I remember when I was a young pastor at the beginning of my ministry career. I was so eager to learn, so desperate to soak up as much information as I could get my hands. I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about how to be a great pastor.
Coming up with sermon ideas can be one of the toughest parts of being a pastor. When inspiration is running low and you’re not sure what your next message or series should be about, frustration and panic can set in. But not to worry, we’re here to help. Below we’ve compiled a list of sermon topics and accompanying passages of Scripture to help give you a starting point if you’re needing ideas.
As important as it is to make sure you’re communicating effectively and inspirationally from the pulpit, there are more areas of communication that also need your attention if you want your church to make an impact in your community. In the digital age we live in, there are so many ways we can communicate beyond Sunday morning. We can communicate using social media. We can communicate through our website. We can communicate at volunteer events. We can communicate in staff meetings. The possibilities are endless.
I recently had a conversation with a young pastor who was very interested in using digital media to expand the reach of his church and provide resources for his current members, but his tech budget was very slim. He didn’t have a bunch of fancy cameras or the ability to stream his sermons live online. So he was desperate to figure out other options and avenues to take when it comes to using digital media as a church.
One of our favorite topics to discuss on this blog is sermon prep. There are so many different strategies and tips you can implement if you want to improve your sermon preparation process. If you want to learn more about that, I would encourage you to check out our previous blog posts. But for today, I want to talk about five things you should do the night before you preach to make sure you’re ready to deliver your sermon the next day.
Obviously, the “main event” of your church is the Sunday morning service each week. That’s no secret. But as you know, there are a lot more things going on within the walls of your church that you offer to your congregation. You most likely have environments for children to attend. You probably have a separate time when your youth group meets. You might have Sunday School classes before the main service, or Wednesday night services for people to attend. While these weekly events are all wonderful and vital to your church, there is also a lot of value in having occasional special events at your church to mix things up a little bit.
Investing in the next generation within your congregation is absolutely vital if you want to see your church grow and develop strong followers of Jesus. Many pastors make the mistake of investing most of their resources into Sunday morning services, followed by children’s ministry. This means the student ministry ends up on the back burner.
How do you think you’re doing as a leader right now? Maybe you’re really proud of yourself and you’re thriving at leading your staff in this season of your ministry. Or, maybe you are struggling to be an effective and impactful leader to your staff. Maybe you have been more focused on preaching than leading. Maybe your congregation has been more demanding of your attention lately. Finally, maybe you have been stressed at home, so your tank is running low when it comes time to address your staff's needs.
Having a strong sense of community within your congregation should be one of your top priorities as a pastor. If all that your attendees are doing is attending on Sunday morning to listen to the sermon, but they’re not getting involved in a small group, they’re missing out on one of the greatest parts of belonging to a church. As I’ve heard one well-known pastor say, “Circles are better than rows.”
Marriage is the source of a lot of joy and love for people, but it can also be a source of a lot of pain, tension, and frustration. Therefore, people want to know how to navigate it well and how their faith can help them through that navigation process.