10 Ways to Sink Your Sermon Series
Scoping out what other churches across the country are doing to help
people meet Jesus and take steps in their faith is one of my favorite
things to do. I’ve noticed, however, that some churches
implement sermon series much more effectively than others. And, some series inherently engage the unchurched better than others.
With that in mind, I recently created a "top ten" list for Outreach Magazine that highlights some of what I’ve learned through the years on designing an effective series. Here are five of the ten ways I listed for sinking your sermon series:
- Address questions that no one is asking.
- Pack your church calendar so full that inviting friends to worship isn’t a priority.
- Assume the message stands alone.
- Don’t creatively connect biblical truth with the spiritual conversations in our culture.
- Make sure your series only connects with people who already attend your church.
For the rest of the story and the remaining five ways to sink your sermon series, visit the online edition of Outreach Magazine.
Isn’t it amazing that there are churches that just don’t go there? Once you’ve seen it working, it is just staggering that the concept of synergy isn’t embraced.
mark
To be cheesy…”Simply” a phenomenal article. I was hoping when I clicked on the link that there would be an explanation for each point, and there it was waiting for me! Keep up the great work, I’m thankful to have someone like you think about and share these insights.
The Connection Between Wishful Thinking and Reality
Ever really stopped to examine the lack of connection between wishful thinking and reality? That is, there’s a desire to reach a new kind of customer but an unwillingness to fully commit to all that it will take. So instead,
Is it possible for you to note or link to sermon series that you come across that you think capture the reverse here? Sermon’s that actually do a phenominal job at nailing it? I’m personally more so interested in sermons at established churches that are caught between a large, settled member base and reaching those out side the doors.
There are a group of radio stations across the country that call themselves, “JACK-FM”. Their big claim to fame is their slogan, “we play what we want”.
While that may work in the radio world…that is certainly not a motto for preaching/teaching in today’s culture! Yes…we need to be speaking to the spiritual conversations of today’s culture, or the audience will “tune out”.
Thanks for sharing this in your article, Tony!
Joe Case, Sr. Pastor
UpRising Church, Nashville, TN
http://www.joecase.com
Great article Tony…Being in youth ministry I saw the value of this years ago although at the time I didn’t even understand the concept of branding in sermon series.
I really have seen #2 in your points above to be the most important. Doing a new series each month helps our teens really push to reach their friends. It gives them a connecting point as well as a topic to create a buzz. It also helps in creating materials to help them get the word out. A monthly series keeps it fresh and almost every series can be done in 4 to 5 weeks. Anymore than that and you are right you lose people.
Right on target, Tony.
I was thinking about this from a worship leader’s/planning point of view.
Getting clear on “Who Is Your Target Lister?” and then reducing competing activities and environmental intrusions consistently yield a stronger impact.
Nice list!
I echo the above request for a couple of blog entries with links to some series you think connect really well. It would be doubly cool if you could provide a little analysis on why you think they work verses maybe a similar series that wouldn’t.
Thanks for the great tips.