Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations

Sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 - The Supremacy of Jesus: Pursuing depth of spirituality the right way

We are in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  I preached last Sunday (April 20, 2008) at Granville Chapel in Vancouver where Amy and I served on church staff from 1999 to 2005.  Granville Chapel is in the midst of a series in Colossians and I preached on Colossians 1:15-23.  The audio is only 19 minutes 32 seconds including the Scripture reading and the introduction of me.   

The sermon can probably be summarized by this excerpt.

Colossians 1:17 says, Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
If Jesus were not present, nothing would be made.  If Jesus did not continue to pour out his reconciling power, the universe would dissolve. 
And the Colossians worship angels?!  We scour magazines for tips on making our life better?!

Here is the MP3 audio recording

The Supremacy of Jesus: Pursuing depth of spirituality the right way - Colossians 1:15-23 Sermon MP3

PowerPoint Slides: Download colossians_1.15-23 PowerPoint 2003.ppt

PowerPoint PDF: Download colossians_1.15-23 PowerPoint 2003.pdf

Related:

I mentioned Vancouverite author Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) which is the #1 book on the New York Times Bestseller Paperback Advice list.  Note these related resources:

• Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun's February 9, 2008 article "Tolle has valid insights, but not 'the answer'"
• Dorothy Cummings of the Catholic Register's March 7, 2008 article "Tolle's 'New 'Earth' pains the body"
• Greg Boyd, author, professor, and pastor, April 20, 2008 substantial review: Eckhart Tolle’s "A New Earth" Book Review
• I have previously written about Oprah: Frank Rich of the New York Times wrongly says that Christianity Today affirms Oprah's Spirituality
• ThinkChristian's April 25th post "Oprah's New Earth" has a number of other links.

C.S. Lewis quote:

• PDF of "Weight of Glory" sermon by C.S. Lewis.

CBC Television Series "The Week the Women Went" which I mentioned in the introduction.

Update:

My wife Amy Rowell's sermon from April 27th is now online at Granville Chapel's website.  See www.amyrowell.net.

Title: Focus on Christ Regardless of the Consequences
Text: Colossians 1:24-2:5
Date: April 27, 2008
Location: Granville Chapel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Note: The audio begins with Jeannie Wright doing the Scripture reading.  Jeannie is blind and reads using braille.
Click here to listen to audio

Instructions: MP3's play on any computer.  To save it to your computer, right click on the link and click "Save Target As . . ." (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As . . ." (Mozilla Firefox) and you can save it to your desktop.  It will then be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want.

 

My sermon "The Spirit-led Missional Church" (Acts 11) Audio

I preached Sunday, March 30th at Clayton Presbyterian Church in Clayton, North Carolina.  My text was Acts 11:1-18 as part of a series in the book of Acts.   I would argue that this is one of the most important texts on the church in mission in the New Testament. 

The iTunes link is Clayton Presbyterian Church Podcasts (will only work if you have iTunes - a free program - installed on your computer). 

The direct link is Clayton Presbyterian Church Sermons - you can download the sermon there or listen to it streaming. 

I have also made a copy of the recording and put it here. 

Summary:
In the sermon, I suggest we appreciate the passion for un-churched people that seeker-driven churches embody.  I also suggest, however, that there is real value in churches that are very diverse and ignore the seeker-driven philosophy of reaching a specific target audience.  I suggest that Acts 11:1-18 (which essentially retells Acts 10) in which Cornelius, the Gentile centurion comes to faith in Jesus, exemplifies what mission in the church should be like.  Not only are unbelievers reached but diverse ones.  I suggest that the Acts 10-11 narrative can serve as a paradigm as we think about the mission of our churches. 

Here are some of the points I draw out from the narrative:  Change is hard.  We all like to stay in our comfort zones.  Prayer is where it starts but our prayers are often weak.  We are prodded by the Spirit to obey what is clear.  We are to do this work with others.  The message of Jesus is simple.  The Spirit goes before us.  What can we do to get out of the way so that people can see Jesus?

Additional notes on some of the examples in the sermon:

• I mention Donald McGavran - one of the founders of the Church Growth Movement
• Saddleback Church - I reflected a bit about Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Church at Strengths of the Purpose Driven Church and Sober Advice For Those Considering the Megachurch. 
• I reflect more on this issue of having a target audience at: Why pastors should be both goal-setting fanatics and goal-setting cynics
• Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community in Pittsburgh, PA
• I mention in passing the difficulty of change in organizations (including churches) and list a number of business book titles that try to address this problem.  Perhaps the one to start with is: Kotter, John P. Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

• The quotes I used in the message that you might enjoy. 

1. There is the old pastor’s legend about the pastor who wanted to move the piano to the other side of the sanctuary and the way he got away with it was by moving it an inch every week.   Source: I can't remember where I heard this one. 

2. Pastors often overestimate what they can change in one year but underestimate what they can change in five years.  Source: I first heard this from Sandy Millar at Holy Trinity Brompton Church but I don't think it was original to him. 

3. Erik Erikson  “all change is perceived as loss.” Source: internet.   

4. If you find the perfect church, don’t join it or it will no longer be perfect.  Source: I can't remember. 

5. Like Noah’s ark, it stinks being inside but it is still better than being outside.  Source: I can't remember.   

6. Mark Twain: "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." Source: internet. 

7. G.K Chesterton: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Source: internet.

Best Podcasts for Church Leaders

Here are the best podcasts for church leaders that I have found. 

The ITunes links will only work if you have the free ITunes software installed on your computer.  See below for more directions.  I have also put the MP3 location for each link in case you don't want to bother with ITunes. 

Catalyst Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Catalyst Conference was this past weekend.  It is this cool conference for pastors under 40.  See my preview of it here.  There are good interviews with Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Eugene Peterson, and Donald Miller.

Defining Moments Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location. These are samples of the Willow Creek Association Defining Moments audio CD's.  They are good 10 minute interviews but really leave you wanting more.  And that is the point.  They want your church to become part of the WCA and then the pastor will get the full CD's.   

Emergent Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Emergent Village is the main organization of the Emerging Church movement.  These podcasts are usually just plain good theological discussion.  You will enjoy them even if you aren't "emerging."  The first seven are with Yale theologian Miroslav Volf. 

Mars Hill Bible Church (ITunes): MP3 location.  Rob Bell, of the NOOMA DVDs, Velvet Elvis author and author of spring 2007 book Sex God, has more people download his sermons than anyone. 

Mosaic (ITunes): MP3 location. Erwin McManus, author of The Barbarian Way, and numerous other books, and pastor of Mosaic in LA. 

MPPC Sermon-Cast (ITunes): MP3 location.  John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author of The Life You've Always Wanted and other books, is an outstanding teacher. 

North Point Ministries: Life Rules (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series on relating with one another.  This is with Andy Stanley, pastor of the #3 influential church in the nation according thechurchreport.com and author of the new book Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication. North Point only podcasts their most recent sermon series. 

Practically Speaking (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series for church leaders based on the Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and friends. 

Covenant Worldwide of Covenant Theological Seminary has thirteen classes that are podcast.  They actually have many more for free at their website here. Below are the ITunes links. 

1. Old Testament History with V. Phillips Long (now at Regent College).
2. Biblical Theology with Gerard Van Groningen.
3. Life & Teachings of Jesus with Daniel Doriani.
4. Life & Letters of Paul with Hans Bayer. 
5. Ancient & Medieval Church History with David Calhoun.
6. Reformation & Modern Church History with David Calhoun. 
7. Calvin's Institutes with David Calhoun.   
8. Christian Ethics with David Jones. 
9. Apologetics & Outreach with Jerram Barrs.
10. Youth Ministry with Mark Davis. 
11. God and His Word with Michael Williams. 
12. Humanity, Christ and Redemption with Robert Peterson. 
13. Spirit, Church & Last Things with Robert Peterson.

See also my post about the best audio on the internet which is my most popular post. 

Other ITunes podcast links:

The below ITune links either aren't as strong as the ones above or are not directly related to church leadership.  But I thought I would place them anyway for your to see what is available and what I'm listening to.  The links below will only work if you have ITunes installed on your computer.  If you don't, I'm sure these MP3's are available but you will probably have to google them.  I don't want to take the time to find them right now. 

NYT Op-Ed Podcast (New York Times and other NYT is good.)
NPR (Anything at NPR.org or podcast is good. National Public Radio)
Moyers on America (PBS)
Nature (Science journal)
Science Talk: The podcast of Scientific American (Science journal)
Relevant Podcast (Relevant Magazine for Christians in 20's)
Jesus Asked (Book by Conrad Gempf; Zondervan, 2003. Read by the author in 15 minute segments.  "In the Gospels, when people asked Jesus a question, he often replied with one of his own. This book looks at the questions Jesus asked and how they can enrich our understanding and faith.")
PeterKreeft.com (Christian Catholic philosopher)
wiredparish.com (interview with Rob Bell is pretty good)
Willow Creek podcasts (not much there right now except a few random sermons)
Leadership Network  See my posts about listening to these video venue audio segments here.
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Gordon-Conwell Chapel
Donald Miller a few posts from a while ago
BusinessWeek - Climbing the Ladder
Christian Audio podcast - Devotional Classics
Duke Chapel Podcast including Richard Hays and Walter Brueggemann
USA Today's Pop Candy - on pop culture

Here are some basic instructions to get you started using ITunes for podcasts.

Basically, you download ITunes here.  It is free.  I would recommend doing it.  You might as well learn what people are talking about and it is free and convenient to have ITunes download your MP3's for you. 

Basically, ITunes like Internet Explorer doesn't work unless you are connected to the internet. When you open ITunes and see the ITunes store, go to the right side of the page under "Quick Links" and click "Power Search."   On the next screen, click "Podcasts" which is on the right side of the page.  Under Title, put "Mars Hill Bible Church" and then click "Search."  You will have found the podcast for Rob Bell's church.  Click on Mars Hill Bible Church.  Then you can see the main page for the podcast.  At the bottom, all of the episodes are available.  If they are not in the right order, click on "Release Date" to have them organized from most recent to least recent.  You can either "Subscribe" at the top so that you get each new sermon as it is posted on the net each week or you can just click "Get episode" and download the past sermons that you want. 

You can click on "Podcasts" under Library on the left side of your screen.  This will show you all the podcasts which you have downloaded and subscribe to.  Right in front of the title of the podcast you have downloaded is a little triangle pointing right or down.  If it is pointing down, you can see all the details of what episodes you have downloaded.  If it is pointing right, the details are hidden.  When you click on the name of the podcast, it is highlighted and a little arrow appears to the right of the title.  You can click on this arrow to go to the ITunes home page for that podcast.  You right click on the icon of the podcast on its ITunes home page to get its ITunes link (url). 

If you want to get back to searching for more podcasts, just click on the left side of your screen where it says "ITunes store."  In the ITunes store, you can always click back to the ITunes front page by clicking the little house at the top of your screen. 

The podcasts you download are audio computer files called MP3's.  Podcasts are generally free.  You can also download audio books or songs but you have to pay for them. 

Unlike the Apple song files, you can play the podcast MP3's on any computer and MP3 player. You can also burn them on CD's and play them on some CD and DVD players. 

For convenience, you might want to be able to access your ITunes MP3's without ITunes.  Here is the default location where podcasts are downloaded to your computer:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts

If you want to make a shortcut, go to My Documents, My Music, ITunes, ITunes Music, Podcasts.  Then right click and click Create Shortcut.  Cut that Shortcut folder and paste it on your desktop. 

You can grab the MP3's there if you want to transfer them to your MP3 player or a CD.  I

You can double click the photo on this post to get a bigger photo of what my ITunes looks like. 

Audio of my wife Amy Rowell preaching on suffering in Taylor University Chapel

My wife, Amy Rowell, spoke in chapel Wednesday at Taylor University.  I introduced her.  Amy has her Masters of Divinity degree from Regent College in Vancouver, BC and has served on church staff in a number of capacities including pastoral care, children's ministry, adult education, women's ministry and preaching.  Like me, she is serving as a professor of Christian Educational Ministries at Taylor.  She and I share one full-time position and take turns hanging out with our one-year-old Ryan. 

The text she chose was Mark 5:21-43 which includes the healing of the bleeding woman and the daughter of Jairus.  Through expositorily preaching this narrative, she outlines a realistic and robust theology of suffering.  She specifically reflects on the untimely death of her mother in April.  She had three main points.  Here is my paraphrasing of them:  (1) Jesus is compassionate and has the power to heal.  (2) Sometimes Jesus doesn't heal at the time we'd like.  (The daughter of Jairus died when Jesus stopped to heal the bleeding woman).  (3) But Jesus walks with us on the road and heals when we eventually arrive home. 

The mp3 and streaming audio are available at Taylor's website here.  Sadly, the video folks had the day off so didn't get her filmed.

This is a photo of us after a wedding in August 2006. 

How to find movie clips to use in your sermon

   I recently had a student who told me she loved movies.  This woman watched lots and lots of movies.  I was wishing she would read a few more books and go out more often with friends.  But I also encouraged her to write down a movie clip she could use in teaching for each movie she watches.  One of my students emailed me that she is sometimes doing this.  (See the end of this post). 

I don't have this habit down myself but I would like to!  Movies can be a big waste of time but if you are reflecting on them, they can be edifying. 

You can send those clip descriptions into Preaching Today and get paid $75 for each one!  See here for a list of their illustrations which you have to pay to access (but you can still the list).  See here for their guidelines on submitting articles. 

Or get some practice and share your insights with the world by starting a free blog entitled "______'s Movie Illustrations" on Blogger.com.   

I gave my students a Movie Clip assignment in Teaching and Learning Strategies  The Microsoft Word assignment sheet is available free for download at the following link: Download mfilm_clip_assignment.doc

There are a few examples at Leadership Journal’s Website .  Search for “Movie Clips to Show or Tell”.

Here are some books which give movie clips for sermons:

1. Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching - Volume 1 by Craig Brian Larson
2. More Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching: 101 Clips to Show or Tell (Movie-Based Illustrations) by Craig Brian Larson
3. Videos That Teach 4: 75 More Movie Moments to Get Teenagers Talking by Doug Fields
4. Videos That Teach 3: 75 More Movie Moments to Get Teenagers Talking (Youth Specialties) by Doug Fields
5. Videos That Teach 2 by Doug Fields
6. Videos That Teach by Doug Fields
7. Group's Blockbuster Movie Illustrations: Over 160 Clips for Your Ministry! by Bryan Belknap
8. Group's Blockbuster Movie Illustrations: The Sequel by Bryan Belknap
9. Group's Blockbuster Movie Illustrations: The Return by Bryan Belknap

I have created an Amazon.com Listmania! list entitled "Using Movie Clips in a Sermon" if you want to see the covers of the books. 

The reason I mention all of this is that I got an email from Kerrie Schene, one of my students from that class.  After the course had ended, she thought of two movies that could serve as illustrations.  She didn't put her email to me in the "correct form" for the class assignment but I still thought it would be worth sharing with you.  I'm proud of her for watching movies and thinking about the themes and how she might use them in teaching.

Hey, Andy!

How's it going?  I hope your summer is going well with Amy and Ryan in Upland.  I hope you guys are getting some good relaxing time amidst plans for this fall. 

This is random, but there were two times this past semester when I had seen movies/remembered movies with good scenes in them that reminded me of our movie scene presentation in Teaching & Learning.  So, I'm not sure why, but I randomly remembered those just now and wanted to send you them before I forgot once again!

Okay, the first one I saw over Christmas break-"Christmas with the Kranks".  The basic gist of the movie is a married couple in Suburbia boycott having Christmas and decide to skip the traditions and go on a cruise instead.  Then, their daughter decides to come home for Christmas at the last minute so they scramble to make it a good Christmas for her.  The main scene that I thought was really good was one that parallels Christ's gift of mercy, redemption and grace to us.  It's one of the last few scenes in the movie.  Tim Allen's character decides to give his obnoxious neighbor and his sweet wife (who has cancer) his cruise tickets.  His neighbor refuses to take them and insists that he can't pay for them, though Tim repeats that they're a gift over and over and finally the neighbor takes them in amazement.  After I saw that, I said, "That is such a perfect scene to teach God's free and undeserving gift of Jesus to us!" 

The second one came to mind on the spring CE retreat, actually.  I was in the Lectio Divina room (which was awesome, btw) and my scripture to read was 1 John 3:1-3-

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

The word "lavished" was what stuck out to me the most from the passage and made me think of the movie "A Little Princess".  I don't know if you or Amy are familiar with it-there are a couple different versions, but I was thinking of the most recent version made probably in the mid-90's.  The main story is about a girl named Sarah who came to America from India with her father to live in a boarding school as he goes to war-WWI.  He dies while she is at school and the cruel headmaster makes her become a maid at the school and she has to live in the attic with another servant girl named Becky.  They live in very poor circumstances, but still try to hang to some hope despite them.  They notice that a very rich man lives across the way and they can see both him and his butler, who dresses like an Indian sheik, through the windows.  He sees the girls and notices their living conditions.  One morning they wake up to beautiful surroundings.  They have big comfy blankets, pretty robes and slippers and a table covered with hot food that they haven't tasted in forever.  The girls are so excited and try everything at once and exclaim at the beauty of it all.  They end up playing and dancing in the sunlight through the windows and that was the main scene that I thought of when reading and thinking on the word "lavish".  The colors and cinematography in this movie are great, and definitely help when the cold attic is transformed with beautiful colors and sunlight.

So, I hope that maybe these can help for class next year if you are teaching a section of it at all or in the future.  I have just had those in my head for a while and kept forgetting to share them with you.  Again, I hope you are all enjoying the sweet country summer that exists in Upland, Indiana. :)  See you in the fall!

Kerrie Schene
Women's Ministry/CARE Ministry Intern
Southland Christian Church
Lexington, KY

Should pastors borrow sermons from other people?

Today, Skye Jethani posted an article on Leadership Journal's Out of Ur blog entitled: Word for Word: what is driving pastors to plagiarize?

Skye gives us an excellent little summary of the pertinent factors that are adding to the temptation to plagiarize sermons. 

I would also add that "great preachers" have four things smaller church pastors do not: (1) a research team, (2) 25 hours a week to spend on sermon prep, (3) other teaching pastors to preach Wednesday night and next week and (4) an outstanding staff who visit people in the hospital and coordinate worship details.

What else is leading pastors to plagiarize?

People explicitly encouraging them to do so. Read this article at Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox on pastors.com

Don’t be original – be effective!
by Steve Sjogren

Sjogren, pastor of the 6000 attendance Cincinnati Vineyard church, essentially argues that "everyone's doing it and it is practical!" Here is a quote:

First of all, stop all of this nonsense of spending 25 or 30 hours a week preparing to speak on the weekend. The guys I draw encouragement from – the best communicators in the United States – confess they spend a total of about 15 hours preparing for their message. As I have already said, they get 70 percent of their material from someone else . . . Regardless of what you have heard or been taught – hit a homerun this weekend with the help of a message master!

Of course it is appropriate to borrow sermon ideas, quotes, and even outlines from others. It is part of research. We may also draw a quote, idea or outline from a commentary. But I think we must ask ourselves these questions when we borrow.
1. Do I feel complete integrity in this content? Am I repeating traditional American Christian cliches or is this material solidly rooted in Scripture? Am I seeking to live this material?
2. Is there an appropriate way for me to document where I have received my material? Do I put a note in the bulletin that gives credit to the original preacher? For example: "The message material today is based on the sermon series by Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan entitled 'Where else is the cross true?'" Or do you say somewhere in your introduction "Today I'm drawing material from a sermon preached earlier this year by John Ortberg of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California entitled "'The Church on Monday Morning?'"
3. As the person set aside for study in this congregation and looked to as an example of integrity, am I putting aside an appropriate amount of time for preparation for building up my community in God's word? How can I regularly inform the elders of my church about my study habits so that they can protect, encourage me and hold me accountable? "Elders, I just wanted to give you an update on this next sermon series. I'm planning on drawing 70% of what I say directly from Ed Young's recent sermon series. I will probably be spending only 7 hours a week on sermon prep during that series instead of my usual 15. Let's talk about it after the series again and see if you have any concerns about whether I did not spend enough time in preparation or if I should more explicitly indicate the sources of my sermon material."

Later note August 14, 2006:

See also the common sense article from Leadership Journal in 2003 entitled:

An Honest Sermon by Mike Woodruff and Steve Moore (which is available for free at the moment).

Guidelines for Using Movie Clips in a Sermon

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Film and television clips can be a rich resource to draw from when teaching. They can be used at the beginning, end, or middle of a presentation to capture attention, stimulate interest, create a desire to know more, illustrate principles, summarize, or provide a powerful, memorable wrap-up to a message. Here are some preparation and presentation guidelines to help you make efficient use of this effective resource.

GUIDELINES FOR SELECTION

1. Select examples that capture the mood as well as the message of your point
2. Select examples that don’t require a ton of explanation to set up
3. Select examples that won’t require an apology afterwards (You can find more info at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ or http://www.movieguide.org/ about movie moral content though I am partial to the reviews of movies at http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/ since I know three of the reviewers personally).
4. Select only that segment that serves your specific purposes—edit, edit, edit!
5. Don’t be afraid to select examples that may be unfamiliar

GUIDELINES FOR PRESENTATION

A good clip doesn’t stand on its own; it requires a good set up and wrap up

  SET UP—Think Past, Present, and Future

1. Past: Describe the background, setting, time, place, etc
2. Present: Identify the characters and action of the scene
3. Future: Describe any future aspects of the story that would clarify your clip
4. Focus attention by telling them what to watch for, e.g. Pay attention to…,” Be sure to watch for…,”  “Take note of….”
5. Don’t forget to warn the audience of anything they might find offensive or disturbing

  WRAP UP

1. Let the clip speak for itself OR summarize the point you’re making quickly
2. Answer any lingering questions the clip may have raised
3. Don’t get caught up in a personal running commentary on the film as a whole

LICENSE ISSUES

Your church will also need to have a video license to show clips of movies.  Yes, even clips of movies as I understand it though this guy disagrees.  Here are a couple of providers in the USA: MPLC and CVLI  The Willow Creek Association report about the issue is here.  In Canada we used ACF

This handout was originally created by Faye Chechowich, a professor of Christian Educational Ministries at Taylor University, and added to by Ted Ewing, pastor of First Church of God of East Central Indiana.  It was further revised by me for my course Teaching and Learning Strategies (Fall 2005) at Taylor University. 

See the next post which will talk about how to find movie clips. 

APPENDIX: MOVIES I HAVE SEEN IN THE THEATER THIS SUMMER

I have watched three movies in the theater this summer and would probably recommend all of them.  See the reviews of them at Christianity Today: Superman Returns (2 1/2 stars), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (3 1/2 stars), and X-Men: The Last Stand (3 stars). 

You should know that Pirates of the Caribbean is part of a series so the plot does not resolve whatsoever.  The next movie comes out in May 2007.  It is fun.  It is also a bit difficult to follow if you don't remember the previous film.  I read Wikipedia's plot summary of the previous film at Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which helped a lot. 

Superman Returns is also well done I think.  Some of my family thought it was predictable.  I liked it.  There are a few thoughtful moments.  (As far as superhero movies go, see the 4 star reviews from Christianity Today of Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2 now both on DVD.  They are great.)

X-Men 3 was the most intellectually stimulating for me because I could think of some parallels to some issues in our modern world.  Again, it might be helpful to read the plot summary of the previous films at Wikipedia at X2 and X-Men to appreciate all of it. 

Two Outstanding Ortberg Sermons without a Text

John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, is probably my wife Amy and my favorite preacher.  He is funny, winsome, biblically sound, practical, and clear.  I was at Willow Creek's midweek New Community service last week and people cheered when they announced John was coming back to guest teach again August 2nd.  He is deeply loved there by the people he taught for years. 

We have recently listened to two outstanding sermons by him.  You can find his sermons here.  He 3/05/06 sermon "An Ordinary Day with Jesus" is practical and thought provoking.  It is based on the adult curriculum of the same title. 

His next one on 3/12/06 "The Church on Monday Morning" is also incredible.  It is about the people of the church getting out and making a difference for good in the community.  It is inspiring!

In neither one does Ortberg focus on one specific text.  And yet his theology is good and it is practical.  Amy and I have been taught to focus on one text in preaching and we teach our students to do the same.  And here our favorite preacher isn't!  Cognitive dissonance - oh no! 

I would explain it this way.  In these two sermons, Ortberg briefly outlines the biblical principles that could be exegeted from many passages and focuses his sermon on fleshing out application.  You could look at them as long application sections of an expository sermon where the exposition is assumed! 

There is a place for these topical sermons but a congregation needs a steady diet of Scripture or they will depend on the preacher and his whims.  But if you want to hear good topical sermons, listen to these two.  They come highly recommended.   

Logos for Sermon Series

Bravo to Wheaton Bible Church on their logo "Deeper Still" on the spiritual disciplines.  We do want to get deeper and we want to become still.  You can use it like a pun either way.  I like the phrase and the image.  I like the p going deep and becoming the i in still. 

I have heard three of the messages (June 25, July  9, 16) and they have all been good.  You can download and listen to them here. 

How do you preach about helping the poor?

Here is an email from one of my students and my response. 

Hi Andy!

I hope that your summer has been going well and that you are enjoying visiting practicum students! I am doing well here at ________Church in ________, and I actually gave my first ‘sermon" this past Wednesday night.  The thing is, I have to give another sermon this upcoming Wednesday, and I am scrambling to gather information that would be helpful.  I am going to be speaking on the sheep and the goats parable, but not from a view of judgment, but rather, I would like to focus more on the "unto the least of these" aspect of it, to encourage action in the jr. higher’s.  I was wondering if you could refer me to any resources or if you have any notes on the topic that you wouldn’t mind sharing with me?  That would be great! But if not, that’s ok too! Thank you so much!

~Name~

Dear _______,

Great for you preaching!  This is not an easy passage to exegete but it is indeed an inspiring one for us to serve the least of these in our paths.  The good samaritan might be a tad simpler if you want to go that route.  You don't have the judgment to worry about explaining.    

For Preaching Ideas and Illustration Inspiration:

§ Tony Campolo has a heart for serving the poor.  Any of his sermons would probably be inspiring.  They are at his website here.  Maybe start with "Missions: Getting Beyond the Kingdom of Ticky-Tack."  These sermons might give you some inspiration or illustrations.  We will likely meet with him on Capstone.  It is not specifically on Matthew 25.   

§ John Ortberg's sermon on 3/12/06 "The Church on Monday Morning" is also incredible.  It is about the people of the church getting out and making a difference for good in the community.  It is inspiring!  You can find his sermons here.  It is not specifically on Matthew 25. 

§ The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne  is also a great new book by a young person.  We will meet with him on Capstone.

Biblical Study:

§ Here are a list of good commentaries if you have the chance to get to Taylor's library.  Here are some Links to Lists of Good Commentaries  One of the Matthew commentaries by Craig Keener would be great.  He married an African woman and has a deep passion for justice and simplicity.  We will meet with him on Capstone.  Also D.A. Carson's commentary is solid.  He clarifies that it is not that your good works get you into the kingdom of heaven but rather: "The reason for admission to the kingdom in this parable is more evidential than causative."

§ Ron Sider's short book  Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like The Rest Of The World? (Paperback)
by Ronald J. Sider would also give you some good stats and a good summary of the Bible material about serving the poor.

§ Here is my link to Bible study resources on the net.   

I'm glad you are preaching.  It takes a lot of time and it is easy to get discouraged in the preparation so hang in there! 

I would write out what you want to say in complete sentences so that you can basically read it.  Once you have it how you like it basically, then read it over to yourself 3-4 times outloud.  By the 4th time you will basically have it memorized and you will just need to glance down at it.  Writing it helps you have down exactly what you want to say and reading it a number of times helps you get ready to deliver it clearly.  Once you have studied hard, write strongly and passionately what you think.  This is your strength!  Call me on my cell if you need more help ________

Let you prayer be: "Lord I can't help but want to look good and impress people when I preach.  But more than anything, I want YOU to look good!  Please be glorified in what I say." 

I'm going to post my letter to you (without your name) on my blog.  Maybe someone else will have some good ideas.   

Grace and peace,

andy

Click on the category to the side entitled "Senior Capstone Trip" to find more posts about our January capstone trip to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.