What is the purpose of a sermon?

Recently I was asked by a non-churchgoing friend, “What is the purpose of the talk you do at church?”

What a great question! If people are going to invest the time in coming to hear a message, shouldn’t the message have a purpose?

I believe the sermon or message has several purposes and a great sermon fulfills all or most of these:

FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES
• Based on the Text – a great sermon, or I would argue any sermon, needs to be anchored in the Word of God. The beginning of the formation of the message is a Biblical passage or several which reveal God’s principles to us.
• Aware of the Context – The Biblical text, any text, is not written in a vacuum. Much can be learned from the context in which the words were written.

POINTS TO PONDER
• Gives Hope – At its core the message gives people hope because Christ came to bring us hope. People come to church looking for something different than the sad stories they see on the news or hear at work. They want hope so they can share hope with others.
• Shines Light – The Message should shine a light on a person’s habits, actions, practices, and attitudes and help them to consider them and measure them against God’s direction in the Bible.
• Is Savory – When a food is seasoned right you let it linger in your mouth a few moments more. The sermon should present truth in a way people mull it around in their minds, engage it, and ponder its potential impact. A well-seasoned sermon is entertained in the mind a little longer than the walk to the parking lot.
• Gives People an Opportunity to Laugh – The Joy of the Lord is our Strength! A message should help people to laugh, maybe at themselves, maybe at the silliness of people, maybe at the foibles and humanness of the speaker. Humor can be a great unifier. It can also be a great divider if not done in the Spirit of the Lord. People need to laugh, a person who is laughing, I mean really laughing is engaged, comfortable and in sync with the speaker and the message.

THE CHALLENGE
• The sermon should challenge people to live a more holy life. A good sermon will permit people to identify areas of their lives (notice the subtle difference between the speaker identifying specific areas of the hearer’s life and the hearer identifying specific areas of their life) where they are living in conflict with God. The hearer should be able to fill in the blank in this statement, if I wanted to improve my relationship with God, I should…
• The sermon should challenge people to act to bless others. A good sermon will help the hearer become less self indulged and more aware of the needs of the world in a way where they see how they can act to relieve the pain and suffering of others in the name of Christ. The hearer should be able to fill in the blank of this statement, if I want to do the will of God by loving my neighbor I can…


I have heard some great messages that were able to touch each of these areas and I have walked away many times disappointed. When I find the message is not having an impact I read scripture, pray for people around me, pray God would challenge me with the challenges listed above, I attempt to redeem the time.

So what do you think? What have I missed? What of these do you find not important or as important as the rest?



My friend Mike Kane sent me this video which goes along well with this post - Thanks Mike

Winners are about the Team

Mike Singletary was one of the greatest football players in the league as I was growing up. He was and is a leader of men. This week he was called upon to serve as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. One of his most highly drafted players decided on Sunday to mail it in apparently and this was Coach Singletary's reaction.

Here is a man who is not especially eloquent in his speech but his passion and focus supersede all else. Here is a man who knows the foundation to winning at anything is leadership and shared passion for a common goal.

Why is my attitude so important?

Most people think their attitude about life and its events is relatively unimportant. There is nothing further from the truth.

The Apostle Paul tells us to have the same attitude about things as Jesus in Phillippians 2:5 - a great start.

Your attitudes direct your actions and quickly become your habits.

Your habits form your character, what you do is what you become.

Your character becomes your destiny, your road map in life.

Consider your attitude!

The Changes in a Generation

I am sitting in the delivery room at Virtua Hospital this morning with my wife Amanda waiting for the birth of baby James Bowen. Strange to be blogging right now but things are pretty quiet and there is not much need for me right now so I am sitting quietly in the corner thinking about how this experience is very different from my father's generation of fathers.

Not only am I here in the room and will be here through the whole birth but I have my computer with me. I have the camera and video camera though we are NOT going to be taking pictures of mommy.

Technology is very present, not just the Apple Macbook I am blogging on via the wireless internet provided by the hospital (I have my AT&T card if it was not available) and the digital camera and the Flip Video Camera but also the monitors that let me see her contractions and the flat panel TV on the wall. This morning I called people from my phone and bluetooth while driving and I have been texting my son Bob back and forth as he gets ready, along with our elders, to lead church in our absence.

I wonder if my sons will appreciate that we have pictures of them minutes after they are born or if that will be something embarrassing to them. I guess I will find out and reap what I am sowing here this morning. I wonder if I would have liked to have those pictures of me?

Regardless we live in a different age, better I think in the sense that I am able and encouraged to be in the delivery room. The technology, we will have to see...

Hilary Watson

Today at Crossroads we had Hilary Watson, a Christian musician from Riverside, California join us to lead us in worship. She is a phenomenally gifted young lady who is led of the Spirit to lead worhsip, write and peform inspirational music. Below is a small video of the last song she did at church today.



I can highly recommend Hilary and encourage you to book her. We will be having her return.

Tresspass

Yesterday we looked at the last clauses in the Lord's Prayer. After the service my friend John and I were discussing the subject, especially "Forgive us our trespasses..."

A point John made that I had failed to point out that the heart of a trespass is crossing a line. One trespasses on another's property by crossing the property line. If nothing is taken or damaged, there is still a trespass. Many times a property owner will post a sign stating, NO TRESPASSING because a danger exists and they do not want the general public to cross on to their property and be imperiled.

God has drawn lines of demarcation for us to obey, lines that if we cross we place ourselves in precarious situations.

Another way to read this part of the prayer which might help us understand is to pray -

God, forgive me when I cross the line as I forgive those who have crossed the line on me.

Avon Park Camp Meeting Leaders Conference

I am in Florida for the next few days leading a conference for Christian camp presidents. If you are interested in reading more about these camps and the conference you can check out www.campmeetingleader.com