad student and his wife who had been hard pressed to find trustworthy care. We both knew, though, that she was taking practical measures to insure our continued eating. When our needs were faithfully met month after month, the extra funds were used for hospitality purposes.

A new congregation was ready to begin. Our purpose was to test ideas related to how a local church functions. What unfolded was not only the story of an urban ministry, although many of the related circumstances are uniquely inner-city. It is a story of church renewal.

I maintain that the death of the city church has resulted from the same problems now being faced by most suburban churches. It has been apparent that the growth of many of these outlying churches can be attributed not to great numbers of conversions, but to the mobility of our society, as Christians move from place to place or exit from changing urban areas.

We felt that if the theories we wished to test would work in the city with its obvious disadvantages—the great cultural diversities, the prohibitive costs of property, the changing neighborhoods, the shortage of Christians, and the consequent economic deficiencies—they would work anywhere! On the human level, we did not have a ready-made situation, but God had obviously prepared the way.

Our new work was about to begin. Over the course of many months, God had led in a very deliberate and purposeful way. I did not always see through the “mist of the present” what God was opening before me. But, I learned through this experience, and many to come, that He is always faithful.

Of course, there’s much more to the story. So, I urge you to return to my blog as I continue to narrate the early days of my ministry in order to help answer the question: “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?”

———————————————

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.

Share and Enjoy

Finding A Role That Works – Part 3

September 22, 2010 by admin

In your church, dear pastor, how do you go about finding a role that works? That’s the question I’m addressing in this series of blog posts. I am drawing on my own experiences when I began my ministry within the church as an assistant pastor. I’m hoping that through my experiences, I can offer you some encouragement and suggestions.

I’ve been describing the first church where I served as an assistant pastor.

I remember one conversation with a church leader who was knocking the “fundamentalists” for preaching so often against smoking. “Though no one mentions it here,” he continued, “I can only think of one or two who attend who smoke. And, I don’t recall ever seeing a cigarette butt on the floor of the church, the vestibule, front stairs, or even in the parking lot.”

His point was that outsiders were not likely to take advantage of this open-minded silence on the matter. I had never seen a cigarette butt in these places either. My point was: their very absence was not symbolic of the outsider’s respect, but of his or her disdain for our exclusiveness.

Transferring to downtown Chicago after little more than a year, I became assistant pastor of a ministry “known around the world” where, at that time, there was no senior pastor. The auditorium alone seated over four thousand. And, though the church had been declining, there was still an average attendance of close to nine hundred on Sunday morning.

A strong tendency existed for the people to go back to “the good old days,” when even the balcony was filled and “the best speakers from around the world” stood in the pulpit. Their great craving was that someday a strong-voiced “deliverer” would come and boldly lead them back to yesterday! They were not interest in making plans, even of a temporary nature, until “Moses” appeared on the scene.

In addressing the issue of how a pastor goes about finding a role that works, I’m painting a picture for you of my own experiences at the start of my ministry in the church. I’m doing this, so I can lay the foundation for some very practical suggestions that I have to help you in your place of service to Christ and His Kingdom. I will continue to address this issue in the next few blog posts. Please plan to come back to this blog and read more.

———————————————

You can learn how to develop highly relevant Sunday sermons that grab the attention of your congregation and help your listeners respond effectively to the deep truths of God’s Word. David Mains and Mainstay Ministries have a whole range of helpful solutions. Do you need to prepare a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon? You can find help on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With the Advent Celebration: “Seasoning the Season,” you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a Special Limited-Time Package Offer.