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I downloaded and installed a new app today for Bible memorization. Check out the screenshots embedded above for an idea of how it works. It’s called the Verseminder Topical Memory System by NavPress. It costs $3.99, but is well worth it if you want to get serious about memorizing Scripture. The only drawback I see is that it only contains 60 verses.
What tools do you use to help memorize Scripture?
If you’re a pastor, then you have inevitably been asked “what do you do all week?” Besides all the meetings, counseling, coaching, visiting and administrative stuff, we still must spend time preparing for a message each week. And in today’s society, everyone expects the message to be inspiring, motivating, funny, and challenging. I wanted to share a little about my planning and preparation process. I don’t know if it will help anyone, but this is how I get ready for Sunday each week. For me, this process typically takes 10 to 20 hours each week, depending on how much research I’ve done in advance.
And before we begin, the most important thing for any pastor is to stay in God’s Word. If you want to share a fresh message from God each week, you must hear from God and have the courage to share whatever God tells you.
I like to preach in series. When you plan for 4 to 6 weeks at a time, it keeps you from trying to say too much each week. I typically get ideas for sermon series from books I’m reading, from Bible passages that speak to me, and from messages and series that other churches have done. At Cornerstone, we typically rotate between topical series and book series. We like to mix things up to keep sermons from becoming too predictable and boring. Once the series are picked, they are shared with the elders and with the worship team. Currently, we have outlined our series through the first of next year, which is about 5 to 6 months out.
This is where it all begins. I start by reading Bible passages that communicate the principle or truth that we want to convey. I’ll read through several versions and start highlighting key words and phrases. I rely heavily on Evernote to collect and organize my research notes. For key words, I’ll do word studies so that I can understand the context and meaning of the original text. After this is done, it’s time to read through different commentaries to gain insight about each passage. I’ll also read other books that may help me understand concepts or gain additional insight.
This is the point where the message starts taking shape. I’ll read back through my research notes and start organizing my key thoughts. From this, I will determine the main points of the sermon and start forming them into a logical progression. My brain is really wired to keep things in logical order. I have to understand how all the points and thoughts tie together. If not, I feel like I just ramble. Once the main points are written out, I try to write my opening, closing, and transition statements. These will set the tone of the message and determine what I really want to focus on.
By this time, I pretty much know the direction and tone of the message. I like to start adding in personal illustrations and ideas that others have shared with me. I prefer illustrations from the real world instead of illustrations from books or guys that lived hundreds of years ago. By sharing stories from my life, I feel that I am able to let people know that I am not a super preacher man. I’m a real person, with struggles and successes, and I try to give people a glimpse into my life. I’m also talking with the worship team thinking through the flow of the entire service. If we can use a video to help communicate the truth, then we will add it in. But I don’t want to use a video just because it is funny or creative. The first week of any new series is tough, because we’re finishing up all the sermon graphics used on the screens, in the bulletin, and on the web.
My biggest problem each week is that I end up with too much information. So the last thing I do is go back through the progression and organization of the sermon and cut out anything that takes people’s focus away from Christ. This is tough, because it may mean taking out something that I really felt strongly about in the beginning of the process. It also helps focus the message on the main point I want to share each week.
The last step is to boldly proclaim the message that God has given you. And it may even change while you are preaching. If you are prepared, the Holy Spirit can and will change your message on occasion to bring out information that you may have left out. It’s an awesome feeling to see God’s Word transform lives. And for the pastors out there reading this, don’t take lightly your responsibility to proclaim and preach the Gospel. Be bold, be courageous, and be obedient!
Nobody likes to admit that they are greedy and materialistic, yet that is one of our biggest problems in our society today. We buy stuff that we don’t need with money we don’t have. And then we expect someone to bail us out when we get into financial trouble. We are in the middle of a series called In God We Trust at Cornerstone. We’re taking a hard look at how we can really honor God with our possessions and our finances. To help show how easy it is to manage money in a way that honors God, I recruited some high powered help. Check out this video from my little man.
As a father, I’m incredibly proud of all my children, but seeing them learn from an early age about honoring God and saving money is awesome! I even want to share a little story about Drew, the six year old star of the above video. About six months ago, while he was eating a snack in the cafe before the service started, he asked me about one of the offering boxes. I told him what it was and he went on to talk about something else. About 5 minutes later, I glanced over and saw him sneaking over to the box. He made sure no one was looking and he slipped some money out of his pocket and put it into the box. I asked him about it later that day and he just said he felt he needed to give some of his “extra” money back to God. He had already tithed out of his allowance, but he wanted to give more!
If you want to teach your younger kids about handling money, one excellent resource is Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr. For your high school and college kids, I highly recommend Joe Sangl’s book What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter THE REAL WORLD
I’ve been to a lot of conferences and I’ve read a lot of books, but seldom do I hear much about rural churches. We are told that we must change culture through reaching the urban cities, but rural America is not as important. It seems that to be considered successful, a church must have thousands of members. But the reality is that most churches are in rural communities and average less than 100 people per week. Communities where everyone knows everyone, and communities where people still need Christ. I was excited to get my hands on a copy of Transforming Church in Rural America by Pastor Shannon O’Dell, and I want to share a few of my thoughts with you.
But before I talk about the book, I need to share part of my story. I pastor in a small city of less than 7000 people. It’s where both my wife and I grew up, and it’s where we plan on raising our children. It’s a city that is full of churches, some that have been in existence for over 100 years. And most importantly, it is a city that I love. I can relate to the people that live here because I understand them. So I am passionate about the rural church. I have even turned my desire to help rural churches learn how to integrate technology and use the internet into a small part time consulting opportunity.
When I started reading this book, I really could not put it down. I read the entire book in two days, while constantly asking myself why there weren’t more books about the rural church. It’s great to read a story of a church that followed a God-given vision and worked through some pretty big problems along the way. It gives me hope that God can transform any community when we get serious about following Christ. The book starts off by sharing some of the “Unwritten Rural Rules”
Like the author, I want to break all the rural rules. I want to see every church healthy and growing and transforming lives. But I also know that rural churches have their own set of problems to overcome. Most pastors have to learn how to deal with family dynasties that think they rule the church, learn how to operate on a very limited budget, and learn how to promote change and share vision with people who are very happy with the status quo. The author talks about the continual process of change-conflict-growth that we will experience in the rural church. I have definitely seen that take place, even in our 5 year old church.
This is a book about leadership, about vision, about change, and about opportunity. This is a very transparent book, one that shares both the successes and failures that the author has experienced in the church. I love the practical ideas for reaching out to the local communities. As a tech geek, I am fascinated by their use of satellite to reach smaller communities through video venues. I see great value in connecting the leadership and vision and resources of stronger churches with smaller churches that need help. It is a great picture of cooperation and I can envision many more similar partnerships and mergers in the future.
Overall I highly recommend this book. If you are part of the leadership of a rural church, don’t lose hope. Read this book and decide if you are willing to go through the process of change-conflict-growth. I’m afraid that too many of our rural churches are content simply going through the motions while the church gets smaller year after year. I want to see churches find their God-given mission and lead people to Christ while transforming their communities. This book will help guide you through the process of becoming that type of church. It doesn’t answer what style or denomination you should be, but it challenges you to truly love your community and find every way possible of reaching it. Here’s a video with more info.
Disclaimer Policy: This was a book that I received as part of a blog contest. See my full policy here.
Our local newspaper, the Galax Gazette recently launched a new website. As part of their new design, they invited community bloggers to submit posts. I plan on sharing at least one post per week about church life in a small town. Blogging is such a great way to interact and communicate with your community. I’m excited about this new opportunity to share online. Here’s an excerpt from my first post called Compete or Complete?
I can never understand why so many Christians spend time criticizing other churches.
Unfortunately, I think too many times it starts with a competitive attitude from the pastor. I will even let you in on a little secret about pastors. Whenever two pastors run into each other, one of the first questions that is always asked is “How many are you running now?” In other words, whose church is bigger.
Maybe I’m naive, but I think the better question is “How can we help each other?”
Truthfully, no two churches are alike. They may have different interpretations of some secondary doctrinal issues, and they will certainly have different styles of worship and ministry, but they each have a role to play in our community. Different types are churches are a good thing, because each church will be able to reach and minister to people that the others can’t.
Hi, my name is Mike, and I am addicted to electronic gadgets. If you ask anybody that knows me well, they would be sure to verify this fact. I like to stay on the cutting edge of technology, but over the past few years I have really slowed down. The reason why: money.
It takes a great deal of money to have the latest and greatest computers, gadgets, and software. And ministry is not exactly the profession to go into if you want to have money. So now, I’m the guy that constantly wants new stuff, only to have to learn the meaning of contentment.
But I have found something unexpected in the process. My 3 year old church laptop is still running great, and my $300 home computer running Windows XP still works fine. Even though my cell phone came out over 3 years ago, it still makes phone calls. In other words, I really have all I need and more. We live in a society that tries to convince us that we need more. If we buy into the myth that we always need the latest and greatest gadget, then have we made technology our God?
Materialism is an ugly thing, and we can become experts in rationalizing our purchases, but I want to challenge you to really ask yourself if you need the latest and greatest version of every new gadget. The question should not be, “Can I buy this?” The better question is “Should I buy this?”
So while I’m lusting after iPads, new MacBook Pros, and new Android phones, I’m learning the true meaning of 1 Timothy 6:17-19. We’re just started a new series at Cornerstone called “In God We Trust: Faith, Hope, & Money” and I will be sharing about honoring God in every area of our lives, including our technological purchases 
Photo Credit: Rutty
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