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October, 2008
What are You Talking About?

Have you ever wondered how sermons are planned?  I mean, we are not a church that spends 18 weeks on Romans 10, and that means we roll through quite a few sermon series.  So how are they chosen?  Why are they chosen?  Hey, I’m glad you asked!  There are five basic areas that influence sermon series decision-making:  Preaching style, Scripture, Church Year, the Vision of FCCB, the people of FCCB.  Let me give you a quick look at each of these while providing current examples.

Preaching Style– The tension held here is between topical and exegetical.  There are times that a topical series, like “Big Picture Politics” coming in October, is the right way forward.  Most of the preachers from the past (Edwards, Spurgeon, etc…) preached topically while still being deeply rooted in biblical passages.  But only preaching topically allows the preacher to skip difficult or controversial passages.  Exegetical preaching is a fancy way of saying preaching through a book or large passage of the Bible.  Exegetical would be considered by many to be the only faithful preaching style, for it preaches the “whole counsel of God”.  I just don’t agree with these many.  Before our series on family we spent time moving through Philippians and just finished Titus.

Scripture – This tension is based on the portion of the Bible we spend time in.  We keep track of the past several years of sermons so that I can see if we have been balanced in preaching from the prophets, the gospels, the epistles, the historical books, …   Speaking of that, can you remember the last time sermons came from the prophets?

Church Year – What would your reaction be if you came to church on Easter Sunday and heard a sermon on Jonah?  Or if, during Christmas tide, we completed our series from Titus?  It would be more than weird, for we embrace the rhythm of God’s saving acts throughout the year at designated times.  Like the feasts of the Old Testament, the liturgical seasons help us remember God’s faithfulness and sovereignty over our days.  And the sermons need to embrace the seasons when they come or it would be awkwardly confusing.  This Advent, for instance, we will be preaching through Ruth, a young woman who was in need of a redeemer as a stranger in the land.  Ruth’s stance of expectantly waiting is the same stance we encourage FCCB to take during these four weeks leading to Christmas.

Vision of FCCB – The last area to keep in balance or tension is our vision.  We are committed to being a worshiping community of growing disciples living out Christ’s love for the world.  We summarize and teach this with the ideas of journeys: journeying up (a heart for Christ), journeying in (a heart for the church), journeying out (a heart for the world).  When choosing series another question to ask is what journey does this support?  Will the series aim to connect with the unbeliever sitting in the pew?  Will it primarily be concerned with Christ’s beloved church?  Or will it emphasize the beauty and majesty of Christ?  While a series will likely hit all these journeys, it is sure to highlight one.  We will be preaching about “Why Faith” in November, asking some core questions about whether faith is really necessary in our enlightened culture.  I hope it connects with those who are still looking for some first steps towards Christ.  Probably a good balance to Titus…

People – Finally your pastor spends time with you and time with the Lord.  And I don’t hear audible voices from God, but I trust that through my prayer times and my contact with all of you and your struggles and joys, that God will lead me to preach sermons that are honoring to Him and relevant for us.  It is a love for Christ, a love for you, and a love for those who are lost that drives me in prayer and thought to decide in which direction to go.

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