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 … Read More
The Purpose of Preaching
This week I am going to share with you tips on developing your preaching calendar. This has been a growing area for me at the Journey as we have innovated some ways to plan our preaching and to plan our preaching together as a teaching team. It is really an interesting thing that we do as pastors, because we … Read More
How To Be Creative With Your Preaching This Summer (Part 2)
As part of your creative summer series planning, try tying in fun events to complement your teaching. For example, during the God On Film series, we have weekly “play groups” available where people can go see one of the featured movies with others from the church, and then grab dinner to discuss it. This goes hand-in-hand with your creative outreach. People will want to … Read More
How To Be Creative With Your Preaching This Summer (Part 1)
Summer is the time to be extra creative in your message planning. You have the freedom to intentionally teach on topics that will draw a crowd. Around The Journey, we always plan this kind of “attractional series” for the summer, in an effort to reach people who may not otherwise come to church. Each year we do a series called … Read More
NEW Sermon Series – Teach Your People How to Face Life’s Storms!
One of the most helpful and well-received sermon series we’ve done at The Journey this year was called “Unshakeable Faith.” And now I’m excited to let you know that the full, six-part series (and everything you need to teach it at your church) is available in the Church Leader Insights Store. Here are the details: Teach your people how to … Read More
Top 10 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Going Well
Can’t we all use a chuckle on Monday morning? Here’s a list I saw recently from the folks at Preaching Magazine (www.Preaching.com): The Top 10 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Going Well 13. Your associate pastor is warming up in the bullpen. 12. The praise band begins playing you off the stage. 11. The congregation is filling in the blanks of … Read More
What Makes A Great Sermon Great? Abraham Lincoln’s Opinion…
I just finished reading John Maxwell’s new book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, and I’ll be talking about it in a future CLI Newsletter (you are getting the newsletter aren’t you? if not, click here). Here’s a powerful story that Maxwell shares in this book: President Abraham Lincoln, an incredible communicator, was known during the Civil War to attend a church … Read More
FDR on Sermon Preparation…
I ran across this story in a book I was reading recently and I think it has great application when it comes to planning and preparing to preach: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was once asked how long it would take to prepare an address on a particular theme. “That depends on how long you want me to speak,’ the President answered. … Read More
Igniting Growth In Your Church – Week 3 of 6
Welcome to week 3 of my 6-week blog series, “Igniting Growth In Your Church.” I trust that this Thursday series is driving you deeper in your study of my new book, Ignite: How To Spark Immediate Growth In Your Church. Last week we dissected the four best times of year to do a big day. Now that you have a big … Read More
Great Lesson – Saturday Quote
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin: 18th century statesman, scientist, and writer