One of the things he keeps me busy on most days is answering the phone and helping my students understand the process of sermon preparation I teach with the Preaching with Power course. Some days are very busy when I will give five or six phone calls and have to spend several hours with my students on the phone. Other days I wonder if the phone is even working. I've come to the conclusion that most of my students are preparing sermons later in the week and on weekends. Because that's when most of the calls occur.

One of the biggest problems most students have is determining the purpose of the sermon. They want to start a sermon preparation process with the title or by first writing an introduction. Neither one of these are good idea. When you start with a title it narrowly defines the sermon to the point that you are no longer open to properly exegete the Scripture. When you write an introduction first it does the same thing. It's not necessarily bad to narrowly define your subject, but when you start with an introduction or start with a title you actually put your mind in a rut. Your mind tends to focus on the title or the introduction to the exclusion of all other creative ways that the sermon could develop. So I always advise to start your sermon with a purpose statement and then develop your main points in your sub points. After this development, write your conclusion or your call to action and then write an introduction. When all that is done it is now time to put a title on the sermon.

When determining the purpose of the sermon students have a hard time separating their subject from their purpose. The purpose needs to be stated in concrete terms that deal with what you want the congregation to do or believe because they heard the sermon. For instance, a good purpose might be, to lead believers to pray everyday. This type of purpose is concrete and well-defined and will guide your mind and your heart as you prepare your points. It helps you stay on track and not chase rabbits.

In Chapter 1 of the Preaching with Power course I teach that concept. Anyone who is interested in learning a direct approach to sermon preparation can read more about this at the following websites: Http://www.calledtopreach.com Http://www.preachwithpower.org Http://www.sermoncraft.com

Writing Sermons

Since beginning the Sermon Assistant last September I have had to publish about 12 sermons per month. This exercise has sharpend my mind to be able to see relevent points in the scripture quickly. Even if you are not activly preaching each week you should study each week and strive to write sermons each week. At least sit down and create some simple skeleton outlines. These will serve as sermon starters at a later date and keep your "sermon muscle" strong.

For more information about sermon writing go to: http://www.preachwithpower.org
http://www.calledtopreach.com

Sermons with Power

Since publishing the Preaching With Power course 4 years ago ( http://www.preachwithpower.org) I have come to realize that there are a lot of preachers who want help with their sermons. What most of them want is some guidance in how to preach sermons that are effective and interesting. My best advice for most of them is to start with one questions. Why am I preaching a sermon on this particular day to these particular people? If you cannot answer that question it becomes more difficult to create a sermon that will be effective.

Why are you preaching to them? This questions determines if you will be developing an evangelistic sermon, a sermon to help Christians grow in grace, or a sermon teaching a particular doctrine. So begin each sermon study with this question. Why am I preaching?

This becomes the ultimate purpose of the sermon and will determine the scriptures you use and the points you make from the scripture.

To learn more about how to create sermons with power go to http://www.calledtopreach.com/

Google.com slaps down a preacher

My internet existance is about preaching and sermons. Since my retirement from full time ministry I have been developing resources to help preachers with their sermons. Over the past several years this has developed into a valid ministry. That is, until yesterday. Yesterday Google.com slapped down my Adwords campaign. What that means is that the arbitrarily decided that they didn't like my web site so they will no longer allow me to run a pay-per-click advertisment campaign with them.

When I first started this ministry this occured several times, understandably, because I didn't have much of a web site. I had little content, just an advertisement. However, after years of adding tons of free outlines, free booklets, free sermons, they just closed me down. Well, I am done with Adwords! Google cannot be trusted.

In fact last year they called me (surprise, surprise) and offered to optimize my ad campaign. The made a ton of suggestions and I adopted all of them. Well July 2 they decided that what they wanted last year no longer applies. You see, they seduce you to depend on their Adwords system then they shoot you down. NOT TRUSTWORTHY!

It wouldn't be so bad if you could get in touch with sombody at Google who would tell you what is wrong with your campaign but there is nobody. They have an intensive "help" site with hundreds of articles about general issues but when you finally navigate to the spot where you can find an email link, and you send an email, you get no response. Oh, they have a "live chat" help link too. Evidently nobody is alive at Google, because it always says that no body is available to chat.

I understand that Google wants all who use thier search engine to have a positive experience with search. In other words for thier searches to deliver relevent content, I think for free. Well, Google should practice what they preach. The paying users of Google Adwords sure do NOT have a good experience, especially when they are slapped down. I would be more than happy to do what they want me to do on my web site to give my visitors a good experience, if they would only give me a hint of what is wrong. No feed back is bad.

So for now Google will not get my advertising money. I will not use their search engine and I hope my readers will boycott them also, until they change their ways.

New Worship Aid

After years of video screens, loud, repetitive choruses and congregations of observers, something new and refreshing is happening at church. This new movement is centered on congregational participation and each of the worshipers will have a personal hand held worship guide. With this new mode of worship there will be no more mistakes in video projections. The worship will not be at the mercy of the sound and video operators. Each worship participant will have in their hands all the resources needed for worship. Both music and selected scripture readings. There are three distinct advantages to this new worship aid.

First, it promotes congregational participation. Video is totally passive. Even praise music with the aid of video projection of the words doesn’t require the listener to participate. But this new worship aid encourages participation. It is hand held so from the start the worshiper has to pick it up. This is a powerful thing. When others are picking up the aid, it is hard not to pick up yours and join in. Not only does this aid promote participation it even will help the worshiper know exactly what to say or to sing. It is all there in front of their eyes.

Secondly, it doesn’t require and professional skill. You don’t have to be a trained musician, play an instrument or have any presentation skills. As the worship leader all you need do is direct the congregation to the item you want them to use and tell them when to start. No special training is needed to begin to use this worship aid.

Thirdly, it is not expensive and doesn’t require and expensive installation or new hardware or software. Compared to video, PowerPoint, sound systems and projectors this aid is dirt cheap. You get more bang for your ministry buck.

This is such a great innovation I think all churches will convert to the use of the Hymn book within the next 5 years. Worship services will once again be alive with people who actually are participating in the service.

All kidding aside, have we as church leaders sacrificed our worship on the altar of entertainment. Have we adopted the high tech presentation methods just because we can, not because they are actually better? Have we substituted showmanship for leadership? Is what we call praise music actually more worshipful, more effective than hymns? Is presenting the scripture reading on a large screen better than having people actually open a Bible?

I think we need to take a serious look at what we are doing in our churches. Change is good, but not every change is effective. We need to use the tools that produce the effect we are seeking. Not just use them because we have them.

Every day I receive phone calls and email from my students of the Preaching With Power course. Most ask questions concerning their sermon preparation. But one asked a different kind of question. He asked me who was the most influential preacher in my life. We were discussing preaching style and methods and they really wanted to know which preacher influenced my style the most. My answer was Guy Futrell. Rev. Futrell was the pastor of the West Hialeah Baptist Church when I was a kid. I remember him to be a compassionate preacher who was sincere in his desire to see people come to Christ. He was the pastor who presented the Gospel to me simply enough for me to understand and accept Christ as my Savior. That alone should make him the most influential pastor in my life. However, he was influential as a model for my preaching in one important way. Brother Futrell always gave powerful, compassionate invitations at the end of his sermons. I remember thinking, even as a child, that this man means business for the Lord. So I modeled my invitations after his.

Another powerful influence was his way of making children feel important. I was about 7 or 8 when Rev. Futrell came to pastor the church I occasionally attended. In those days children didn't expect any special attention. In fact we were to be seen and not heard. But brother Futrell always made me feel like I was somebody. I remember him meeting me on the sidewalk of the church, stooping down on one knee, and shaking my hand saying, "Brother Marsh, it is so great to see you here today." My thoughts were, "Hey! I am somebody, the preacher knows my name!" Well, he probably remembered me because I was a little more rowdy than most of the kids but nevertheless he acknowledged me and made me feel important. I have tried to model this behavior in my ministry. Always trying to make the little kids, and the little people feel important and worthwhile.

I actually remember none of his sermons. He was my pastor for 3 or 4 years while I was a little boy. But his personality, the twinkle in his eye, his compassion and his compelling invitations are what influenced my ministry the most.

My family moved away for a few months when my father had to work out of town. When we returned Preacher Futrell was gone. I was sad. Another preacher took his place but nobody could ever fill his shoes in my little eyes. Fifteen years later when I was called into the ministry I thought of Preacher Futrell often and his ministry to me. His influence on the little boy helped mold the preacher I became later in life.

I have answered about 20 phone calls this month dealing with the same question. It is, "What do you mean by the sermon's purpose?" In lesson one of the Preaching with Power course I teach that the first thing you need to determine before you begin to write a sermon is its purpose. The purpose of the sermon is NOT its theme or its subject. It is simply what you want the listeners to do as a result of hearing the sermon? Why are you preaching this particular sermon? What do you hope to accomplish with this sermon? Perhaps I need to re-write that section of the Preaching With Power course this month.

I have been busy re-building my web site at www.preachwithpower.org to be a more helpful site with more sermon building material and essays on methods of sermon creation. I hope to put up hundreds of pages or resources in the next several months. One of the biggest sections will be at www.preachwithpower.org/sermonoutlines . Every day I hope to publish a new outline. Another section I am working on daily is www.preachwithpower.org/sermonstarters . This consists of small sermon seeds and sermon ideas to jump start the creative process.

I have begun a blog at wordpress. That blog will deal more with personal opinions etc. www.preachermarsh,wordpress.com There is not much there yet, but since it will rain a lot today I will have time to post.