What I Hate About

As I continue down this path of launching Life Church in the Corpus Christi area I'm always filled with lots of thoughts and questions to ponder. I really feel I want to open up the floor to you, the readers, to voice your thoughts.

Question: What do you hate dislike about the 21st century church?

For me...it's mainly:

• a loss of focus -many churches have become clubs and inward in focus and aren't missional any more.
• a lack of leadership - leading a church in the 21st century as a pastor is very multi-dimensional...a lot of pastors think it is only about praying and studying the word

What about you??????

Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 7

Now that you have your calender scheduled it is important to create momentum before you go into your major events. Whether it is launching a new series or a stand-alone holiday series, the weeks leading up to that event should targeted on your schedule to create momentum.

Plan Back From Your Message/Series
Make sure as you are scheduling you add in announcement time, marketing time, tie-in events, web events and messages devoted to the up-coming messages. In fact, include anything you can think of that could possibly garner you momentum.

If you plan to teach in series, the week leading up to, as well as each message, should be slowly inching you forward as a locomotive until you are reaching a critical mass. Maybe series aren't for you but you plan some certain message events around major holidays. The same steps could be taken in each.

Use Momentum to Reach the Lost
Why do we need momentum? A growing church is a church that is alive. It is one that, I believe, is adding new believers. Momentum is what can keep people as well as attract people. Momentum, as it is built, will spread like a wildfire.

A Breakdown of the Process
Let me break it down with a series. Let's say you planned a new series to begin on Easter. Since Easter is one of the most attended weekends for a church you are going to target a series that is evangelistic. Let's call our series Renovate - Rebuilding Our View Of Life. We'll go for five weeks and our whole series will be geared around Romans 12:1-2. For Easter day we are going to start out with message called "A New Plan". This message will tie in strongly with what Christ did for us and will set the stage for the series by leading in with the new plan God began with Jesus dying on the cross for us.

This is where you have to begin to get disciplined in your planning. Set a goal with your lead team on the impact you would like to happen and then get your whole congregation on board to reach the goal through prayer and action. Three months out you should have all your details lined out for the series with your momentum plan. One to two months out you should have graphics and marketing materials finished and ready to send to print. Three weeks out you could have a video announcement series graphic made leading up to the series. Three to four weeks out you should start in-church bulletins on the series as well as get promo materials into the hands of every member to begin handing out. Three weeks out a whole message could be developed on reaching out. During the week leading up to Easter you could plan an outreach community event and develop a stage set designed for the series. The first day of the series really emphasis to everyone to come back next week as you continue. Even get more promo materials.

The Results
Can I just tell you that if you were to plan and go all out like this there is not way for you to "not" see any results. If you can get your people behind your marketing you will begin to see unchurched people come through your doors. Stack this on top of doing another series, and then other series and you can see that momentum begin to build and build and build.


Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

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Asking About The Preaching Calendar

With six parts down in our "Preaching Calendar" I thought it might be prudent before we finished to ask if you had any questions pertaining to this subject.

I think a bonus post is in order that may be focused on any questions you may have. So....ASK AWAY.

Leave a comment with your question.

Make Sure You Read Every Post In This Series

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team
• Preaching Calendar - Your Time (Reader Tips)
  

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Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 6

Creating a great message series is not just about great information, creating a great message series is about creating a message that sticks. When it comes to branding your message series your series must be memorable, simplistic, and drive home your point.

The Bones of A Series
Every series has some unique elements that will make it a series that stands out: an idea, a series title, a series tag line, message titles, and message ideas.

Every message always begins with an idea. This idea is founded on a principle extrapolated from Scripture. This idea can be boiled down into a memorable statement which will drive all the content of the series.

The best series titles are creative, relevant, and drive the memory point months down the road. Your title when heard 6 months later should trigger exactly what the message was about. Relevant titles should tap into pop culture to create a new message. The best titles have 1 to 3 words MAX.

A series tag line takes your idea and makes the series title come alive. It sets the pace and tells what principle or point you are trying to make with your series.

Your message titles and ideas are, on a micro level, what your series title and ideas are. Your message titles break down all of the elements of your series big idea and bring it all together. The ideas are really the points you are trying to make each week, again on a micro series level.

A good 3 to 5 week series begins with a intro message, has one to three ideas that hammer your main idea in the middle, and then wraps up with a great practical how to apply it conclusion.

The types of series that you create will vary and have a good mixture through the year. Some should be based around felt needs inherent in your area. Others should be totally evangelistic in approach. Some should be geared around the values of your church.

[Keep on the lookout for a future series on branding messages series]

Developing The Schedule
With an understanding of the series lets begin looking at some elements in working your calendar.

The best series run 4 to 5 weeks. Any longer and your audience can get lost or begin to wane. Longer than 5 can work if put together right. When it comes to scheduling your calendar it is important to take into effect all the holidays. Prime on your calendar is Easter and Christmas. These two are traditionally the two times of the year when "everyone" goes to church. You should begin a series on Easter. Begin when the majority of people are coming and use the series to keep them coming back. The same is true of Christmas.

Once those are in place you can begin to piece the rest of your calendar together. Summer time usually has people on vacation so the best types of series have stand alone messages in them. Stand alone messages are easier to get your staff involved in as well.

For momentum we usually developed our series around the months of the year. Doing this allowed us to focus all of our energy and creativity in monthly rhythms. Our people were also able to focus on inviting others from 12 to 14 times a year depending on the layout of the schedule. You can see part of our year [here].

If you are not used to preaching in a series format and want to begin, I would suggest scheduling, plan and develop around 4 or 5 in a year to start and then add more the next year. Again, this really is about owning what you are doing and making it work for you.

Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

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Tyranny Of The Now

How many of you out there are like me? You are working hard for a better future, while continuing to move forward out of your past.

Only one problem...THE TYRANNY OF THE NOW.

Now slaps you in the face. Now says the bill is due yesterday what are you going to do. Now says "I know what God's promises say, BUT I have this need NOW."

Now seems to be very uncaring, unforgiving, matter of fact...NOW is just...well...NOW!

That's where I am right now. Now doesn't seem to be caring. It really doesn't care how hard I'm working or that I'm trying to improve. It wakes up with me every morning and is there when I'm trying to go to sleep.

I'm not sure if I'm sounding kind of fickle right now but I know I have got to move past it. I also can't pretend that now is going to go away either.

All I do know is that Psalm 121:1-2 is ringing true to me right now.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Lord, those are Your words. My help comes from You. You are our only way out.

The only way to escape is to hold tight to His promises. Keep the faith no matter what. No matter what the situation looks like. No matter how hard it may seem. It says it right there, "my help will come from the LORD".

Here's the catch...God works through people. We are His hands and His feet. How many people around you are going through the now and you may not be listening? He has blessed us and equipped us to make a difference in the world around us. Are you listening and being aware? You could be the help for someone's NOW.

And if you are going through the NOW...be encouraged. God is for you and has not left you. He cares for you and loves you. I know that sometimes doesn't change the NOW...but hold on to Him. He is your source and your strength.

Sorry I high-jacked my blog everyone...but I needed a little encouragement tonight. The tyranny is about to stop for the Lord is on my side.

How are you facing the tyranny of the NOW?

Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 5

After all the foundational topics which are practical to developing your one year preaching calendar, now is the time to actually get down to making your schedule. First up on your agenda before you start anything is to Schedule Before You Schedule.

To help you get started you should utilize two tools.

First, print out each month of the year on separate pages. For me that is the frugal way. You could also purchase a calendar or even a planner if you want.

Second, create an excel spreadsheet file that you can begin to log all of your information on. Click [here] to see a sample of mine from 06. Currently, I put the following headings on mine: Date, Series Title, Message Title, Topic, Big Idea, Speaker, Scripture Reference, Creative Elements, and Major Announcements.

Remember, this is your calendar to own. You could also add a giving idea, music set, stage design, etc... You can best create this in any way that will help you throughout the year. I would suggest at this stage though to keep it fairly simple. You can always come back and do some more planning in the weeks and months prior to each weekend.

As you begin to do your actual scheduling the first things that should be included are all the major events and major holidays for the year. These should be ministry specific as well.

Some of the major holidays to include are ones that fall on Sundays or are major events in the year; Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, holidays that create three day weekends. There are even other events that have become almost national unwritten holidays like the Superbowl. For a youth ministry you should look at your local school schedule. Look at the beginning and end of school, Christmas and spring break, and any other dates that would be of major importance.

The second thing you should schedule is your personal time off. This may be hard for some of you but you should really target only speaking a max of 40 Sunday's out of the year. As a youth/children pastor you should target the same amount as well. This will keep you fresh as well as your audience fresh. I know we want to believe that our people love to hear us all the time but they should get a break from hearing us.

A good breakdown would be taking four consecutive weeks off in the summer and then space out the rest through the year. These are great times you can get your team to speak.

In a nutshell your schedule before you schedule should include: Major Holidays On The Calendar, Monday Holidays, Natural Vacation Days, Secular Holidays, Christian Holidays, Your Personal Time Off, Weekly Sabbath, Study Time, Creative Thinking Time, Conferences, Vacation.

Tomorrow, I'm going to give some pratical advice on branding your messages to begin finishing up your calendar.

Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

To not miss any of our helpful posts - make sure you subscribe to our feed.

Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 4

Although you can't live life looking in the rear view mirror, it is important that you look back over your past year before you begin to schedule this next year.

This might be a little tip within this point but one thing to help you be organized so that you are able to look back would be to create an excel file that lists out every series and message you preach through the year. In this file log in what was the major point, scriptures, topic, creative elements, who the speaker was, in fact put down as much information that will help you as you begin to look back.

This is important for a variety of reasons but mainly to see where there might be gaps in what you are preaching. It can let you know if you emphasized one certain area to much or whether you didn't hit an area at all.

If you ever read Rick Warren's, "The Purpose Driven Church", you will know that he highlights from scripture the five main purposes every church should aim at fulfilling: Evangelism, Fellowship, Worship, Ministry, Discipleship.

These five purposes could be a guide for what you are communicating to your church. As you prayerfully look back and see that you didn't emphasize evangelism and that your church has not been very outward motivated, then as you set out to plan this next year that may be an area to preach on.

Start going forward by taking a look back on your year as you begin to lay the foundation for the coming year.

How has looking back helped you?

Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

To not miss any of our helpful posts - make sure you subscribe to our feed.

Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 3

Most church communicators do a good job of communication but is "good" enough. Planning out what you are doing through the year can lead to your church or ministry experiencing greater impact in relation to the content you produce.

I know that often sounds a little manufactured or mechanical. There is a huge segment of church speakers that believe "you must wait upon the Lord" to get the message for that weekend. And I honestly don't want to take anything away from that.

The point I want to make in this is that planning can take "waiting" to an even higher level.

Planning your year can:

• Focus Your Thoughts - Whenever I know what my upcoming messages are my mind goes to work on looking for illustrations/scriptures etc... I really see it as partnering with the Holy Spirit through life as a communicator. Often times I will find an illustration to an upcoming message when I'm watching a movie or reading a magazine/newspaper. If you know you got a certain series coming up on a certain topic, you can spend some extra time reading through all the Scriptures references for that topic.
• Allow Others To Input - I think this is the most highly under-used area of message development. God is a relational God and when we develop our messages with others we get a message that relates to people. Many pastors have seen the benefit of adding a creative team to add more elements to the message. "The successful company is not the one with the most brains, but the most brains acting in concert." Peter Drucker, Management guru
• Save Prep Time - How much time is wasted trying to figure out "what" your going to preach? With a plan you can streamline right into your preparation with the necessary tools.
  

How has planning ahead helped you???

Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

To not miss any of our helpful posts - make sure you subscribe to our feed.

Get Started

Thought this might be good for someone out there that is contemplating making a move. Maybe it is a move to do something you have never done before but know it will take you to the next level. Maybe fear has parallelized you into doing nothing for so long. Maybe taking a risk frightens you.

For me, I picture the finish line of life being the day I stand before Jesus and hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant"!

Something to ponder: Is it possible that you won't hear those words unless you are "serving"?

So to all of you who are stuck in a rut or know you need to make a move I say one thing to you:

"You can’t win the race, if you stand behind the starting line."

What is that one thing you need to do next that you have been putting off?

Developing A Preaching Calendar Part 2

With these first few posts I want to set a little foundation before we start getting into the practicalities of developing a preaching calendar.

I think one of the first challenges is that some people get stuck on in developing a one year plan is that they feel it takes God out of the equation. These are the people who think that they must seek God this week for the "Word" He wants to speak to their church. They believe that they must walk by faith and hear from God.

This may sound a little brash, but I think you are actually walking in less faith. Don't get me wrong, I didn't say no faith. I think it takes some bold faith to sit down and plan out a year seeking God for what He wants you to speak about 12 months from now.

I do believe it all comes down to the organizational aspect of it. Many pastors are challenged on that side and get stuck in the tyranny of the next week. When you are in that routine it is hard to put the brakes on and plan for a whole year much less seven days.

Can we establish at least one thing though? Isn't it possible that God can work through one man or a team to lay it on their heart what He needs them to say in 12 months? Doesn't God see the 12 months from now and who is going to be listening and what they need to hear?

Of course the answer is yes. So lets lay down the whole faith excuse and really say that we are either unorganized or not disciplined enough to do it.

"Hold on Jason...what happens if I get to October and feel God is changing it?" Then you call an audible and go with it.

Friends it is about faith and as a communicator it is about relationship with God and hearing Him speak.

As a little side note: I'm not saying you are writing your message one year out. Just laying out a plan which we will get more into in other posts.

Catch up with all of the parts of this series:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - God Can Speak To You In Advance
• Part 3 - Planning For Greater Impact
  
• Part 4 - Look Back Before You Look Ahead
• Part 5 - Schedule Before You Schedule: Major Holidays, Personal Time Off
• Part 6 - Branding Your Messages
  
• Part 7 - Create Momentum Before Your Major Events
• Part 8 - Creating With Your Team

To not miss any of our helpful posts - make sure you subscribe to our feed.

For more on a message plan you can read - Message Prep System and Advice to a Young Communicator