Here's my experience the last several years: YES, to sermon series. And they seem to be WELL received. I don't think they need to be only several weeks long...I think people like sinking their teeth into topics/books a bit. But then you can be flexible in allowing for variety/breaking a series up as you go. In the last number of years I've done some of the following that seemed to go well from my perspective, and on these I also received good feedback from leadership and the congregation: 24 sermons going through Ephesians (this one spread over mornings and evenings), 16 sermon series on Joshua (mornings only, following senior pastor transition at church), just finished 22 sermon series on 2 Corinthians in the mornings from January through August (allowing for flexibility through Lent/Easter as well as guests in the summer), a 6 part morning series on Ruth, 4 part evening on Jonah, 5 or 6 part TULIP series on the Canons of Dort during the evenings. Future plans that I'm excited about: Prayer series for the AM going through the Lord's Prayer using Lord's Days 45-52 as the guide), plus tagging on at least two sermons on Jesus' HIgh Priestly Prayer. Daniel for the mornings, including doing a number of "End Times" sermons to cover the last chapters (people just seem to always desire more End Times' stuff, no matter how much I think I've covered it--and we Reformed leaders DO have some great stuff to teach here and offer!! Let's give it to them! Also, a 10 part morning "Faith Foundations" morning series that covered our mission statement-stuff (our church's name is Faith).
Excellent post, Leon. I've been in the pastorate 10.5 years or so and am seeking to continue to grow day by day in my calling as a pastor. These three words of advice resonate with what I've learned from my mentors and experienced myself over the last decade.
I'll offer here some "newer" Christmas/Advent songs that have risen to the top over the years in several different worship settings. All of these I would highly recommend.
*Rejoice (Billy James Foote)--GREAT, joyful song. Very acoustic-rock feel. Our Sunday School kids often sing it at their Christmas program and do a great job. Our whole congregation sings it too.
*Unspeakable Joy (Chris Tomlin)--Joy to the World with a new chorus. As it is on the recording (D to E), it's very high. (arggh, you crazy tenor, Chris Tomlin!!) This year we're going to be trying G to A, capo on 2 for our guitarists (i.e., A to B).
*Humble King (Brenton Brown)--very mellow, probably best as a "special" number (be sure to use the little known first verse which shows that this was really originally a Christmas song!)
*Christmas Offering (Paul Baloche)--same as his "Offering" but an added Christmas verse. Nice! The little violin part that the Casting Crowns version has is a must!
*We Will Exalt You (Terry Butler)--old school Vineyard, but I still love it and works very well. We have sequenced bells which make it very cool!
*Holy Is His Name (John Michael Talbot)--a beautiful version of Mary's Song. Slow, contemplative, and just opens up into a beautiful chorus at the end.
*Come, O Redeemer, Come" (Fernando Ortega)--Advent song: great, singable, song of confession. Our congregation really loves this one. A violin is very nice to have for it.
Posted in: Do You Do Sermon Series?
Here's my experience the last several years: YES, to sermon series. And they seem to be WELL received. I don't think they need to be only several weeks long...I think people like sinking their teeth into topics/books a bit. But then you can be flexible in allowing for variety/breaking a series up as you go. In the last number of years I've done some of the following that seemed to go well from my perspective, and on these I also received good feedback from leadership and the congregation: 24 sermons going through Ephesians (this one spread over mornings and evenings), 16 sermon series on Joshua (mornings only, following senior pastor transition at church), just finished 22 sermon series on 2 Corinthians in the mornings from January through August (allowing for flexibility through Lent/Easter as well as guests in the summer), a 6 part morning series on Ruth, 4 part evening on Jonah, 5 or 6 part TULIP series on the Canons of Dort during the evenings. Future plans that I'm excited about: Prayer series for the AM going through the Lord's Prayer using Lord's Days 45-52 as the guide), plus tagging on at least two sermons on Jesus' HIgh Priestly Prayer. Daniel for the mornings, including doing a number of "End Times" sermons to cover the last chapters (people just seem to always desire more End Times' stuff, no matter how much I think I've covered it--and we Reformed leaders DO have some great stuff to teach here and offer!! Let's give it to them! Also, a 10 part morning "Faith Foundations" morning series that covered our mission statement-stuff (our church's name is Faith).
Posted in: Three Bits of Advice for New Pastors
Excellent post, Leon. I've been in the pastorate 10.5 years or so and am seeking to continue to grow day by day in my calling as a pastor. These three words of advice resonate with what I've learned from my mentors and experienced myself over the last decade.
Posted in: New Songs for Christmas
I'll offer here some "newer" Christmas/Advent songs that have risen to the top over the years in several different worship settings. All of these I would highly recommend.
*Rejoice (Billy James Foote)--GREAT, joyful song. Very acoustic-rock feel. Our Sunday School kids often sing it at their Christmas program and do a great job. Our whole congregation sings it too.
*Unspeakable Joy (Chris Tomlin)--Joy to the World with a new chorus. As it is on the recording (D to E), it's very high. (arggh, you crazy tenor, Chris Tomlin!!) This year we're going to be trying G to A, capo on 2 for our guitarists (i.e., A to B).
*Humble King (Brenton Brown)--very mellow, probably best as a "special" number (be sure to use the little known first verse which shows that this was really originally a Christmas song!)
*Christmas Offering (Paul Baloche)--same as his "Offering" but an added Christmas verse. Nice! The little violin part that the Casting Crowns version has is a must!
*We Will Exalt You (Terry Butler)--old school Vineyard, but I still love it and works very well. We have sequenced bells which make it very cool!
*Holy Is His Name (John Michael Talbot)--a beautiful version of Mary's Song. Slow, contemplative, and just opens up into a beautiful chorus at the end.
*Come, O Redeemer, Come" (Fernando Ortega)--Advent song: great, singable, song of confession. Our congregation really loves this one. A violin is very nice to have for it.