This week I am emphasizing the importance of planning your preaching.  I want to encourage you to start looking at your preaching calendars and, if you haven’t done so already, start planning for your Fall Sermon Series. 

The Fall is typically one of the best times of the year to maximize your outreach to the unchurched.  People are getting back into the routine—the kids are going back to school.  You need to know when school in your area starts back up.   Call school board or check online to find out when school begins.  Put this on your calendar.

Because a week or two after school starts, you will see new people coming to your church.  Or if you are in a college town you will see more college students coming to your church, and that is a great wait to bring synergy to your church.

So, during this time, you are going to want to do a message series based on attracting people.  We call it an “attract message series.”  This is a message series that will attract the unchurched and keep the unchurched coming to your services.

Here at the Journey we did a series around a topic that people are very interested in in our community.  For example, one year we launched a new campaign called “Financial Freedom” about getting out of debt and becoming a generous person.  It was an 8 week study that equipped people to get rid of their debt and honor God with their finances.

Why did we pick that?  Because the people are stressed out over their finances and want to get from under the trap of debt.  We had a lot of new people come to the church because they wanted to relieve the stress of their finances.  We even saw the number of baptisms increase during this campaign.

The fall is a perfect time to launch a series on finances.  You want to attract new people into your church through these attraction messages so that their lives can be transformed.

If you have not already, I want you to prayerfully start setting your calendar, now.  Preaching is a spiritual adventure and you want to seek now God’s wisdom on that.

Your Partner in Ministry,

Nelson

P.S.  Need some ideas a series to do this fall?  Today is the last day to pick up my “Top 10 Fall Sermons” at HALF-OFF.  Every sermon series includes a transcripts, outlines, graphics and over 60 hours of sermon preparation by our teaching team.   Click this link to view all Top 10 Fall Sermon Series for Half-Off.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.