Sermon Central
-
Perry Noble: An Amazing Idea For Your Next Sermon Series
By Perry Noble on May 31, 2011
"I honestly believe I’ve got the best idea ever for a sermon series in your church…one that will lead to breakthroughs, one that will be talked about until Jesus comes back."
I honestly believe I’ve got the best idea EVER for a sermon series in your church…one that will lead to breakthroughs, one that will be talked about until Jesus comes back and one that God will use in ways that will absolutely blow your mind.
Here it is – get alone with God, open your Bible, read it until he sets your heart on fire…and then go unleash that fire through preaching to the people He has called you to preach to!
In other words…get “a word” from “The Word!”
Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE creative sermon/series planning. I LOVE trying to figure out how we can communicate timeless principles in the context of the society that we are in. I LOVE doing WHATEVER it takes short of sin to get as many people outside the doors of the church to come inside!
However, the trap that I am seeing so many pastors fall into is they fall in love with the process of creativity and allow it to bypass the love they once had for their Creator!
Leadership AND preaching really is as easy as listening to God and then doing what HE says!
And…let me be straight, I really do believe that God gives us really creative ideas…and that refusing to use them is simply bad stewardship.
BUT…I also believe that trying to make sure every series that we do has a certain pop and sizzle is an insane trap that can cause us to lose focus on what HE has called us to do…PREACH HIS WORD! If we are not careful we can get so creative in our church services that there really isn’t any need for the presence of God…and THAT is the most ungodly place we could ever lead our people to!
God’s Word WILL produce a harvest (see Isaiah 55:8-13, this is a PROMISE)…and the BEST way to see a harvest in the people we preach to is to preach out of the personal harvest that God is bringing forth in us.
And so when this means going all out and having the most creative set design, song selection and video that it can have…praise God, I am all for that…using WHATEVER we can to communicate His Word.
But then I believe there will be times that we do catch a “creative cramp,” and when we do it is probably just God trying to get our attention and bring us back to rely on HIS SPIRIT rather than our strategy.
Yes, we are called to be creative (God is NOT boring), but our call to be that way comes after our call to be obedient.
If God is setting your heart on fire…unleash that fire on Sunday! PREACH!
Related Preaching Articles
-
Sticks And Stones Part 2
By Lance Witt on May 18, 2017
Pound for pound, nothing is as powerful as your tongue. As pastors, we count on God to use our tongues as His instrument. In last week’s article, we talked about using our words to bless and speak life into others. This week I want to add 2 additional strategies for the wise use of words.
-
Sticks And Stones - Part 1
By Lance Witt on May 3, 2017
Our words have incredible power. Both what we say and, how we say it are of great importance.
-
Church Growth And The Work Of God
By Josh Reich on Apr 22, 2017
We know that God is the one who makes a church grow, that it isn’t on us. This is both a comfort and a problem.
-
How Guests Become Regular Attenders At Your Church
By Josh Reich on Jan 23, 2017
Have you had a guest come to your church who seem excited but never come back?
-
Swindoll Says Stories Are Valuable
By Michael Duduit on Dec 13, 2016
Stories transport us into another world. They hold our attention.
-
Grappling With The Fears Of Technological Change
By Tim Challies on Dec 7, 2016
Technologies are good in that they allow us to carry out our God-given mandate (Gen. 4). But every technology also brings risk; it brings change. Innovations subtly shift our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
-
Grappling With The Fears Of Technological Change
By Tim Challies on Dec 7, 2016
Technologies are good in that they allow us to carry out our God-given mandate (Gen. 4). But every technology also brings risk; it brings change. Innovations subtly shift our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
-
The Vigil Of Waiting In Advent
By Steve Smith on Dec 7, 2016
Every 11 months, we get one month of waiting. It’s an interesting rhythm which should affect our cadence of busyness and distraction.
