One frustrating problem for small church pastors is leading a church that has no desire to share their faith. How does that pastor begin to change that and overcome the natural resistance to personal evangelism?
If a pastor had no training in personal evangelism (which is likely if the church is a mainline denomination), then how does a pastor lead evangelism when the pastor may have very little personal experience? [Read more…]
Were you recently appointed as the new pastor of a small church?
Over the summer, I’ve met with new pastors, freshly ordained, who have been appointed to very small churches in rural areas, or some churches in urban pockets that have been in decline for years.
What are some possible ways the small church pastor can help grow the church through evangelism? [Read more…]
Zondervan has placed the NIV Application Commentary Series on sale for only $4.99 each through May 20, 2013.
I have this entire collection in hardback, and rejoice that they’ve thrown this to the kindle on a deep discount.
The first column is for the US Market.
The second is for Canadians.
This is a flash sale and may expire at any time. I cannot control pricing. There are other periodic times when these commentaries are on sale. [Read more…]
As a church leader, what if you don’t excel in personal evangelism?
Can your congregation still enjoy conversion growth?
Watch these three pastors in this 10-minute video about how churches can grow in evangelism.
Darrin Patrick, Mark Dever and Matt Chandler spend some time talking about their different evangelism approaches.
You might like these books for further reading:
Recently, I was asked via Ask EvangelismCoach about ways to increase the number of invitations to church that members give to their network of friends.
Review these posts to get on board with some of the answers
Today, I want to add number 4.
The preached sermon is the focus of our worship gatherings.
If you are the pastor, take a review of your sermons.
In other words, will my friend understand the sermon?
Have you explained theological terms in plain language?
Are you keeping the theology in the textbook, but making theology accessible to people who may not understand?
I think some modern preachers do this well. I listen to podcasts from Andy Stanley, David Jeremiah, Tim Keller. These men explain theological terms and concepts in words that are easy to understand.
In the church we are currently visiting, the preaching pastor does this well as he has been teaching on core doctrines of the church.
In the church we are helping plant, our teaching pastor does this as well as he connects theology with real life.
I’ve also listened to some sermons that felt like doctoral dissertations, full of seminary language, full of theological language, and full of concepts that really don’t make sense outside of Christian circles.
My preaching professor once said something to the effect that sermon preparation is digging in the mine, but the sermon is the cleaned up jewel that is easy to see. I’ve always kept that in mind as I strive to keep my sermons simple to understand.
Jesus taught with simple illustrations that were grounded in real life. His stories were simple, but left the listener with profound stirrings and thoughts.
If your members find that your sermons are simple to understand, you make those sermons accessible to their friends.
You want your church members to say “My friend needs to hear this.”
In other words, will my friend get something out of the sermon that applies to their life?
Or are your sermons so disconnected from real life, it’s just a black hole of information that serves little purpose?
I’ve been in churches where tight theology is more important than relevance.
I’ve visited churches where sermons were educational exercises in university level thinking about economics.
I’ve heard sermons that were running commentary on current events and arguments over which presidential candidate should be elected.
I’ve heard sermons on spiritual warfare that would freak-out a non-Christian who is exploring faith.
Is your sermon applicable to real life situations that my friend might benefit from?
This is where sermon series on personal finance, marriage, relationships, and other life topics are a good source of a preaching material.
Even for those who favor expository verse by verse preaching need to make the effort to connect their sermon points to real life, either in application or illustration.
If your members find that your preaching connects the word of God to real life situations, you’ll find your church members regularly thinking “My friend needs to hear this too.”
It used to be that sermons were recorded to cassettes and cds, copied, and then passed around.
In today’s technology enviornment, there is no reason you cannot put your sermons on your church website for easy sharing.
If you are still using cassettes or not recording them at all, consider this video:
Resources for easy sermon capture:
There are plenty of benefits of recording and putting your sermons as an MP3 at your website.
With sermon recording now this easy and inexpensive, perhaps it’s time to start getting the Word back out there with some low cost recorders.
As you prepare your sermons, think about the unchurched person who will be visiting this Sunday and ask yourself, what might you need to explain better for them.
Find ways to start getting your sermons online and accessible in other ways than just showing up on Sundays.
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