Posts Tagged ‘Preaching’

Feb
02
2012

5 Ways You Can Help Your Church

So, yes, your church is imperfect. After a few weeks there you have realized this, I hope. You’re pastor is either a bit boring or too over the top. You wish for a bit more depth in his messages or perhaps a bit more practical application. The music has too much drum or too much organ. The youth ministry needs more teaching or more pizza.

And maybe you’ve read one of the rash of books telling us how the church has gotten it all wrong for all these years, why the youth are heading for the exists. So you’re convinced that you’re church needs to either get more missional, more doctrinal, more seeker-oriented. More something.

Here’s the thing. You’re probably somewhat right. I’m guessing the church you attend has inadequacies. But it’s likely that its served by staff who genuinely care about the Lord, about people, and about doing it right. They’re probably missing some big things and making mistakes.

But, as I look at Scripture I see that God uses churches like this. Imperfect, clumsy, a bit off. Actually these are the only kinds of churches God can use because the only kinds of people he has to work with are . . . . you guessed it, sinners. You’re one of them. Even though you’ve done the research, read the books, attended the seminary, you are still an imperfect human filled with sin. You’re saved only by the grace of God and not you’re merit.

I say all this to say one thing. You can gripe about your church and find another. And perhaps that’s what you need to do. I’m not minimizing serious church issues, abuse, etc. But, largely, church problems are caused by imperfect sinners.

What I’m saying is that you can see your church become more fully effective by becoming part of the solution. Be the change you want to see. Here are five ways you can help your church from an admittedly imperfect, learning, needy pastor:

1) Be Committed. 

The best way to make your church better is to be there consistently and faithfully. Seriously, you can’t gripe about a church you hardly frequent. And you have no idea how it encourages and motivates the heart of the pastor and staff to see you present at most functions regularly. And your regular attendance makes a statement to the world that God’s called-out assembly means something to you. It makes a statement to the devil that you are standing with Christ and His body. And it makes a statement to yourself that church is more important than anything on Sunday. Also, part of being committed is to be at your place of service at the right time. If you’ve signed up for a ministry, be there when you say you will be. The church is depending on you.

2) Be On Time

This seems small, but it’s big. Get up early on Sunday morning and be at church on time. I must confess that before I was a pastor I was habitually late to church. I always came, but I was usually late. Now that I’m a pastor I realize how this totally stresses the church staff. We actually like to know who is going to be there and who we can count on. And I think punctuality at church makes a statement about how much we care about the Lord. If we were as punctual at work as we were at church, I wonder how long many of us would keep our jobs. That’s sounds a bit harsh, I know, but getting to church early and on time helps your church become the church God intends it to be. If you’re supposed to serve in a particular area, make a special effort to not only be on time, but be early. Give the attention to that ministry that you would to something you value such as your job or your favorite hobby.

3) Be Positive

Come to church with a smile. I’m not saying be plastic or inauthentic. If you’re suffering through a crisis,the church should be the first place to cry. Don’t come with a mask. But also don’t come with a super-critical eye. Come intending to give back to the body with your gifts and talents. Come intending to be fed the Word, but also disciple and encourage others. Come ready to love and forgive and hug and forbear. Come to church ready to forgive small and big slights. Also, be pro-church. Greet guests warmly, advance the church goals and ministries with a smile. Be positive, not cynical.

4) Be Prepared

You can prepare with prayer. Before you walk in the doors, you might pray for your pastor and the staff. Pray for the Spirit’s presence to be strong in the service and in the preaching. Bathe the entire church body in prayer. Think of some of the neediest members in your church and commit their needs to prayer. Most of all, before you walk in the church doors, pray that God will use you to impact someone’s life for the Kingdom that Sunday. Sunday not simply an ordinary day. Church is not something to simply cross off our list. Church is the expression of Christ in the world. You are the church. Be the church. Pray that God powerfully uses you to change lives. And pray that through the preaching and worship and prayer you’re heart will soften to the gospel and you’ll become more like your Savior.

You can also prepare by preparing your own heart with Scripture. Be a person of the Word and doctrine so that your heart is ready to soak in the teaching on Sunday. Nurture your spiritual life so that the soil of your soul is ready to be changed for God’s glory.

5) Be Solution-Oriented

In #3 I said to be positive. I want to offset that by saying being positive isn’t being a flatterer or Kool-Aid guy. What I mean by this is that you help your church being gently discerning. If you see an area of improvement, make a note to try to be a difference maker. Ask the person in charge of that are if you can help solve the problem. In other words, rather than complaining about a dirty bathroom or a gap in the childcare, politely and kindly bring this to someone who can affect change and offer to help. The pastor and the staff don’t see everything. They sometimes need some help from committed members on the ground level who can give them some critical feedback on services in the church.

Closing:

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, just a few ways you can make your church what God intends it to be.

 

Jan
10
2012

Ed Stetzer – How Should We Talk About Sex?

I wanted to write a post about this, but couldn’t find the words. Thankfully Ed Stetzer, a wiser man than me by far, wrote what I consider a terrific and wise post on how evangelicals might approach the delicate, but necessary subject of sex. I especially liked this paragraph:

Third, when talking about sex, hype does not help.  I have to say that some of the gimmicky sex campaigns are simply unhelpful and can many times be harmful. For example, a friend of mine did a series he called “Storybook Sex” with all the shocking ads and comments– a series he now regrets. At the end of the day, gimmicks are not what we need– solid biblical teaching and moral courage is.  That does not mean we cannot have fun while talking about sex (thank you, God, for creating sex!), but, in talking about sex, it does mean that we need not appear silly or salacious. As such, challenging people to have sex for a week may not be the best course of action– but teaching them to both value the wonder and participate in the joy of sex in marriage is.

Read the entire thing here: Ed Stetzer – How Should We Talk About Sex?.

Dec
19
2011

How I Found My Preaching and Speaking Voice

Growing up, public speaking was something I both enjoyed and dreaded. I enjoyed the preparation for a speech (still do), but always got the intense butterflies in public. Especially in school where one Rick-Perry like flub could ignite the snickering chorus in the front row of our high-school. I know because when I wasn’t speaking, I was a charter member of that chorus.

Before I became a pastor, I spent almost a decade as a writer and editor for a Christian organization. This meant I did very little public speaking, though towards the end of my tenure there I had more preaching, teaching, and even worship-leading opportunities. Still, when I came to Gages Lake Bible Church in the fall of 2008, I was a bit nervous in front of a crowd, especially as a preacher handling the Word of God.

But it’s been almost four years of preaching and while nobody would mistake me for Tim Keller or Andy Stanley or Matt Chandler, I no longer get nervous on Sundays and actually quite enjoy public speaking. Here are a few things that helped me find my preaching and speaking voice:

  1. Doing It. I’m a big believer in Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule (explained in detail in his book, Outliers). The idea is that the more you do something, the better you get at it. Preaching, unlike almost any other craft, is like this. You can study books on writing, take courses, hire coaches. Those things may be helpful but the best experience is actually speaking. Having to preach several times a week has really helped me gain confidence.
  2. Preparation. I’m a guy who has to really prepare. I’m not good off the cuff. I can’t, like Mark Driscoll, preach from a cue-card with a few notes. There is no substitute for preparation, especially as a preacher. You’ve got to spend hours in study and really know the text. And I think this goes with any subject on which you speak. I also plan out my preaching schedule several months, sometimes an entire year in advance. I typically take a book of the Bible and divide it up according to section.
  3. Find Your Best Note Method. I can’t stress this enough. For the first few months of my tenure at Gages Lake, I experimented with a few different styles. I mostly used a heavy outline. But I was not satisfied with my presentation and wondered why. Then I stumbled upon a series of preacher’s notes posted by Josh Harris. He got the notes from leading pastors. One of the sets of notes he posted was his own. I realized he preached from a full manuscript. This is when the light bulb came on for me. I had been a writer for nearly ten years. Words were my thing, why wasn’t I leveraging my talents this way? I began writing a full manuscript and that was the point at which I grew more confident. Now I don’t read verbatim. I often add things as I go. But having that full manscript gives me the confidence that my message is complete and I can go into the pulpit and deliver it. It also helps me know how long my sermons will be each week. For some, a manuscript is too confining and they are better at being extemporaneous. That didn’t work for me. The key is you have to find your comfort level and stick with it.
  4. Be Yourself. Early on I chided myself for not being a pacer on stage like an Andy Stanley or a James McDonald. You know guys who have a small half-sheet outline and walk around the stage. I just can’t do that. It’s not me. I’m pretty stationery. I really beat myself up for that for a while until my wife and I travelled to hear Dr. David Jeremiah speak. Though I had appreciated his sermons on the radio for many years, I had never heard him speak live. So when the time came for Dr. Jeremiah to speak, I was surprised to see him stand stationery at the lectern and turn pages–just like me! Angela leaned over and said, “Hey he does it the way you do it.” That gave me a surge of confidence. I realized that if it worked for Dr. Jeremiah, it could work for me. I realized that God made me the way He made me and could use me in that way. That’s not to say I’ll never change or grow as a speaker, but I have the freedom of being myself.

Those four keys have helped shape my preaching. I’m still new at this and have quite a bit to learn. But I’m amazed by how God can take me, with my own unique package of talents and weaknesses, and use me for His glory.

Dec
15
2011

Preaching Through James

This last year I finished a series through the book of James entitled, Authentic Faith. I divided up this book into 15 messages and gave the congregation the entire outline of the series before we began. It was a terrific study, one that challenged me as a preacher and offered a great challenge for our church. James is one of those books that is not very difficult to figure out in that it is written directly to the church. Sure there are some cultural considerations to consider, of course, but not as much as other books. James was plain-spoken, speaking in the wisdom literature style of the Hebrew Scriptures.

I thought I would post some of the resources I used as I made my way through this book.

Be Mature by Warren Wiersbe

This is part of Wiersbe’s highly acclaimed “Be” Series. I actually have the entire series, compiled as the Biblical Exposition Series. (Now titled, the Wiersbe Bible Commentary) I have it as part of the Preaching Library in Wordsearch. But if you didn’t want to invest all that you can pick up the single copy of Be Mature fairly inexpensively.

I typically use Wiersbe with every series I use, just to get a basic overview of the book. I like how Wiersbe breaks down the sections in each chapter. This is typically where I start with every series. It’s a basic-level commentary set I recommend, especially for beginning pastors like myself.

Treasures from James by Rod Mattoon

Rod Mattoon is senior pastor of Lincoln Land Baptist Church in Springfield, IL. He is not that well-known, but his commentaries are incredibly rich and detailed and have cultural and Scriptural insights that make them unique. He is an expert at alliteration and also features additional studies on topics that come up in the text (backsliding, gossip, etc). I discovered these after they became available in Wordsearch. I believe you can also purchase the hardback books here.

James, Faith that Works by R. Kent Hughes.

Hughes may be my favorite pastor and expositor and commentator. He was the longtime pastor of College Church in Wheaton. Hughes has a way of grapping the central theme of the text. He includes rich cultural information and is first-rate writer. He is the commentator I quote from the most, I think. It’s also available in Wordsearch.

The Complete Biblical Library

This an awesome, 39 volume set compiled by 50 scholars that is available exclusively in Wordsearch. What is especially great about this is that it allows for some really terrific Greek and Hebrew word study. There is a commentary portion as well as a Greek Bible and in Wordsearch its a snap to look up words. It was out of print for many years, but Wordsearch has put it back into circulation, at least in their software.

The Letter of James by Douglas Moo

I had this recommended to me by several people and I’m glad I purchased it. This is more of a technical commentary, but its especially helpful when there is a section of text that you’re just not sure how to interpret, especially when there are a few ways that it has historically been interpreted by orthodox believers. Moo does a great job of presenting all of the typical ways a passage has been interpreted and then presents his opinion, but in a very objective, dispassionate way. And often there are third-way approaches that involve greater textual study and cultural considerations. This was a very useful reference for me in my study.

Solid Stepping Stones by Robert Lightner

This a simple study guide created for group study, not necessarily a commentary. Nevertheless it was helpful for me to see how Dr. Lightner, a professor at Dallas Seminary, boiled down the immense truths to eye-level for his readers. Sometimes its difficult for pastors to get out of the heaviness of the text and the cultural background and present a practical, life-changing message. This is was something I consulted often at the end of my study to see  if the main points I was emphasizing were indeed worthy of emphasis in my message.

A Thirst for Wholeness by Jay Adams

This is book on the book of James by well-known counselor, Jay Adams. I used this with the first few chapters. James brings out some powerful insights on how to apply James to our personal relational problems. However, I found this a bit difficult to navigate, because Adams is never clear, in each chapter, which section of James he’s covering. So when you’re preparing a text its hard to go find that corresponding text in this book. Perhaps a read-thru of the entire book before preaching might be a good exercise.

Additional Resources: 

  • Tullian Tchividjian’s sermons series on James, preached at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
  • ESV Study Bible – I found the notes to be incredibly helpful
Sep
19
2011

Are Pre-Packaged Sermon Series a Good Idea for Pastors?

Pastoring in this age is a great blessing, because of the volume and variety of resources at our disposal. I have hundreds of books and commentaries on my computer thanks to Wordsearch software. Then I have a library full of books and a number of key websites I visit. That’s not to mention the study Bibles I own. You can be a marginally intelligent guy like me and still craft a good sermon.

One of the resources that I find most helpful are downloadable sermons. Several ministries offer these, including Preaching Today from Christianity Today, Sermon Central, and Rick Warren’s Pastors.com. Personally I enjoy Preaching Today and then I use Ray Pritchard’s Keep Believing website to read his sermons and I frequent the archive of Ray Stedman, the late, great expository preacher. I also podcast several prominent pastors, first to feed my own soul and second to learn about the great texts of Scripture from great expositors.

Here’s the thing, though. I read and listen to these sermons as commentaries, to get ideas of how to structure and shape a sermon on a particular text and to get another man’s “take” on a particularly difficult passage. But I think it’s a miscarriage of my duty if I simply preached someone else’s sermon. I think most pastors would agree to this.

Which brings me to the idea of pre-packaged sermon kits. I’m seeing more and more of this from some more prominent pastors. Two examples that come to mind are Andy Stanley from Northpoint Church in Atlanta and Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill in Seattle. Both are terrific pastors whom God has blessed with great ministry.

What these guys (and other prominent pastors) are offering are complete reproducible and preachable  sermon series. They come complete with slick graphics, which include printable art work for posters, handouts, banners, etc. They are quite nice. But my question is this. Should a pastor of a local church, who has been called and ordained by God and chosen by the congregation to lead, should he preach the work of someone else on Sunday?

This is tricky question. On the one hand, all preachers’ work is the product of others. The old joke says that if you preach someone else’s sermon, it’s plagiarism. If you quote more than one preacher, it’s study. Our preaching is built upon the wise men who have gone before.

But that sermon should still be the product of our own study, right? I’m having a hard time imagining me doing a series at Gages Lake and saying, “Okay, we’re going to preach Andy Stanley’s “Guardrails” series this month.” The people might wonder, “Why are we paying him?” And isn’t it my job to study the Word and preach what God has specifically laid out for those particular people in that audience?

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Sep
13
2011

Why Pastors Don’t Often “Speak Up”

A few years go I had the opportunity to volunteer for a dear friend of mine who was running for Congress in the district in which I live. I was heavily involved–my job was to rally evangelical leaders to support the candidate, whose views lined up with evangelicals, especially on the social issues like abortion, marriage, etc. Among the things I did was to set up special prayer breakfasts, individual meetings with pastors, and to have my candidate visit churches on Sundays, arranging to have my candidate introduced publicly. We found that a candidate’s mere visit to a church, low-key with no endorsement, sent a message to the church members that he cared about them and stood with them.

I found this very difficult, because I got great resistance from pastors. They didn’t want to be seen as endorsing one candidate or another. At the time, I didn’t understand this. The election was important, I thought, why wouldn’t they lend their favor to my guy, whom they knew and would likely vote for?

Well, fast forward a few years and now it’s me in that role as Senior Pastor. Now, granted, we don’t have a very large church and my influence is minimal at best. But surprisingly, I’m finding myself in the position of those other pastors. I’m hesitant to publicly endorse a candidate.

That’s because I understand now why my fellows evangelical clergy are often so hesitant to endorse or be seen as endorsing a political candidate. It isn’t because they feared losing their tax exempt status. It was because they feared that it would hurt the mission of the church. I believe this more strongly now than I have ever believed it before. Politics, even movements that support worthy causes, can creep into the mission of a church and get us off of our main goal, which is to represent Christ in the community.

I’m writing this now, because a new movement has sprung up: Speak Up Movement. It’s sponsored by a worthy organization, the Alliance Defense Fund and is endorsed as a movement by leading pastors I admire like David Jeremiah, Henry Blackaby, Wayne Grudem and others. The idea is that pastors are too often muzzled from speaking on political issues for fear of losing their tax exempt status. This is why, in their view, churches are often softer on leading cultural issues than they need to be. They actually advocate strengthening the law so that a pastor’s sermon is free from scrutiny which would lead to a losing of tax exempt status.

Now, on the whole, I think this is a good cause in that a) we should encourage pastors to preach the Word, despite the cultural/financial/political ramifications and b) we should strengthen the legal rights of pastors and all Christians to freely speak their mind.

But it’s the premise of the movement that bothers me a bit. They assume that pastors are not “speaking out” on political issues for fear of losing their tax exempt status. Now, to be sure there are some who have that fear and a clarification of our rights is important. But in my limited experience in politics and now my experience as a pastor, I have not found this to be the reason pastors don’t speak out on political issues. In fact, I’ve rarely had a pastor express this to me.

The reason we don’t get all political every Sunday is because we have pledged our lives to being faithful to the text of Scripture in front of us. Pastors like me who preach systematically through a book of the Bible don’t have the luxury to cherry pick hot cultural issues and hammer them home. Some pastors do this and are known for their political advocacy. This may win them points in the cultural wars, but I think it’s a poor way to shepherd your people.

Look, the Bible touches on a variety of these issues, but we should only speak where the Scripture speaks. On the issue of abortion, the Bible is loud and clear and for this reason, our church sets aside a Sunday every year to discuss the pro-life cause in a biblically faithful way. But on the whole, we should only raise our voices against issues when they arise in the flow of our text. In those moments, we shouldn’t silent against what might be politically unpopular.

Our job, as pastors, is to feed the Word to our people, not advance a political movement. If we’re in submission to the Word of God, then we will find it often cuts against all parties. Sometimes it cuts against the conservative movement. Other times it cuts against the liberal movement. And many issues are matters of preference and process, not clearly spelled out in Scripture. As a pastor, I must be faithful to the Word of God, not to a party or even a political movement, even if I am in agreement with many of their positions.

The pulpit is a unique place. From this space we must deliver and preach the undiluted Word of God. People coming into our doors don’t need a sanitized version of Fox News or MSNBC, they don’t need regurgitated talking points from Rush Limbaugh or Keith Olberman.  They are coming to hear the Word, preached with power, humility, and confidence. Where that word touches politics, I pray we possess the courage to speak out. But to insist that pastors get more political in their messages, that they rearrange their sermons to help one party or another, this I believe, is unfaithful.

Our job is to preach the Word in such a way that we equip Christians to live in this world of evil, to make a difference at every level, from politics to Hollywood to the marketplace. Pastors can, at times, shape public debate and opinion and perhaps special times in history, we should dive into the Bible and speak forcefully against a cultural evil. Men of history like Jonathan Edwards and Dietrich Bonheoffer come to mind. But even in that, the flow of the text should guide us, not cherry-picked Bible verses compiled by a movement with an agenda. And there are other forums where pastors can more specifically articulate an opinion, such as in a blog post or a non-preaching time. They may even endorse, in a personal way, a candidate of their choice.

But the next time you hear someone rail on pastors and say, “Why don’t they speak out about this issue?” You might answer, politely, “Maybe the text they are on doesn’t speak to that.” That  may not please your favorite candidate or party.

But this is the approach, I believe, pleases God.

 

Aug
24
2011

What a Pastor Says

At Gages Lake Bible Church, we’re going through the book of James, in a series we’ve entitled, Authentic Faith. (You can listen/download the sermons here.) James is a section of Scripture that really makes you sit up and listen. And it’s written specifically to Christians in the church. There is no way to dance around it and maybe pass off James words as something not applicable to our culture or something we can ignore because it was written to the Israelites.

We’re going to start chapter three on Sunday, which is a chapter that deals with the tongue. Now most of us have read this chapter and know this chapter and come away feeling very convicted about the work God must do in us through the Spirit. Or we come away thinking that this passage would be great for someone else to hear. You know, that person we know who has a caustic tongue?

But here’s something about James 3 that I didn’t really notice until now. It begins with a very sober warning to Bible teachers. James basically says that the calling to teaching the Word is so sober that few should entertain the idea. He’s not saying, I don’t think, that to be a pastor or Sunday School teacher or small group leader is something we shouldn’t aspire to, but that before you get all excited about teaching and preaching others, consider the consequences.

Then James goes right to the tongue and stays there for the rest of the chapter. Here’s a lesson I think we often miss about this Scripture and one you can only get when you study the entire context. Yes, the passage on the tongue is for every Christian, but it’s especially pertinent for Christian leaders. What we say matters. The words we say when we speak in that pulpit or in that classroom or on that blog or Facebook post or Twitter feed matter. And they matter more because of our position.

The words of Christian leaders matter because people follow Christian leaders. People assume that what they say comes from God, that their quoting of Scripture and their exegesis and application are accurate. This is why we as pastors must be careful to study, to know the Bible, and to only say what the Bible says, nothing more or nothing less. This is so vitally important.

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Jul
12
2011

The Church and the Parachurch

I’ve only been a pastor for three years, but I’ve noticed one of the acute pressures of this role (a role that I thoroughly enjoy and cherish, by the way). It’s the pressure to place emphasis on certain aspects of needed ministry in the church. And much of it comes from parachurch ministries.

I’m generally a fan of parachurch ministries. I think they help the larger body of Christ by specializing in needed emphases such as child training, origins, special ethnic outreaches, and activism/politics. I’m deeply grateful for many of these ministries as they serve pastors by informing, training, and helping the church. And their resources are invaluable as we tackle these issues as they come up.

But – and you knew one was coming – ministries that specialize in one area tend to look at the entire church through the eyes of their emphases. For instance, a creation ministry might feel that if pastors simply preached on creation/evolution more, than the larger body of Christ would be more spiritual. Or a financial stewardship ministry wonders why pastors don’t speak on giving/debt more. Or a Jewish outreach wishes churches would emphasize more outreach to the Jewish community.

Each of these emphases are important. And yet, the pastor is sitting in the leadership position and sees the entire church as a whole. And so while he thinks the origins debate is vital, he’s also dealing with a marriage in crisis and a teenager who just attempted suicide. Therefore, he sees the unique and diverse spiritual needs of his people more than the parachurch ministry does.

And if he’s an expository preacher–that is one who preaches consistently through a book of the Bible–he’s not open to suggestions for Sunday morning topics because he’s concentrating on what the current text says to his people. And he wants to be faithful to preach the whole Bible. Now, when one of those texts happens to come upon a subject like tithing or Jewish outreach or family issues or missions, then of course, he’ll address it and that parachurch ministry with its resources is a huge help. Also, as a pastor, I’ve seen times when I need to do a series on a particular subject–and yet I’m still concerned with preaching in context and doing it in a biblically balanced way.

I’m not bashing parachurch ministries. But I think they serve a vital purpose in the body of Christ. But when I hear Christian leaders who lead them say things like, “If more pastors preached . . . ” or “You’ll never hear this in a sermon . . .” I cringe and want to say, “What about pastors being faithful to the text in front of them?”

I confess to having this attitude myself when I worked in politics. I was trying to advance a conservative cause (a good one) and wondered why good pastors I knew were constantly hesitant to jump on board immediately and host the organization I represented. Now I’m a pastor and I know why.

Here is where I think parachurches can help. When they respect the balance of the church and the pastor’s role in shepherding his people. Most do this. In fact, when I talk to these leaders they are always sensitive to the needs of our church. Perhaps greater flexibility in scheduling events, understanding why their cause isn’t the #1 emphasis in that church, and a recognition that their role is just a small slice of the overall fabric of the larger body of Christ.

I’d love to hear from other pastors and parachurch leaders on what they think about their partnership.