How
to Come Up With Creative Sermon Series
By Brian Mavis
Every eight weeks I’m supposed to come up with a couple of original
sermon series ideas for Outreach Magazine. On top of that, I’m supposed be months
ahead. For example in the summer I’ll get an email from one of the editors
saying they need some series ideas for their winter issue. So when I sit down to create a series idea, I consider four things that
spell the acrostic “C.A.S.T.” They are:
C - Calendar: What holidays or events will be
occurring at that time? A - Audience: Who am I writing this for? What are
their ages, roles, concerns? S - Scripture: What scriptures need to be explored clearly and creatively? T - TV and Movies: What media events are
permeating the culture? I take these four categories and their corresponding questions, and I CAST them out like a fishing line and
then try to reel in some creative series ideas. Here are some examples: This was for a sermon series to
begin the New Year. During
this time of the year the #1 goal people are trying to accomplish is to lose
weight. So that’s my inspiration. But people need to lose things besides a few
extra pounds. People are also weighed down by sin, financial pressures, family
conflict, and security concerns. So this series called “Lose the Weight” connects with those issues people are dealing
with and helps them shed the weight that comes from guilt, debt, fear, and
stress. Lose the Weight ·
Lose the Weight
of Guilt (Hebrews 10:1-25) ·
Lose the Weight
of Debt (1 Timothy 6:6-10) ·
Lose the Weight
of Fear (John 14:25-27) ·
Lose the Weight
of Stress (Matthew 6:25-34) When
the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was going to come out, I developed a
series for thinkers and a series for feelers. For some it opened their minds to the truth
of Christ. For others it opened their hearts to the love of Christ. Tens of
thousands of churches used these series for their churches. The series for the
thinkers was called: The
Passion of the Christ – True or False? · Jesus is the Son
of God – True or False? · Jesus is the Only
Way to God – True or False? · Jesus Died for You
– True or False? · Jesus is Alive –
True or False? The series for the feelers was called: Experience
the Passion of Christ · Experience Pure
Love · Experience
Complete Forgiveness · Experience
Ultimate Wholeness · Experience
Everlasting Life When the TV show “Extreme
Makeover” was going to hit the air, I thought that it would be a great way to
contrast worldly beauty vs. godly beauty. What if Jesus were your plastic surgeon? What would He think looked
good on you? What would He want to fix? This became a very popular series
called “Extreme Makeover: What Looks Good
to Jesus?” exploring Jesus’
perspective on beauty. Extreme Makeover: What Looks
Good to Jesus? ·
Big Ears (for
Listening) ·
Dirty Hands (for
Serving) ·
Pierced Tongue (for
Speaking) ·
Broken Heart (for
Compassion) ·
Rough Knees (for
Prayer) When I considered the audience
and media, another series idea came out that wasn’t tied to any particular
show. Instead it recognized
the negative influences that media can have on children especially. Media.
Violence. Sex. Drugs. Parents today are facing these issues. They’re seeking
practical and wise guidance in a world that seems to be working against them.
So a series called “Raising G-Rated Kids
in an R-Rated World” helps parents
empower their kids to make right choices and be light in a dark world. Raising G-Rated Kids in an
R-Rated World ·
Raising
Media-Savvy Kids in a Media-Saturated World ·
Raising
Peace-Making Kids in a Violent World ·
Raising
Sexually Pure Kids in a Sexually Promiscuous World ·
Raising
Drug-Free Kids in a Drug-Accessible World When the calendar isn’t as much of a
consideration, I’ve liked exploring creative ways to present some scriptures.
For example, I thought a series on questions in the Bible would be fascinating.
The “Good Book” has some
good questions – lots of them. In fact, there are approximately 2,530 questions
in the Bible. Many of them are questions directed toward Jesus. A sermon series
on questions from the book of Matthew will show your people that they aren’t
alone in wanting to ask Jesus some tough questions. On the flip side, I thought it would be good
to also explore questions Jesus asked. Yes, Jesus is the
answer, but he sure asked a lot of questions. He asked more than 150 questions
in the gospels. Continue a sermon series on questions from the book of Matthew,
but this time take look at the questions Jesus has for us. Another example of
exploring a facet of scripture was to take a closer look at Jesus as The Great
Physician. Matthew 4:23
says Jesus healed every kind of
disease and sickness among the people. Matthew 15:31 says people saw the mute
speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. He is
both a general practitioner and a specialist.
He heals young, old, men, women, eyes, ears, skin, bones, and brains. This
series shows why Jesus is the Great Physician. · Jesus – The Great Ophthalmologist (Matthew 9:27-31 · Jesus – The Great Orthopedist (Mark 3:1-5 · Jesus – The Great Pediatrician (Mark 5:35-43 · Jesus – The Great Dermatologist (Luke 5:12-16 · Jesus – The Great Otolaryngologist (Mark 7:31-37 · Jesus – The Great Neurologist (Matthew 17:14-18 The saying goes, “It’s better to teach a man
to fish than to give him one.” Just like real fishing, fishing for sermon
series ideas is more fun when you do it, rather than when you eat someone
else’s catch. So CAST your line out and see what creative ideas you can
come up with. © Brian
Mavis 2005 For
permission to reprint this article, please ask Brian Mavis at brian@sermoncentral.com. Jesus,
I’ve Got a Question for You
·
“Who
Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus Has
a Question Too
·
“Why
Are You So Afraid?”
Jesus – The Great Physician·
Jesus
– The Great Family Doctor (Matthew
8:14
·
Jesus
– The Great Gynecologist (Luke
8:42b-48
