Five Subtle Ways Satan Sneaks Into Your Pulpit

Take five minutes out. Lean back in your chair at the office or put your feet up in your recliner. You might close your eyes to help you think and ponder. Now ask yourself a question that could determine if you’ll still have an effective ministry 20 years from now: “If Satan were to sneak into your pulpit, how would he do it?” Keep in mind that you won’t recognize him by his clothing or actions. He’ll be kind, polite, winsome, and attractive. But he’s ugly and deceptive underneath.
Effective ministry demands that we recognize the tactics of the enemy and then guard against them. Penetrating Satan’s mind and knowing that “He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world” are key (I John 4:4).
Criss-crossing the world as an evangelist, I’ve seen five prominent ways he sneaks in the pulpit. Let’s examine what they are and how to avoid them.

1. Satan Will Convince You That You’re Not Only Someone, You Are SOMETHING.
God never uses one person or one ministry to touch everyone. It’s together that we get the job done. It’s the combination of spiritual gifts God uses to build up the body. That’s why I Corinthians 12: 21 teaches, “And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’”
You are one of the “someones.” Uniquely gifted, God uses you and your giftedness to both reach the lost and build up those who are His. As people are helped and blessed, they let you know. They should! All of us need to be encouraged.
But one encouraging comment can become several comments, sometimes many comments. They come verbally through text messages and emails. Sometimes comments you make get repeated on a website or two, and then you might find people have referred to you on Twitter or Facebook.
That’s when Satan causes you to think you’re not only someone, you are SOMETHING. Pride creeps in—not overnight, just one Sunday at a time. In six months, you start to be a different person. You begin to ponder, “Where would the church be without me? Why don’t other preachers develop the skills that I have? I never knew God was going to so abundantly use me.”
The answer for this problem is two-fold. First, secure an accountability partner who is honest enough to tell you every time they see something prideful about you. But don’t get defensive, since they are probably right and are trying to help (as you asked them to), not hurt. Secondly, every day remember something: Should you be wiped off the scene today, the work of Christ would go on pretty much unhindered. This fact is sobering to say the least and keeps you right where you need to be—feeling dependent, undeserving, and grateful.

2. Satan Will Suggest That Instead Of Teaching Something Relevant, You Need To Teach Something New.
The preacher’s job is well defined. II Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word! ” This means our message is confined to what He says. We are not teaching something new but truth as old as the Bible itself. We don’t have to make it relevant; it is relevant. All we have to do is communicate effectively to the people. This is why the pressure we need to feel is not how to come up with a truth our people have never heard of. Instead, it’s the pressure to take the truth God gave years ago and put it in words that are meaningful and applicable. Sometimes we teach the same truth 50 times. It’s been accurately stated that effective communication is saying the same thing in different words.
But the longer you’re in the ministry, the easier it can be for Satan to convince you that people are tired of hearing the same old thing. Therefore, instead of feeling the need to use sentences, illustrations, and analogies that drive truth home in a fresh way, you think that you need to come up with something new, period—something never thought of, never taught, and never heard. The subject may be the mind, marriage, relationships, spiritual growth, love, hate, or a myriad of things. Soon you have stepped outside the Scriptures, teaching your thoughts instead of His. Discerning people will appropriately begin to say, “I’m not sure that’s what the Scriptures say.” The difference is profound. God has never promised to bless your word; He’s only promised to bless His.
The answer? Get down on your knees, open the Bible in front of you, and utter a simple prayer: “Don’t let me stray outside this book, but help me teach whatever is in this book clearly and effectively.” Then, approach someone in your church who is very knowledgeable in the Word and say to them, “If you hear me say something strange, don’t just accept it. Ask me about it, and don’t assume that because I’m the preacher I am right.” That person should regard you highly for caring enough to make sure you’re preaching His thoughts, not yours.

3. Satan Will Tell You That Your People Need An Exhorter In Evangelism.
A pastor who has spent any time in the Word knows II Timothy 4:5: “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” When Paul wrote that, he was not addressing Timothy as a gifted evangelist, but Timothy as a gifted pastor-teacher.
Unfortunately, Satan will try to define that verse for you. He can convince you that you have to stand before your people and say, “Evangelize, evangelize, and evangelize.” That way, you feel that you have done your part.
It is what Satan doesn’t tell you that matters. He doesn’t tell you that people are most apt to do what you do, not what you say. If you talk about the lost, they will talk about the lost. If you talk to the lost, they will talk to the lost. Examples, not exhortation, change the hearts of people in evangelism.
As you show your church how you take advantage of opportunities to converse with the lost, soon you will have a church full of people who are not just “discussing” the work of an evangelist but are doing the work of an evangelist. How do you get there? It’s simpler than you might think.
First, as Paul did in Ephesians 6:19–20, ask your people to pray that when you open your mouth, something will come out of it (utterance) and boldly. Secondly, once again, find an accountability partner. This may be the one you’ve asked to check your pride or maybe a different one. But once a month, have that person ask you, “What have you done to reach out this week to a lost person?” I assure you, I know pastors who have taken up that challenge, and it is changing their lives and—guess what—their churches.

4. Satan Will Convince You That You Can Grow Spiritually Through Your Sermon Preparation.
I’ve heard of few sermons that benefited people much when they didn’t first hit the preacher. Preachers who preach with passion are those who have been so deeply touched by a passage that they become a channel to transfer the blessing to others. It shows in the way they come across. Their whole demeanor is not, “This is what you need.” Instead, it is, “This is what God showed me I need, and I know you’re going to be blessed by it, too.” Sometimes there’s uncertainty as to whether it’s a sermon or a testimonial.
But Satan uses the struggle every preacher faces: time. You can begin to think that you don’t have time to get alone with God, so your sermon preparation, climaxed by a few moments of prayer, will suffice.
Since God is a God of grace, He obviously understands your time constraints and loves you, but He also desires your fellowship (I John 1:3). Those moments when you close your ear to everyone else’s voice and just listen to His as it comes through devotional study of the Word—those uninterrupted moments with your best friend—are what keeps you fresh. Some of those times cause tears to run down your cheeks as He shows you areas in which you’re flawed and need improvement, but you still come away feeling energized. Interestingly enough, preachers who have fallen away from the Lord have commented to me that where they made their mistake was neglecting their quiet time with Him.
Consider creating a hallowed spot. For me, it’s my chair in the living room where God and I meet each morning. Always going through a book of the Bible, I may cover one verse or I may cover a chapter. I don’t care. What I do care about is that I go from there into my day’s activity with one truth to meditate on for that day. I also keep the requests I give Him carefully noted on a 3×5 card, so I’m careful not to forget. I come away fed, energized, helped, and encouraged—as only the One who saved me more than 40 years ago can do. Don’t ask me why He would ever want to be with someone so depraved as you or me. But He can’t wait to talk, and I can’t wait to listen and respond.

5. Satan Will Convince You That “You’re Not Getting The Attention You Deserve.”
Frustrating, isn’t it? You may be more faithful in your study and preparation of your message than many preachers you know, but somehow they get the recognition you don’t. What follows is money. Increased recognition brings increased funds with it. So while you and your church struggle to make it, the other preacher’s church and even the preacher are doing quite well.
Satan can convince you that you have a right to be frustrated. You are not getting half the attention you deserve. Soon your frustration turns to others whom you deem responsible—your people, a staff member, board member, denominational head, or perhaps your own mate. Tension builds, and Satan stands on the sideline smiling…correction: laughing.
The answer: Go back to the starting block. Don’t memorize but master I Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” Note the word is “faithful,” not “famous.” Place it in front of you on the desk. Hang it in your office. But don’t just memorize it; swallow it. Absorb it into your spiritual being so that it becomes a governing principle of your life.
Why? Because God is the keeper of the books. No good deed goes unrewarded. No amount of discipleship goes unnoticed. No mistakes are made in His bookkeeping. Everything due to you will come in terms of recognition, if not now, then later. He promises, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work” (Revelation 22:12). Think about it—who would you rather be rewarded by? Someone down here who only sees a lot of what you do, or someone “up there” who sees all of what you do?

Conclusion
Now that you know Satan’s tactics and how to prevent them, ACT! Let Satan know in no uncertain terms that his tactics won’t work with you. James 4:7 promises, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Your prayers and action will give him a not-so-subtle message: “I’m not interested in a truce; I’m only interested in victory. And victory will be mine.”

Larry Moyer

EvanTell, Inc.
Dr. R. Larry Moyer is a veteran evangelist and a frequent speaker in evangelistic outreaches, training seminars, churches and universities around the world. Born with an inherited speech defect, Larry vowed to God as a teenager that if He would allow him to gain control of his speech he would always use his voice to declare the gospel. In 1973, Larry founded EvanTell, where he now serves as President and CEO. He has written several books on evangelism and frequently contributes articles to ministry publications

Managing the Clock in Your Preaching

More than fifteen years ago, I was beginning a series of meetings in Newark, New Jersey on a holiday weekend. The church started the meetings with a long musical program which minimized the focus of the evangelistic message. When the pastor went to the pulpit to introduce me, it was 11:50 a.m. and the services were to conclude shortly after noon. I could have thought, “These people better pay attention and no one better move until I finish my masterpiece of a sermon.” The pastor then introduced me saying, “The first time I met our speaker today was in my office this morning. He comes from the Midwest. Please help me to welcome him.”

Since the people did not know me and did not know anything about our ministry, I was facing an uphill battle to gain the attention, and respect of the audience. I walked to the pulpit, thanked the pastor, and said, “It is my honor to be with you today. I just noticed on my watch that is 11:50 a.m. It is amazing how quickly time passes in a worship service. Please look at your watch with me. If you will give me the opportunity to minister to 12:20, I promise to finish by that time. In a moment, however, when I request us to stand for the reading of the Scripture, if you must go, then feel free to be dismissed.”

When the audience stood, only eight people left the service. What did I accomplish in two or three minutes with an audience who had never heard me minister before? I immediately built an emotional, trustworthy bridge to them that said, “I recognize the hour and will respect your most precious commodity: your time!
We began our evangelistic services that morning, and they became some of the best I have ever conducted in my twenty-five years of ministry. The length of the sermon is not determined by the clock, but by the crowd.

There are no doubt speakers you have heard who have gone too long, while others have gone too short. There are those times we have said, “Will this person ever end?” Other times, we have said, “This leader finished too soon. I wish I could have heard more.” What is the secret to becoming the presenter who people want to hear more instead of less?

It is important we know our surroundings and understand our audience at all times during the preaching of the sermon. This is crucial to effectiveness. A sermon is not too long because the clock says so. It is too long if the audience says so. If you are wondering if the people are following you, walk to the outskirts of the platform and watch the heads of the people. If their heads turn as you walk, they are with you. However, if the people refuse to follow you, you need to conclude the sermon as quickly as possible.

The shorter the time left in any setting, the more the people must be convinced of the importance of the presenter or the presentation. This holds true regardless if you are the presenter or the one to introduce an invited guest. It is unfortunate but true; we live in a clock-centered instead of a compass-led culture. The bigger the “why” you give the people, the longer the attention span.
Because “master time” is often dictating the thinking of people, we must reflect over it, redeem it and release it.

Reflect Over Time
Regardless of our wealth, no one has been given any extra minutes in any given day. Often, time is wasted during a worship service simply because the leader does not value time like he or she should. When every moment is given proper reflection before the event takes place, we are more apt to be successful with our desired outcomes. We are to squeeze all of the life out of each day in general and each presentation as well. If we do not respect “father time” then we will fail in the organization and preparation for each presentation of the gospel to our audience.

During your reflection, secure copies of different worship schedules. Observe how leading pastors organize the worship service.

Discover how much time they allot to the presentation of the gospel. Sometimes, just one new idea will spark fresh creativity in your mind and heart—the mind being the practices and the heart being the passion. We need both practices and passion to navigate successfully the ebbs and flows of presentation opportunities.

The deeper one thinks through the issues, the freer he or she becomes. The person who says, “The Holy Spirit will lead us” or “The Holy Spirit will fill our mouths” is often the same person who has not carved out time to reflect over the causes, choices and consequences of people who do not listen to his or her message. People are more apt to give their money than to give their time. The cause has an effect, the choice has a chain and the consequence has an eternity!

The Weekly Task Of Time
Each presenter needs to develop a sense of time needed for the average message. For example, most of my messages are between forty to forty-five minutes. Yet, there are numerous instances each year when these messages are shortened for various reasons. The overarching point is that if you do not cultivate a sense of how much time is normally needed, you will find yourself over-preparing and trimming your presentation as you present each week, even though other stage participants have been respectful of time.

A good rule of thumb is that approximately eight hours is needed to prepare about a forty-minute message. Once the presenter has come to understand the average amount of time needed each week, then he or she can effectively reflect over time, redeem time, and release time for powerful results.

Be sure to study what the Bible has to say about time. The Scripture was given long before the invention of the clock, yet the Lord has a timeline and a prophetic schedule. Our Lord operates above and beyond time, yet He also orchestrates and organizes in the world of time. Of course, we are not to become slaves to “father time,” but we need to learn to respect time if we are to truly appreciate each and every day.

Redeem The Use Of Time
We also need to redeem time “for the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). When it comes to the presentation or the worship service, when moments are lost, time must be redeemed. Most of the time, it is the sermon that is sacrificed due to poor management at another juncture in the service. It is usually the minister who has to adjust his message, or the guest speaker who is placed in a predicament due to wasted time earlier in the service.

The overarching reason for this common outcome is that many other activities are valued more than the preaching of the Word of God. If we were to take a poll, we spend more time thinking about the announcements, the music, the offering, and less time on how to protect the sacred time of the presentation of the Gospel. The preaching of the Word is the time when God speaks to His people. Due to the Christian tradition that I was raised in, I have often heard, “The Holy Spirit really moved today and we did not even hear a sermon.” I look forward to the day I hear, “The Holy Spirit really moved today and we did not even have singing, announcements, and offering; we just preached the Word!”

We need to redeem time in general and the “preached Word” in particular. If people are going to be turned back to God’s Word, then we must reevaluate its placement, priority, and purpose. All of us have been in worship services when someone chose to sing too long, share announcements without time consideration, or other surprises that we were not counting on that day. So, how do we redeem the time?

Process in Place
First, as leaders we should have a process in place with our team so these are not common occurrences. If the process is bad, the product will be bad. There is a process of success in every stream of society. We should incorporate the necessary checks and balances during the week so maximum results are obtained each weekend. Many pastoral teams meet each week to assess the previous weekend so they can eliminate past mistakes and continue to incorporate those elements of effectiveness into future worship services.

Plan to Practice
Second, as preachers or presenters of God’s Word, we need to know our message so well that we can adjust the sails so we are successful with our sermon. I do not memorize my sermon, but I mentally organize my sermon. This organization brings great freedom to me when I am not given ample time.

Many years ago, while preaching in Memphis, Tennessee, the pastor leaned over to whisper when a person chose to spend more time talking about her special song than actually singing it. He said, “Do you know what Psalm 151 says?”
“No, I don’t know what Psalm 151 says,” I whispered back.
“It says, ‘Blessed is he that preaches but does not sing, and blessed is he who sings but does not preach.’”
The point was and is, each of the stage participants has a role. They need to understand what the roles are and what the goals are for the service.

When I find myself in a situation where time has not been respected and the preacher’s task has not been redeemed, I begin thinking through the most sacred elements of the message. Immediately, my mind moves from the good highlights to be spoken, to the best thoughts to be shared in that setting. For example, normally I have at least one illustration for each main division of the message. I begin assessing which illustration could be eliminated without closing the windows to the soul. Illustrations are there to illustrate. They are the windows of a beautiful home. They let the light into the mind and heart.

Once I have mentally eliminated one illustration or story, then my mind goes to the introduction. I think of the shortest yet most creative way to introduce the message so people will get into the message as fast as possible. The reason for this is because the audience at this moment is thinking about the “tiredness of time” and wondering how late the worship service is going to go. By my getting them quickly into the message, their imagination is captured sooner, and they are more likely to go with me to the end. If we ignore this at the beginning, most people will mentally check out before we ever have time to engage their senses.

Once I have thought through the illustrations and introduction, if I still believe more time is needed to be redeemed, then I will choose not to lead in oral prayer before my message begins. One of our public traditions is to pray after the Scripture is read, followed by preaching the message. However, if time is extremely short, I will pray quietly in my heart before going to the pulpit, offering the message to my Lord.

I am sure that you can think of creative and dynamic ways to redeem the time when needed. With experience comes a variety of mental methods to recapture lost time so we can be effective. One of the greatest expositors of the twentieth century, Dr. Stephen F. Olford, had a biblical process that he applied for many decades. Before he would preach, he would repent, reflect, and recommit his life. The point being made here is that each of us needs to have a pattern or a path so we can carve as much “think time” out of our lives as possible, to reach our personal and professional potential.

Release Of Time
We also release time. What do I mean by this? We can either choose to use time or lose time. We cannot take time, borrow time, or give time. We can either embrace it or be embarrassed by it.
A long-term pastor has a huge advantage that a guest presenter very seldom has. The deeper the emotional equity or higher the trust factor, the greater flexibility he or she has before the hearers. In other words, most people have a higher level of forgiveness or tolerance with those who successfully preach the Word for many years. The greater the respect, the more release of time. When we consistently respect the time of our listeners, then they will release us when the service goes longer than normal.

When a pastor has a guest presenter, he or she should give the guest as much time as possible. Yet, if for some reason time is not redeemed, the pastor must instruct the congregation as to the importance of carefully listening to the guest presenter. It is at that precise moment that a powerful introduction must be given to arouse the audience to focus on the presenter who is about to bring a message. These few moments will redeem more time in the minds of the listeners and will release the presenter on a higher level of respect. The pastor who ignores this makes it doubly hard for the guest to gain proper attention.

Having said this, however, if you are the guest, all hope is not gone. If time has not been redeemed prior to beginning your presentation, determine your message length based upon the normal dismissal time. Then, simply walk to the lectern, acknowledge the time, apologize for the lateness of the hour, and quickly redeem the time. Once you have convinced your audience that you know the time and that you will shorten your message, people will relax, and time will be released in your favor. To ignore this in a clock-centered culture will cause one to hit a foul ball instead of a single or a home run.

Dr. Ademola Ishola serves at the General Secretary of the Nigeria Baptist Convention in Lagos, Nigeria. As I write today, more than ten thousand Nigerian Baptist churches are flourishing. Dr. Ishola and I serve together in the Billion Soul Network to challenge the global Church to double in size in this generation. In September 2007, I flew more than 15,000 miles to Nigeria and was driven to Bowen Seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria, for a twenty-minute presentation. Upon my arrival, I watched Dr. Ishola begin making time in the schedule so I could have as much time as possible to present the Billion Soul vision to his pastors and distinguished leaders. I arrived late in the afternoon, but his introduction awakened the audience. I noticed that they were listening with deep attention.

When I came to the platform to speak to the audience, I could sense energy among the listeners. They were ready to listen. In just a matter of moments, Dr. Ishola had awakened the audience and set the stage for me to deliver a powerful twenty-minute presentation to motivate key leaders to synergize their efforts for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Due to the high respect that the leaders had for Dr. Ishola, he was able to release enough time for me to share in the middle of the afternoon.

In spring of 2009, I traveled as a guest to several denominational ministers’ conferences to motivate pastors to go out and help redeem the world. At one, the district superintendent brought a video presentation on church planting. The video presentation was cheaply done, lacked excellence, and was far too long, running nearly fifteen minutes. A video is considered too long at eight minutes, about right at four minutes. It was already late in the evening, so about three minutes into the video, I could see that most of the audience had mentally checked out. Upon the video’s end, the leader proceeded to continue speaking of the need for church planting and challenged the people to give a generous offering toward the effort. I do not know what the offering was, but I am certain it was not a record amount!

In this instance, it would have far better to make this presentation much shorter in order to gain the attention of the audience. When a presenter does not know his or her audience and does not have a sense of timing, he or she will cause a misconnect with his audience. We need to remember that the length of a presentation is not determined by the clock but by the crowd.

James Davis

Cutting Edge International
Dr. James O. Davis is founder of Cutting Edge International and co-founder of Billion Soul Network, a growing coalition of more than 1,000 Christian ministries and denominations encompassing more than 400,000 churches. Working together, this coalition is building the premier community of pastors worldwide in order to facilitate a global thrust to plant five million new churches and lead one billion people to Christ. Davis has written numerous books, published hundreds of sermons and prepared many life-changing training series for the Church worldwide. Learn more about Dr. Davis at JamesODavis.org.

Blair Wingo – Allow me to re-introduce the Christ

9 Tips to Keep Your Preaching Fresh on Special Days

It was Mother’s Day. I knew the two well-dressed elderly ladies glaring at me were visitors because they sat in the front row. In the middle of my sermon, one said aloud to the other, “This isn’t about mothers.” The other responded, “What kind of church is this?” and together they looked down the row disapprovingly at the family members who brought them.

Choosing not to focus an entire sermon on a special day, as I sometimes do, can create a stir. By contrast, some may avoid church on a special day because of the strong negative emotions attached. One man told me, “I skipped last week because it was Mother’s Day.” When I asked why, he replied, “It was pointless. My mother’s been dead for years.”

SPECIAL DAYS PRESENT PREACHERS WITH SPECIAL CHALLENGES

1.  When we ignore a special day, we may suffer the consequences of disappointing people. My experience has been that if you choose not to address a given holiday, most people will be happy provided it’s a good sermon. But as the above story shows, that isn’t always the case. Depending on the day, we encounter expectations from several sources:

• Congregational expectations. Members of the congregation may be disappointed if there is no patriotic sermon on July 4 or Christmas sermon for every Sunday in Advent.
• Visitor and irregular attender expectations. Some holidays mean in influx of visitors or an appearance by sporadic attenders. They are there because of the holiday and find it strange if it is not addressed. At other times the holiday means fewer people in worship, which can disrupt a sermon series.
• Denominational expectations. Beyond the days on the average calendar, your denomination  has its own expectations about special themes to be addressed, projects to be plugged, and offerings to be raised.
• Liturgical expectations. Although I have never been part of a liturgical tradition, one year an elder called a hasty meeting to uncover why we had ignored Pentecost that Sunday. Depending on your church, you may not want to ignore Reformation Sunday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or St. Patrick’s Day.

2.  People may focus on the holiday rather than on God. This is probably the greatest danger of any special day. Humanism, hyper-patriotism, and outright idolatry can hijack worship. Biblical preachers must avoid dressing the gospel in patriotic clothes, tying the flag on the cross on July 4, or turning Christmas into merely a sentimental family affair.

After one worship service, a member met me at the door with a mild rebuke: “I was a little disappointed not to hear a sermon about mothers today.”

“Why was that?” I said as casually as possible, dismayed that so many in the narthex seemed to be listening.

“It is Mother’s Day,” she replied. “Shouldn’t mothers get one Sunday a year?”

In a flash (of what I hope was inspiration) I responded, “Nope. God gets ‘em all.”

That is the heart of the matter. There are many holidays and special events that demand attention, but the only thing that matters is that God be honored. As Stephen Rummage writes, “The purpose of the special day sermon is not to glorify the special day but to glorify Jesus Christ”(Planning Your Preaching, 2002, p. 124).

3.  The celebration pushes the sermon off to the side.A word from God can be overshadowed by a musical extravaganza, a powerful drama, or cute children waving palm branches. Recognition of the oldest father present or the presentation of a lengthy musical number leaves less time for preaching. One Easter our platform was filled with so much staging I had to preach from the aisle.

4.  We may use Scripture wrongly to address the holiday. When we try to speak to a special day, we may make a text mean what it never meant. For example, we may offer biblical characters as case studies in parenthood when that was not the intent of the text.

• “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12) is not the right text for Trinity Sunday.
• “But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow” (Ps. 60:4) does not refer to our nation’s flag and a call to patriotism.

5.  The holiday theme is not what we sense God wants preached at this time. Have you ever faced a holiday and sensed the theme seemed opposite to what God wanted? The calendar season was not the spiritual season of the church. It was Thanksgiving, but you felt the mind of the Lord was to deal with broken relationships. The holiday mood was celebratory, but you sensed the need for repentance.

Rather than automatically jettisoning either, try to wed the two. How does what you sense relate to the holiday? Another option is to ignore the holiday and explain why. This only adds to the urgency of the message.

6.  We have run out of fresh things to say. Of all special days, the most significant are Christmas and Easter, and that makes them also the most challenging. Since each of those days tends to arrive every year, a pastor must find ways to declare powerfully the basic message of Christ’s incarnation and resurrection to the same audience. The preacher must be able to do more than declare “ditto.”

HOW TO KEEP FROM RUNNING DRY

Here are nine suggestions for producing fresh material for any special day.

1. Plan and study ahead. When you suddenly realize Palm Sunday is a week away, it’s hard to come up with something fresh. Planning ahead gives you time to think, pray, and be creative.

   It also allows for mid-course corrections. Several years ago I spent the summer preaching through 1 and 2 Thessalonians. As I planned the series, I realized 2 Thessalonians 3:6–15 (on idleness and work) was scheduled two weeks prior to Labor Day weekend. I decided to take a two-week break in the middle of the series so the passage would line up with the holiday. I never gave a Labor Day sermon before or since, but that one was unexpectedly powerful.

2. Glean from others. After a few years at the same church, preaching five Advent sermons each year, I started to worry about running out. In desperation I tried to discover how others had preached these themes. As a result I heard and read some great sermons that pointed me in new directions. Titles alone proved helpful. Two that stood out to me were William Willimon’s “Blood in Bethlehem” and Bruce Thielemann’s “Glory to God in the Lowest.”
3. Capture content all year. Gather material this Christmas for next Christmas. What you don’t use now, store up for next year. Set up folders in your computer or file drawer for special days. Throughout the year, file away material that will fit holidays months down the road.
4. Preach topics related to but not about the holiday. The topic of “Living Above Our Fears” can fit in at Christmas or Easter, for example, because fear is consistently referenced throughout the nativity and resurrection narratives. For either holiday, Hebrews 2:14–15 could serve as the text, declaring freedom to those enslaved by the fear of death. Or instead of addressing felt needs, we can explore various facets of character and works of God related to the holiday, such as God’s humility or providence at Christmas, God’s power at Easter, God’s tenderness on Mother’s Day.

   The result may not be a typical holiday sermon, but it may be more effective.

5. Expand the range of your preaching styles. If you are like me, you tend to use one preaching style the majority of the time. A special day may be a good opportunity to broaden your horizons.

   Textual preachers could try a topical approach—changing from the study of a pericope to a thematic study of peace, for example. Sequential expositors might consider attempting a first-person narrative—complete with robe and sandals. Those who preach doctrinal sermons could try a verse-by-verse approach.

   This variance in style will give you different options as you select the text. It will challenge you and enliven your congregation as they experience the presentation of truth in a different manner.

6. Use uncommon texts. Some texts are so familiar that people glaze over from the reference alone, so keep your eyes open for infrequently used texts that speak to these major holidays.

   While we must not neglect the narratives of the birth, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, words from an unexpected text can cast new light on the truth. One I have never heard preached is “The Christmas Dragon,” from Revelation 12:1–6. Have you used Genesis 3:15 to preach the death and resurrection of Christ, or explored the many other Old Testament prophecies concerning him? The story of Ruth suggests the coming of the Kinsman Redeemer.

7. Speak from different viewpoints. Even using the most familiar texts, we can consider the same event from another perspective. We can tell the Christmas story through the eyes of angels, shepherds, or Herod, and the Easter story through Peter, Pilate, or Simon of Cyrene. However, to keep the emphasis on Christ, I avoid placing the focus on the minor characters; they are simply the viewpoint from which I look at the Savior. And to maintain biblical authority, I don’t create imaginary, extrabiblical ones.

   I once preached from Matthew 2 on “Grinches that Threaten Christmas.” King Herod threatened the birth of Christ out of fear while the religious leaders responded to Jesus’ birth with indifference, not bothering to travel five miles out of Jerusalem to check out the prophecy. Similar grinches of the soul are alive and well today. Our own fear of a loss of power threatens the place of Jesus in our lives. Indifference born of religious complacency threatens the reality of Christ to us.

8. Clarify the objective. The questions of What am I trying to do? and Why am I doing it? are necessary for every sermon, but on special days we may neglect to ask them. “Because it’s Christmas” is not a worthwhile response.

   For example, for a time I went through an apologetics emphasis in my Christmas and Easter sermons, spending several holidays defending the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus. Certainly there is a place for that type of preaching on occasion, but few of my hearers seemed as blessed by it as I was. Suddenly the thought came to me:Stop trying to prove the resurrection and talk more about what it accomplished. That is a subtle but significant shift in purpose.

   Have you focused primarily on evangelizing the visitors on those special days? Switch your emphasis and encourage the saints. Have you seen the holiday as a time to bring comfort? Shift your approach and aim for conviction and cleansing. Perhaps the mood has always been joyful, and a more solemn tone would be effective.

9. Use the holiday as a bridge. When I am in a book study or topical series, I prefer not to break the flow for a special day. But I have found I can use the special day as a bridge into the sermon. For example, on Father’s Day, I could begin a message from a series on Proverbs by saying, “One thing that fathers need most is wisdom. We find that in our text today on the subject…”

   Since Christ’s work is the focus of the most important special days and every sermon should connect to the gospel, bridging to or from the holiday should be a natural crossing.

THE SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Although special days have their challenges, they have far greater opportunities. There is an air of expectancy that can be used by God. Visitors are present who may never have heard the gospel. It is rarely business as usual.

On the fourth Sunday of Advent one year, I preached from 2 Corinthians 1:20, on the Yes of Christ. My big idea was, “Everything God promised us was delivered with Jesus.” Afterward, one woman told me that though her divorce was long in the past, she struggled with feelings of loneliness and abandonment by God. That day she knew she needed to trust in God’s promises. Grandparents came to relate how glad they were that their visiting children and grandchildren had come that day. They had been tempted to stay at home and celebrate the holiday, but in coming they had heard from God. A young couple came to tell me that they were believers visiting from another state and had convinced their unbelieving relatives to visit our church with them. The couple was elated that their relatives had heard the good news.

Those who preach on special days can do so with the confidence that God truly can make a holiday a holy day.

5 Warning Signs of Declining Church Health

December 17, 2004, should have been a day of celebration.

Nellie Jo and I had been married 27 years on that date. We were in Naples, Florida, enjoying the sunshine and each other.

Then the phone call came.

We had been given a great deal of confidence that the biopsy would likely prove negative. Proceed with our anniversary celebration, we were told. In the unlikely event that the report was not good, they would let us know.

The report was not good. Nellie Jo had cancer. The next two years would prove to be some of the most challenging years of our lives and marriage.

When an Unhealthy Body Looks Healthy 

Looking back, it is amazing to recall how healthy Nellie Jo looked. She showed no signs of fatigue or sickness. Had she not seen a couple of warning signs, she might have found out too late about her cancer. She might not be alive today.

I’ve seen it countless times. My team would go into a church for a consultation, and we would begin interviewing church members. We would hear from many of the congregants that their church was healthy and thriving. Then we would see the warning signs. And we would begin to fear that the apparently healthy body was not really healthy at all.

The church was sick. Some of the churches were really sick.

Five Warning Signs 

What were some of the warning signs my team saw? Though the list is not exhaustive, these five issues were common. Some of the churches had one or two on the list; some had all five.

1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve.

2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other churches in the community, or they are leaving the local church completely. A common exit interview theme we heard was a lack of deep biblical teaching and preaching in the church.

3. The church is experiencing conflict over issues of budgets and building. When the focus of church members becomes how the facilities and money can meet their preferences, church health is clearly on the wane.

4. Corporate prayer is minimized. If the church makes prayer a low priority, it makes God a low priority.

5. The pastor has become a chaplain. The church members view the pastor as their personal chaplain, expecting him to be on call for their needs and preferences. When he doesn’t make a visit at the expected time or when he doesn’t show up for the Bible class fellowship, he receives criticism. In not a few cases, the pastor has lost his job at that church because he was not omnipresent for the church members.

Where Do We Go from Here?

The bad news is that few churches recover if the patterns above become normative. The church is a church in name only. It is self-gratifying rather than missional. It is more concerned about great comfort than the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

The good news is that a few churches have moved from sickness to health. The path was not easy. It first required that the congregants be brutally honest with themselves and God. It does no good to speak glowingly of a church that is unhealthy and getting worse.

Many of the turnaround churches we consulted then moved to a time of corporate confession and repentance. They confessed to God their lack of obedience and their selfish desire for their own comfort.

And still other churches made an intentional effort to shift the ministries and the money of the church to a greater outward focus. This step can be particularly painful since a number of church members often protest with vigor that their needs are no longer being met.

To Become a Healthy Church 

Indeed, we could focus on the reality that the great majority of sick churches do not recover. But that focus provides little value.

We should look at the admittedly few churches that have moved from sickness to health. We should learn how they turned from an inward focus to an outward focus. We should follow their examples of moving from selfish desires to radical obedience to God.

In His power, the unhealthy church can become healthy.

Heed the warning signs.

It could be the difference between life and death.