 |
|
|
As you look ahead to the fall and possible administrative changes, feel free to consult this handy church leadership guide, with helpful job descriptions: SENIOR
PASTOR: EXECUTIVE
PASTOR: ASSOCIATE
PASTOR: MINISTER
OF MUSIC: CHRISTIAN
ED DIRECTOR: YOUTH
MINISTER: CHURCH
SECRETARY: Michael
Duduit, Editor There will not be an issue of PreachingNow next week; the next issue will be dated July 12. Click here to visit "I Was Just Thinking" for insights and observations about faith and culture issues. Recent topics: global warming, evangelical political activity, bioethics and more.
Where topical sermons go astray Don Sunujkian points out that, "a topical message, as all good preaching, attempts to communicate a single idea — one central truth, one dominant sentence that expresses the sermon in a nutshell. This central truth is formed from several different passages, each of which genuinely addresses the same specific subject. "It is at this point that many topical messages go biblically astray, as the preacher makes a passage speak about a subject other than the one intended by the biblical writer. For example, a preacher who delivers a message on 'How to Parent Teenagers' might be tempted to include James 1:19 among his main points: 'Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.' But James is not talking about parenting teenagers. Instead, his flow of thought through chapter 1 is: • If we persevere under a trial, we will gain maturity and reward (1:1-12). • If we sin because of the stress of the trial, it is not because God has pushed us too far — God is too good to do that — but because of evil desires within us (1:13-18). • Instead of blaming God for our sin — an attitude that will never bring the righteous life God desires — we should instead be quick to listen to the Word, slow to speak our alibis, and slow to become angry against God (1:19-25). "The danger in topical preaching is we may short-cut the exegesis of a passage, fail to get the true point of the biblical author, and instead attach his words to a topic far different from what he had in mind." (Click here to read the full story in PreachingTodaySermons.com) http://store.yahoo.com/pttranscripts/toprcanbetrb.html
The attraction of story In an address to a group of students in October 2001, Thomas Martin — professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska at Kearney — made this observation: "People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature, why students would much rather read a novel than math or chemistry. The reason is very simple; it is merely because the novel is truer than they are. Life may sometimes appear to be mathematical. Life may sometimes appear to be scientific. But our lives are always novel, and each one of us longs to be the hero or the heroine of the novel, who, through all the inconveniences placed upon him by cavities, braces, pimples, ACL tears, roommates, biology, calculus, English, conjugating verbs, headaches, back aches, marriage, children, neighbors, enemies, and friends, will never forget 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made' to see the light of God's love in each inconvenience as a reminder that you are in an adventure in which goodness always prevails over evil, and your novel is meant to end with 'she lived happily ever after.' . . . "Each one of is invited to partake in the adventure of a romantic novel, to be the hero or the heroine of the story. It is a strange adventure, strange because in this quest you must deny yourself in order to reach the cause and source of your being. If you try to save your life by staying home, you won't miss dinner, but you will lose your life. However, it is only by losing your life for the love of your neighbor that you will ever find life." (Vital Speeches of the Day, 11-01-01)
God is pleased when our worship is authentic In the 6/8/05 issue of his Ministry Toolbox newsletter, Rick Warren points out: "When Jesus said you must "worship in spirit" he wasn't referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit! Made in God's image, you are a spirit that resides in a body, and God designed your spirit to communicate with him. Worship is our spirit responding to God's Spirit. "When Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart and soul" he meant that worship must be genuine and heartfelt. It is not just a matter of saying the right words; you must mean what you say. Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is an insult to God. When we worship, God looks past our words to our hearts. The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV). "Since worship involves delighting in God, it engages your emotions. God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling — but those emotions must be genuine, not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn't want showmanship or pretense or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest, real love. We can worship God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely. "Of course, sincerity alone is not enough; you can be sincerely wrong. That's why both spirit and truth are required. Worship must be both accurate and authentic. God-pleasing worship is deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts and our heads. "Today many equate being emotionally moved by music as being moved by the Spirit, but these are not the same. Real worship happens when your spirit responds to God, not to some musical tone. In fact, some sentimental, introspective songs hinder worship because they take the spotlight off God and focus on our feelings. Your biggest distraction in worship is yourself — your interests and your worries over what others think about you." (Click here to read the full article) http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=210&artid=3900&expand=1
ILLUSTRATION: Sexual Temptation An
affluent, aristocratic woman reviews resumes from potential chauffeurs
to drive her Rolls Royce. She narrows the applicants to three
men and invites them to her palatial home. She escorts each one
individually to her driveway and the brick wall beside it. Then
she asks, "If you were driving my Rolls, how close do you
think you could come to that brick wall without scratching my
car?" The
first applicant says, "I can drive within a foot of that
wall and not damage your Rolls." She
brings out the second applicant and asks "If you were driving
my Rolls, how close do you think you could come to that brick
wall without scratching my car?" He
scratches his head and says, "I can drive within six inches
of that wall and not damage your car." She invites the third applicant and asks, "If you were driving my Rolls, how close do you think you could come to that brick wall without scratching my car?" He does not hesitate: "Ma'am, I do not know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car, but if I was driving your car, I would stay as far away as possible from the wall so as not to damage your car." Guess who got the job? When addressing sexual temptation, the point is not how close one can get to the temptation without getting "scratched," but staying as far away as possible. (from Tim Wilkins' Cross Ministry)
ILLUSTRATION: Hospitality, Kindness The late writer and editor Fulton Oursler told a story about an encounter between an elderly couple and the manager of a small hotel in Philadelphia. It happened on a very cold and rainy night. The husband inquired at the desk, "Can you possibly give us a room here?" The hotel was full; all rooms were taken. There were three conventions going on simultaneously that weekend, and the manager's hands were tied. But it was well past midnight, and he did not want to send an elderly couple out into the stormy night. So he said, "Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? I am working all night anyway, and I won't get to bed until morning." The couple accepted the offer and rested comfortably in the manager's room. When checking out the next morning, the elderly man said to the young manager, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I'll build one for you!" Both men laughed, but the one making the suggestion was serious. Several years later, the young manager received a letter containing a round-trip ticket to New York City with a request that he join the couple there for a weekend. When the young man arrived, there was a car waiting for him, and soon he reached his destination — the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, directly in front of a brand-new hotel, a splendid structure of reddish stone, "with turrets and watchtowers, like a castle from fairyland cleaving the New York sky." Waiting for him at the curb was the elderly man he had helped years earlier. "This," the older man said, "is the hotel I have just built for you to manage." The news nearly caused the young man, George C. Boldt, to faint. His benefactor was William Waldorf Astor, and the hotel — the most famous of its day — was the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. (Tom Barnard, Tuesday Mornings newsletter. For a free subscription, write to Dr. Tom Barnard at barnard22@cox.net.)
ILLUSTRATION: Missions, Giving For the last half of her life, every day Fannie Crosby would make her way to various rescue missions (such as the still-operating Bowery Mission) in New York City where she would minister to the homeless. She once wrote: "Many of my hymns were written after experiences in New York mission work. This one was thus written. I was addressing a large company of working men one hot summer evening, when the thought kept forcing itself on my mind that some mother's boy must be rescued that night or not at all. So I made a pressing plea that if there was a boy present who had wandered from his mother's home and teaching, he should come to me at the end of the service. A young man of eighteen came forward and said, 'Did you mean me? I promised my mother to meet her in heaven, but as I am now living that will be impossible.' We prayed for him and he finally arose with a new light in his eyes and exclaimed in triumph, 'Now I can meet my mother in heaven, for I have found God.' "A few days before, Mr. Doane had sent me a theme for a new song. 'Rescue the Perishing,' based on Luke 14:23. While I sat in the mission that evening, the line came to me 'Rescue the perishing, care for the dying.' I could think of nothing else that night. When I arrived home, I went to work on the hymn at once and before I retired it was ready for the melody." Many times, Fanny sold her hymns for a penny or two so that she could make a daily contribution to these rescue missions. (Click here to read the full article on Fanny Crosby.) http://www.ncm.org/CLN/vol5iss5may_cover.html
ILLUSTRATION: Compassion, Ministry Saint Francis, the thirteenth century monk, informed his brethren that he planned to go into the nearby village on a preaching mission. He invited a novice to go along. On their way, they passed an injured man and Francis promptly stopped, saw to the poor fellow's needs and arranged medical care for him. They went on and soon passed a homeless man who was near starvation. Again, Francis stopped his journey and ministered to the hungry, homeless man. So it went, through the day: people in need, Francis lovingly caring for them as best he could until the sun was low in the sky. He told his novice friend it was time for them to return, now, to the monastery for evening prayers. But the young man said, "Father, you said we were coming to town to preach to the people." Francis smiled. Then he said, "My friend, that's what we've been doing all day." That's evangelism at its most faithful. Ministry to people in their need. Not worrying about numerical growth, or adding to one's own conversion record, or winning acclaim within the denomination. Evangelism is sharing the love of God in concrete form among God's people. (E. Carver McGriff, Times of Refreshing)
ILLUSTRATION: Listening An unhappy wife said to a sympathetic neighbor, "My husband doesn't show any interest in what I do. All he cares about is whatever it is that he does at that place — wherever it is — that he works!" Listening well to each other is a challenge, especially when children are demanding, the T.V. is blaring, and both spouses are tired. According to one survey, couples talk with each other about 70 minutes per day during their first year of marriage. Those minutes of sharing are reduced by 20% each succeeding year until by the eighth year; there is little conversation at all. Most failed marriages are victims of poor communication. One of the most important things you can do for your spouse is to listen well to her or him. (Bill Bouknight, "Just a Thought")
|
|||
| |||
|
ILLUSTRATION: Baptism After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys with water, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddle through her kitchen window. The older of the two, a five-year-old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into the water hole. As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother runs to the yard in a panic. "Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!" she says as she shook the older boy in anger. "We were just playing 'church' mommy," he said. "I was baptizing him in the name of the Father, the Son and in the hole-he-goes." (from Mikey's Funnies)
ILLUSTRATION: Surprises, Sovereignty A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was a custom in their affluent community for parents to give their graduating children a new car, and the boy and his dad had spent weeks visiting one dealership after another. The week before graduation they found the perfect car. The boy was certain it would be in the driveway on graduation night. On the eve of his graduation, however, his father handed him a small package wrapped in colorful paper. It was a Bible! The boy was so angry he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again. Several years later the news of the father's death finally brought the son home again. Following the funeral, he sat alone one evening, going through his father's possessions, when he came across the Bible his dad had given him. Overwhelmed by grief, he cracked it open for the first time. When he did, a cashier's check dated the day of his high school graduation fell into his lap — in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together. Rebuked by surprise! Life is short. God is sovereign. All plans are in His hands, not ours. Surprises are part of God's divine plan, designed to remind us that He is still in charge. (Dallas Seminary Daily Devotional, 6-6-05)
"God can mend a broken heart if we give Him all the pieces." (J. Sidlow Baxter)
Sponsors needed for International Congress on Preaching Planning is already underway for the third quinquennial (every 5th year) International Congress on Preaching, which will be held April 17-19, 2007, in Cambridge, England. The first two events were held in London (1997) and Edinburgh (2002), and the Cambridge Congress promises to be a strategic moment in calling the church to a renewed focus on proclaiming God's Word. Because of the costs involved in sponsoring an international event, we need churches and organizations that will partner with us as sponsors. In 2002 we had churches which gave $12,000, $5,000, and as little as $500 to help make the Congress possible. For the 2007 Congress we need to raise at least $40,000 to help meet event costs, subsidize the registration for several hundred British pastors, and provide a limited number of scholarships for third-world pastors to participate. (Don't write to apply for these; they will be nominated by national church leaders.) Would you and your church partner with us in this vital effort? Churches can contribute $5,000 a year between now and 2007, or $2,000, or $1,000, or even $500 a year, and make a substantial difference. Sponsoring churches and organizations will be recognized in Preaching magazine, conference promotional materials, and the Congress program; the senior pastor of each sponsoring church will receive a complimentary registration to ICOP 2007 in Cambridge. To learn more or to make a sponsorship commitment, call us at 800-288-9673, or visit our website at www.preaching.com/icopsponsor. Thanks for prayerfully considering this opportunity to partner with us in impacting the globe with the proclamation of God's Word. P.S. While you are marking your calendar for 2007, don't forget that the 16th annual National Conference on Preaching will be April 24-26, 2006, at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. On-line registration is now available at a $100 discount off the regular price — if you act soon! (Click here to go to the NCP 2006 page.)
Making a joyful noise, kid-style Sometimes kids don't quite get the words to the song, but they do their best: • God bless America thru the night with a light from a bulb! • Oh Susanna, Oh don't you cry for me, For I come from Alabama with a band-aid on my knee! • Give us this day our deli bread! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Whole East Coast. • We shall come to Joyce's, bringing in the cheese. • Gladly, the consecrated, cross-eyed bear. • He carrots for you. • Yield Not to Penn Station. • Dust Around the Throne. • Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures, HERE WE GO • While shepherds washed their socks by night • He socked me and boxed me with His redeeming glove. (from Cybersalt Digest)
And finally . . . Dianne Mitchell of Blalock's Beauty School in Shreveport, LA gathered her students together at the beginning of the day and gave them a little pep talk. She could not have imagined how soon they would need and how dramatically they would heed her admonition to watch out for one another. "We have to stay together as a team, " she told them. A little before noon the students and workers were cleaning up. In walked a man wearing a handkerchief over his face and a skullcap over his hair. He carried a large caliber revolver. He entered past a sign on the door that read: WARNING The man with the gun was Jared Gipson, age 24, 5 feet, 8 inches, 140 pounds. He put the gun in the back of instructor Dianne Mitchell who is somewhat taller and considerably heavier. At first she thought it was a joke when she heard "This is a holdup." Then she "saw that big old gun" and heard him order everyone to get down on the floor. "Get down big momma," he barked at Mitchell. They didn't know what court records would show: Gipson has a history of armed robbery and other crimes. Some of the students on the floor started crying as they saw their grocery money and rent money going. When the robber had gathered all the cash, he took the one male student in the class and pushed him with the pistol toward a door. Mitchell thought, "Oh, my God, he's going to shoot him!" As the robber stepped over his prone victims, Mitchell saw a bare moment of opportunity and stuck out a foot to trip him. The robber tumbled into a wall and dropped his gun. Someone shouted, "Get that sucker!" And that is exactly what they did. Pouncing on him, they attacked with curling irons, chairs, a wooden table leg, clenched fists, and a flood of pent-up anger. The police took the culprit to the hospital for treatment of numerous wounds, especially lacerations to the head. At his arraignment he wore a white bandage across the right side of his forehead. His right eye was blackened and swollen shut. He hung his head when the judge set his bond at $100,000, but he may consider the jail a safer place than the neighborhood. (submitted by Austin B. Tucker, from several newspaper and television items)
Not a current subscriber to Preaching magazine? Why not share PreachingNow with a friend? Missing
an issue of PreachingNow? Problems
with links? Received
this by mistake? |
| PreachingNow is a publication of American Ministry
Resources. Editor: Dr. Michael Duduit. |