Building Momentum After Easter: 5 Strategies to Keep Visitors Coming Back
Easter Sunday is one of the most attended church services of the year. People show up for the celebration, the music, and the powerful message of resurrection hope. But once the Easter lilies fade and the sanctuary returns to its usual rhythms, a bigger question remains: How do you keep visitors coming back? While Easter is an incredible opportunity to welcome new faces, it’s not just about filling seats for one Sunday. It’s about making meaningful connections and building momentum that continues long after Easter is over. The reality is that for many churches, attendance spikes on Easter Sunday, but the following week, things return to normal — sometimes with even fewer people than before. To prevent that drop-off and capitalize on the momentum of Easter, you need an intentional strategy to engage visitors and turn them into regular attendees. Here are five practical and effective strategies to keep the momentum going. Make Follow-Up Personal and Prompt The first 48 hours after Easter are critical for follow-up. Visitors still have the experience fresh in their minds, making it the perfect time to reach out. But this isn’t the time for a generic “Thanks for coming!” email. If you want to make an impact, follow-up needs to be personal and intentional. A young family who visited your church may be interested in learning more about your children’s ministry, while a single adult might be looking for a small group to build community. Personalized follow-up that addresses their unique needs shows that your church values them. Consider sending a brief, heartfelt email or text message thanking them for visiting and offering a next step. You might also consider sending a handwritten note or a small gift card to a local coffee shop as a gesture of appreciation. For those who submitted prayer requests, follow up with a note of encouragement, letting them know the church is praying for them. People return when they feel seen and valued, not just counted as part of an attendance number. Offer a Clear Next Step When someone visits your church, they often leave asking, “What’s next?” If there’s no clear answer, they’re more likely to slip through the cracks. Before Easter Sunday even arrives, ensure you have a clear, easy-to-follow next step for visitors. This could be an invitation to a welcome lunch where visitors can meet church leaders and ask questions, or a short introductory class that explains your church’s mission and core beliefs. You could also offer a list of small groups, Bible studies, or volunteer opportunities to help people get involved. If visitors have a clear path toward connection, they’re much more likely to return. Make it easy for them to take that next step by giving them clear, actionable information in your follow-up communication. Mention upcoming events or classes in your closing announcements on Easter Sunday and remind them through your website, email, and social media channels. Launch a Post-Easter Sermon Series to Engage Newcomers Easter is the perfect launching point for a compelling sermon series that keeps people curious and coming back. The key is to choose a series that feels relevant, accessible, and meaningful for those who may not have a deep understanding of Scripture. A series like “What’s Next After Easter?” could explore how the resurrection transforms daily life, or “Questions About Faith” could address common doubts and concerns. Another option is to tackle real-life issues with a series like “Finding Hope in a Broken World” that speaks to the struggles people are experiencing. Promote your post-Easter series well in advance, so visitors know what’s coming next. Mention the series at the end of your Easter message and invite people to return the following Sunday. Use social media to create buzz and offer sermon clips or teaser videos to give them a taste of what’s ahead. When visitors know there’s more to discover, they’re more likely to stay engaged and return to explore it. Prioritize Community and Connection While your Easter message may have been powerful, it’s relationships that will keep people coming back. People don’t just stay because of great preaching or engaging worship — they stay because they feel like they belong. Creating authentic community is essential for building post-Easter momentum. Visitors who attend on Easter may be looking for more than just a place to worship — they’re seeking meaningful connections and relationships. One way to foster community is by offering smaller, relational gatherings after Easter. Host casual events like coffee meet-ups, park days, or family picnics where people can interact and build relationships. Encourage your staff and volunteers to be intentional about noticing and engaging with new people. Also, facilitate connections by making it easy for visitors to join small groups that align with their interests or life stages. People stay when they feel like they’ve found their people — and it’s up to your church to create that space. Celebrate and Share Stories of Life Change Stories are one of the most powerful ways to build momentum. As people take next steps in their faith — whether through baptism, joining a small group, or serving — share their stories with the congregation. Highlighting stories of transformation shows that God is actively working in your church and inspires others to engage more deeply. Capture testimonies through video, written blog posts, or even brief interviews during a Sunday service. When visitors see that lives are being changed, they’re drawn to be part of something bigger than themselves. Use social media and your website to showcase these stories, allowing people to see the ongoing impact your church is making. People want to be part of a movement where God is at work — and stories of life change are a powerful way to demonstrate that. Don’t Let Easter Momentum Fade The goal of Easter isn’t just to fill seats. It’s to create an environment where people encounter God — and then to build relationships that make those encounters lasting. By making follow-up personal, offering clear next steps, launching an engaging sermon series, prioritizing community, and celebrating stories of transformation, you’ll create momentum that
How to Welcome Church Visitors
Have you ever visited a new church and the experience felt awkward and confusing? Maybe you didn’t know where to park or how to find the nursery. Perhaps you had no idea who or what the pastor was referring to throughout most of the Sunday morning announcements. Do your first-time visitors ever feel this way at your church? Whether you’re hoping for more first-time visitors or you want to increase the number of people who come back again and again, it’s important to know how to welcome church visitors in a way that’s not awkward, confusing, or intimidating. Here are a few best practices for welcoming new visitors to your church. How to Welcome Church Visitors Before They Arrive Did you know that the process of welcoming new church visitors often begins long before your guests arrive at your church? It’s true. The world has changed a lot in the past few years. While some first-time guests may pull into your parking lot as they’re driving by, many new guests will interact with your church online before deciding to visit in person. For example, they may attend a live online event your church hosts, download a free guide you offer, follow your social media channels, or visit your website for information about your service times, dress code, children’s programs, and more. This is why it is vital that your website and social media pages are kept up-to-date. These platforms often provide people with their first impression of your church and what you stand for. You want to share information including: Want to improve in this area? How to Welcome First-Time Visitors in the Parking Lot Once new visitors decide to visit your church in person, you’ll want to help them feel welcome from the time they pull onto your property. Be sure to include plenty of signage if it isn’t immediately clear where people should park or which door they should enter. Depending on the size and resources of your church, you might also put together a parking team or a wagon team to direct traffic, help guests find the best parking spaces, hold umbrellas on rainy days, or give small children wagon rides up to the door. This step is especially important if you meet in a large church building that includes multiple entrances or in a location other than a traditional church building. How to Welcome Sunday Visitors inside the Church In addition to placing plenty of signage outside your church, you’ll want to include plenty of signage inside your church as well. Make it abundantly clear where things are located, including: Similarly, be mindful of how you name various rooms and programs. If you tell young parents that they can drop their little ones off in the “Lamb’s Room,” they likely won’t know what or where that is or what age of children you’re referring to. For this reason, it can be helpful to have plenty of greeters on hand – enough so they aren’t chained to the front door. This way, you can have someone available to walk a new guest where they need to go, so there’s no confusion. Be sure to give first-time church visitors a simple, non-invasive way to connect with you further. If you ask new visitors to fill out a lengthy sheet with tons of personal questions, they probably won’t bother. However, if you can offer a small gift (such as a coffee mug) in exchange for their email address, you can continue to follow up and invite them to return. And finally, make yourself available for visits and questions when possible. While people choose which church to attend for a number of reasons, the pastor is often one of the most important factors. Let people get to know you! How to Follow Up with Your Church Visitors Often, the best way to continue to welcome church visitors after their initial visit is to follow up with an automated email sequence that shares information about your church, your programs, and the various ways new church visitors can get involved in your community. The key is to automate your follow-up where possible. We’re all busy, and it’s easy to intend to follow up with new visitors only to never get around to it. By creating an email or text sequence that goes out automatically when new visitors sign up, you can stay in touch effortlessly without having to remember or set hours aside each week. Put Yourself in Your Church Visitors’ Shoes Once you’ve attended the same church for months or years (or decades!), it can be easy to forget how confusing, awkward, or overwhelming visiting your church can be for a new visitor. After all, you already know where everything is, what all the lingo means, and what to expect. When considering how to welcome church visitors more effectively, here are three tips that will really help. 1. Drive into your church parking lot and pretend you’re brand new. Is it clear where everything is? Can you easily find what you need? What ideas for improvement do you notice? 2. Ask newer church members for their feedback. What did they initially (or still!) find confusing? What questions did they have? What could have been more clear? 3. Visit other churches. Not only will this remind you what it feels like to be new, but you can often pick up some great ideas for how to welcome church visitors by seeing what other churches in your area are (or are not) doing. Unfortunately, there is no way to eliminate all of the awkwardness and confusion new guests may feel when visiting your church for the first time. However, by thinking through how to welcome church visitors more effectively, you can proactively eliminate as many obstacles as possible, creating a friendly, welcoming church people will want to attend again and again.
Creative Church Stage Design
How much thought do you put into your church stage design on a regular basis? Does your church create elaborate, complicated sets for each new sermon series, or have you had the same setup for months or even years? In this episode of the Hello Church podcast, we’re talking with Jonathan Malm of the popular ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com. Read on to learn more about Jonathan, the church stage design best practices he recommends, and how pastors all across the globe have used his church stage design ideas to create beautiful sets without breaking the bank. Prefer to listen? You can find the full podcast episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or right on our website, MinistryPass.com. Meet Jonathan Malm, Founder of ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com Jonathan Malm is the founder and owner of ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com, a popular resource among pastors that shares thousands of church stage design ideas perfect for small budgets, big budgets, and everything in between. Jonathan first started designing church stages in the 1970s, when he was looking for a way to change what people thought about the church his dad was pastoring. At the time, many people were familiar with the church, but the church’s design simply didn’t reflect what the church was or what they wanted the church to become. Since then, Jonathan began researching and sharing church stage design ideas while inviting others all around the world to share their favorite designs as well. Jonathan says, “If I had known about this resource that I created, it would have saved us a lot of time, energy, and money. But hopefully, I can help other churches.” Church Stage Design Best Practices While many think of church stage design as simply decorating a stage in trendy decor that will appeal to your congregation, Jonathan shares that good design is about much more than simply making your stage look nice. Here are three church stage design best practices Jonathan recommends. 1. Think of Stage Design as a Blank canvas. According to Jonathan Malm, the number one goal of good church stage design is to create “an environment for your pastor or your worship team to be able to do what they’re doing.” In other words, you want to use your visual elements strategically to help set a mood, tell a story, or draw the audience’s focus where you want it to be. Your motivation shouldn’t be to create a rock concert experience but to help draw the people deeper into worship or to help them focus and learn from the message the pastor is sharing. 2. Simple is Better While there’s certainly nothing wrong with creating expensive, elaborate sets if your church has the budget and you think it will help get your message across, church design does not have to be expensive. When choosing where to focus your budget, Jonathan advises pastors to focus on the stage lighting over expensive materials. He shares, “You can have crummy materials and really inexpensive materials. But if you have the lighting dialed in, well, it makes them look good. At the same time, you can have expensive materials, but if the lighting is not effective, it’s going to look cheap.” 3. Hint at Your Concept (Don’t Go So Literal) While it can be tempting to build set materials that perfectly encapsulate the Bible story your pastor is currently sharing (building a boat for a sermon on Noah’s ark, for example), it’s best to keep your set designs more generic. By creating designs that simply hint at your concept or are more abstract in nature, you can create designs you’ll be able to use again and again (and typically at a fraction of the cost). This will save your team a lot of time, effort, and expense. Where to Find Great Church Stage Design Ideas Ready to create your next church stage design? Looking for easy church stage design ideas that don’t break the bank? Why try to reinvent the wheel when another church has done it before you, and they’ve given you photos, instructions, and tips? Visit ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com for thousands of affordable, easy, and creative church stage design ideas you can implement starting this week!
Planning Your Sunday Morning Worship
As a pastor, you probably spend hours planning your Sunday sermon–choosing just the right verses, stories, and illustrations–but how much thought do you put into the Sunday morning worship music that accompanies it? While it’s certainly easier to simply let the worship team choose whichever songs they like best, taking a bit of time to collaboratively plan your Sunday worship songs can level up both the message and the impact of your Sunday worship service. 1. Plan Your Sermons in Advance While we always want to leave room for the Holy Spirit to move at the last minute, as a general rule, you should try to plan your Sunday morning sermon topics far enough in advance to allow the worship team to prepare. This way, the worship team can find songs that support or add to the theme or tone of your sermon, rather than songs that will distract from (or accidentally contradict!) the main message you are hoping to share. While there are some songs your Sunday morning worship team may be able to play easily at the last minute, other songs will require your band members to have time to learn and practice the songs. You want to be respectful of your musicians by not insisting they learn new songs at the last minute or on their day off. 2. Choose Sunday Morning Worship Songs Everyone Can Sing It’s natural for worship leaders to want to play new praise and worship songs they enjoy. However, you want to be careful to include well-known favorites your congregation knows and can sing as well. Not every praise and worship song played on the radio can be sung easily by a crowd. And you don’t want the Sunday morning worship service to turn into a band performance that primarily highlights the musician’s skills, while the congregation struggles to follow along. There’s something powerful when everyone is able to sing along together with hearts of one accord. This is especially important on weekends when you’re likely to have a lot of new people in attendance, such as Easter, Christmas, and the weeks that follow immediately after. Old hymns such as Amazing Grace, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, and It Is Well are timeless favorites anyone can sing along with, making them a great choice. 3. Periodically Audit Your Sunday Morning Worship Selection Do you typically choose the same types of songs every week? Do your songs always evoke the same tone, emotion, or theme? Are any of your songs theologically incorrect? Does your church ever sing Scripture or songs based on Scripture verses? Are all the songs self-focused instead of God-focused? As busy human beings with limited time, strong preferences, and biased opinions, it can be easy to fall into a rut of playing the same types of praise and worship songs over and over. After all, it’s often easier to play Sunday morning worship songs you already know than to go out and find and learn new ones. However, you might find that certain themes are over or under-represented in your existing song list. Doing an audit is a great way to make sure your song choices line up with the message and truth you want these songs to convey. A little bit of planning can go a long way toward helping the Sunday morning worship songs your band chooses better support the overall message and feel of your service.
Sunday Service Volunteers
Whether you’re a pastor, a church staff member, or simply a member of your local church congregation, you likely know just how important Sunday service volunteers are. From the greeters to the sound technicians to the security team, your church depends on the generosity of talented volunteers to keep the church running smoothly. That’s why, today, we’re sharing how to find, recruit, train, and equip wonderful church volunteers you’ll be thrilled to have serving your church for years to come. How to Get More Volunteers at Church While you certainly can find church volunteers simply by making an announcement during Sunday morning announcements or by sending an email to your church email list, you’ll likely have greater success by sharing your church vision and by inviting people individually. One of the most effective ways to get more Sunday service volunteers at church is to consistently share stories about how your current church leaders are serving and the impact they’re making. This is a long-term strategy that can take time, but it creates a church culture where people genuinely want to be a part of what your church is already doing (rather than simply signing up to volunteer out of a sense of guilt or obligation). Aim to follow the 80/20 rule: Share stories 80% of the time, and directly invite people to sign up 20% of the time. This way, you’ll always be recruiting without even asking. Of course, there will be times when you need church volunteers right away, and the long game won’t help meet a pressing need. In these instances, it’s best to talk to individual church members directly, to see if and how they may be interested in helping out. Do you know someone who would make the perfect youth group leader, bake sale coordinator, or prayer team leader? Reach out! Additionally, many of your church members likely have talents, skills, and abilities that would greatly bless your church… if you knew they existed. Rather than simply aiming to fill a specific predetermined role, it can also be helpful to ask what additional skills your congregation would love to use if a new opportunity were available. How to Train and Empower Your Sunday Service Volunteers When your church is hurting for additional Sunday volunteers, it can be tempting to quickly place any warm body into whatever spots you currently have available. After all, you need help! However, if you follow these four best practices for training and empowering your Sunday volunteers, you’ll increase your chances of having happier, more effective volunteers who stick around for years to come. Well-known pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel shares this church volunteer advice: “We don’t recruit volunteers; we release leaders, because volunteers do good things, but leaders change the world.” Look for volunteers who will not only fill a role, but who truly care about stepping up, taking ownership, and doing their best on a consistent basis. These leaders don’t have to be outgoing or charismatic–simply people who care enough to go above and beyond to do their role well. Once you’ve found church volunteers with leadership potential, it’s crucial that you don’t micromanage them. If you micromanage your high-capacity volunteers, they will leave. Rather than telling your volunteers, “Here’s your job. Do it exactly as I tell you, and run everything by me first,” you’ll want to give your church volunteers room to grow and flourish. You want leaders who are go-getters, who think for themselves, and who show initiative. While there will likely be an initial training period, once you’ve found leaders you can trust, you want to empower them to do their roles well–without you constantly second guessing their every decision. If you have someone who is helping volunteers get set up for the worship team, the security team, children’s church, or any other role, it’s important that this individual is organized. It’s incredibly frustrating for Sunday service volunteers to prepare, only to find out after the fact that details or schedules have changed. While some changes are unavoidable, you’ll want to communicate any changes as quickly as possible. It’s always better to slightly over-communicate than under-communicate. Show Your Church Volunteers Plenty of Appreciation! While hosting a yearly volunteer appreciation dinner can be a nice way to thank your Sunday service volunteers, you won’t want to stop there. Instead, look for simple ways to show your gratitude all year long. For example, you might send a text, write a note, or share your appreciation from the main stage on a Sunday morning. You might bring in donuts and coffee (either regularly or as a fun surprise), or give your volunteers small gifts or gift cards. Once you find amazing church volunteers, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep them, and a little appreciation often goes a long way!
Preaching Through Non-Fiction Books
Is it OK for preachers to do a sermon series based on a non-fiction book or a movie instead of solely going through the Bible? What about preaching through someone else’s series? There is so much content available that other people create. You don’t have to write your sermons all by yourself every single time. Granted, you could have a wonderful, impactful ministry without ever using anyone else’s content. But it’s OK to do it. So how can we do it well? Using Books in a Sermon Add Value How do we incorporate other people’s thoughts and content into our sermons in a way that makes the material an asset, not a distraction? First, preaching the text as the author intended it to be taught is important. (This is good to keep in mind whether you’re preaching straight from the Bible or using another’s content to supplement the scriptures.) Keep in mind that there aren’t many new ideas out there, but there are new ways to package them. It’s ultimately up to you whether you decide to use other people’s content in your sermons. But if you do, make sure that it adds value. Use Caution To be clear, it’s probably not wise to literally preach through a non-fiction book in the same way we would the Bible. Rather, we’re referring to using a book and using it as a launching pad to teach the scriptures. Using others’ thoughts from a book to help you communicate or expand on the scripture you preach can be a great way to teach the Bible. It could be an illustration, title, or paradigm. It’s probably not the best idea to go through a non-fiction book on the regular, but rather to use them more for a special feature series every now and then. Don’t use them as your default. So how can we use preexisting material with integrity? Give Credit Be sure to give credit where credit is due. At the same time, be mindful of how many times you mention the person you’re quoting, as saying their name every time you use some of their content can be distracting to your listeners. If you reference the same person many times throughout your message, you can make a statement at the beginning that lets your people know that a lot of what you’re going to say is influenced by the other person. The point is to stay honest; don’t make people think you came up with stuff you didn’t. If we quoted every single person that has influenced our thinking, the entire message would be name-checking. Remember, bring other people into the conversation as you consider how to put the pieces of your sermons together. Don’t make these decisions in isolation. Talk with trusted colleagues and leaders about whether or not to use someone else’s content in your messages. Bounce off ideas and get advice for discernment. Advantages of Community Content There is Great Content Available Let’s face it, not every Christian fiction book is great, but there are many quality books to discover and possibly incorporate into your preaching as supplemental material. Imagine a book is recommended by someone you trust. As you read it, you realize it’s well-written, has an impactful message, and is organized so that it would be fairly simple to use as a sermon series. It might be a great book to use. There are several to choose from these days as you consider preaching on a book. You might want to check out the book, God of All Things, by Andrew Wilson. It talks about how ordinary things point us to the beauty of God. Interesting Framing When you read and use someone else’s work, it’s something outside of your own head and most likely your typical circle of influence. Using another person’s thoughts and perspectives can be an interesting way to set up a concept. Don’t think of books, movies, or planned series as “preaching someone else’s sermon.” Instead, look at it like you’re using a premade framework. There is intrigue in the way other people organize and frame different faith topics. It gets you outside your typical way of thinking and stretches your options. And if you decide to try preaching through a book, it’s not necessary to preach through every chapter. Some might apply better than others to what you’re trying to communicate in your series. A framework for preaching gives you direction in the way you could preach the book of the Bible or topic. Ministry Pass put together a handful of series guides for pastors interested in using books in a sermon. Check them out here. It’s the same thing we all have to do when Easter and Christmas arrive each year. We’re trying to present the same basic content differently or from a different angle. Why not gather from the huge pot of Christian resources? Additional Resources Often, the author has provided a study guide or another resource for churches or groups to use alongside their book. Most pastors aren’t preparing sermons alongside a large creative team like mega-churches usually have. The majority have to come up with topics and themes, write their content, and develop any additional resources on their own. Leveraging the work that’s already been done by others, such as Christian authors and Ministry Pass, can be a tremendous asset when you’re preaching about a book. Using non-fiction books in a sermon is doable, but you don’t have to take it on alone. Save time by diving into the content already written by the many amazing writers and thinkers out there. Another book to check out: Accidental Pharisees by Larry Osborne Dangers of Using Others’ Content Preaching Man’s Word Instead of God’s Word This will most likely be a concern of some of the people in your congregation – that you’re using the Bible to support what another person said. In this case, the authority of what you’re teaching is in the other person, not God. This
Preaching Through the Old Testament
Many of us dream about preaching God’s Word, but there are so many different dynamics and challenges that we have to work through – especially in 21st century America. There are many ways it could go right and numerous ways it could go wrong. But even if we, as preachers, can get even a few percentages better every year, that adds up over time! That’s the benefit of finding resources like this podcast and building a supportive community with whom you can discuss and process. Every bit of confidence will transfer through your preaching to your congregation’s walk with the Lord. Let’s dive into some things you might want to think about before using the Old Testament in your teachings (and reasons to NOT avoid it). There are several reasons why you might want to consider incorporating books and passages from the Old Testament in your sermon planning. For one, the Old Testament is unfamiliar territory for many people, so it gives you an opportunity to wow people and make them think you’re deep and profound. You’re just preaching what’s there, but their lack of familiarity makes it feel profound. But seriously, there are many confusing things about the Old Testament and so many incredible aspects we can draw wisdom from. We will explore those contrasting things in this discussion. It’s natural for some pastors to steer clear of using the Old Testament in their preaching. It brings up many questions. There are topics, stories, and situations we find there that can make us scratch our heads in wonder or even make us feel uncomfortable. Things like: It can be difficult to formulate Old Testament sermons when the culture of that day and our culture today are so very different. Teaching about Jesus or Christian living can feel much easier to many pastors compared to teaching about the Old Testament. Typically, for some preachers, there are sections of the Old Testament they feel more confident with and others that are quite difficult to know how to handle. In this Discussion: Challenges Theological Gaps How many of the commands and/or promises given to Israel apply to us today? How much are we supposed to see ourselves in the people of Israel, versus seeing these things given to a distinct country with a distinct political system at a distinct time in history? Take for example, Jeremiah 29:11– a familiar verse that many want to claim – “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Can we claim that? We’re not exiled Israelites in Babylon. But we are part of God’s people as the Church and are in a type of exile in a non-Christian world. So that’s an example of the tough theological questions that come up. Another challenge that comes up theologically is the weird stuff that happens in the text. Things like when God seems to show up on the scene as an angel or heavenly being, or the Spirit fills and guides someone, but it’s not the same as described in the New Testament. When we understand more of what the New Testament is saying but feel unsure about the Old Testament “version” of something similar, what do we do with that? Another example that brings up questions is that the 10 Commandments say not to bear false witness, but Rahab does this to protect the spies and it seems ok. This type of thing can feel scary to pastors because we don’t know what to do with it. There are big questions that come up that we don’t want to ignore and gloss over. Our listeners aren’t usually aware of the theological challenges that we have to sort through before we present a sermon. It’s an opportunity to bring clarity to a lot of unfamiliarity for the people in our congregations. Cultural Discomfort Some of the questions we listed earlier become very confusing regarding the cultural differences we encounter. Why are certain lifestyles ok for their culture, but not ours? The historical context of the Bible, and specifically the Old Testament, was in a very different time and culture than our present-day American perspective. It brings up curiosities such as, how much did God allow in that era regarding cultural norms? Slavery is a confusing one. The entire redemptive story in the Old Testament is about freeing His people from Egyptian slavery. But then, as you read on, it seems having servants is acceptable for His people. Why did God allow it? And idolatry in our culture certainly does not look like carving an image and worshiping it as God. But we are tempted to shrink God in other ways and overemphasize certain characteristics at times. Idolatry expresses itself differently now compared to the same issue in the Old Testament. But in our hearts, it’s the same. These are examples of how we, as pastors teaching from the Old Testament, have to try and bridge the gaps – and it can be tricky. There is no doubt that if you preach a lot from the Old Testament, you’re going to bump into more tough texts. Some preachers preach 90% from the New Testament and practically ignore the Old Testament. And that’s somewhat understandable due to our faith being made complete in Christ and the work of the New Covenant, being fleshed out in the Church. It wouldn’t be completely inappropriate to preach more from the New Testament than the Old Testament, but 2 Timothy 3 says all scripture is breathed out by God, and the “Bible” that the early church had was the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. You can’t read the book of Revelation and understand it without understanding many of its themes, imagery, and dynamics come from the Old Testament. It’s probably not wise to ignore it if we want people to get to know and understand God. Some write off Christianity simply because
Sunday Service Announcements
Chances are you spend hours planning, researching, and crafting an effective sermon each week, but do you take the time to plan your Sunday church announcements as well? Sunday announcements are a necessary part of most worship services, as they help the congregation stay up-to-date on all the important events happening in the life of the church. Yet, they aren’t always as effective or efficient as they could be. The good news is: Church announcements don’t have to be long, boring, or dry! Today, we’re sharing the 10 commandments of church announcements so you can make your announcements as informative, fun, and memorable as possible. 1. Be Prepared If you want your Sunday announcements to be informative and memorable, it’s important not to simply wing it. Rather than walking up on stage and reading a list of announcements you’ve never seen before, take some time to prepare in advance. If you’re giving the Sunday announcements: Decide in advance what you want to say and how you want to say it. It can also help to talk to someone who is a part of the event to get their stories. If someone else will be giving the church announcements: Make sure you give them the announcements with enough time to prepare and practice in advance. Be sure to give them a time frame so they don’t talk too long. 2. Be Selective If your church has multiple events occurring at any given time, you don’t have to announce every single event on stage. If there are too many announcements, people won’t remember them. Instead, you want to be selective. A good rule of thumb is: If an event impacts 75 to 80 percent of the church, it’s probably a great selection for Sunday announcements. If it only impacts a small segment of the church, you may want to get the word out another way, such as through various groups or emails. Creating a system or set of guidelines around your church announcements can help prevent hurting the feelings of those whose announcements aren’t shared publicly. This way, it isn’t a judgment call you have to make. You can simply rely on the guidelines. 3. Greet the Guests During the Sunday announcements is also a great time to greet any guests you may have in attendance, as they likely won’t know much, if anything, about the ministries or events your church offers. Be sure to introduce yourself briefly, and explain any details a new church visitor may need to know about the announcements. For example, don’t simply say, “See Joe Smith in classroom 104.” They likely won’t know who Joe Smith is or how to find classroom 104. Instead, be extra clear on what action you want new guests to take, if any, and keep your directives short and simple. Rather than asking guests to fill out a long form with all their personal information, you may simply direct them to the welcome center to receive a small gift. 4. Make Your Sunday Church Announcements Visual Rather than simply standing up in front of the church and reading from a paper, look for ways to make your Sunday announcements more visually interesting. You can do this very easily with MinistryPass.com. We have all types of church announcement graphics, event graphics, and service slides. Plus, we have an integration with Canva, so you can quickly and easily edit the slides and export them in any format you need (4:3 or 16:9, for example). You can find a great selection of Sunday Church announcement slides here on MinistryPass.com. 5. Tell Stories Stories are another great way to make your Sunday announcements more interesting, meaningful, and memorable. Rather than simply telling the details of an event, tell a story about a person whose life has been impacted by the event in the past. (Or better yet, have that individual share their story if they’re willing!) There’s a reason Jesus spent a third of the New Testament sharing stories. As humans, our minds tend to drift, but stories inspire us. They connect with our hearts and our souls. It’s another reason you can only include so many announcements in your church service. There’s only room for so many stories! 6. Tie Everything Back to the Vision Does your church exist to fulfill a specific vision or purpose? Does your congregation know what that purpose is? If not, Sunday announcements are a great time to remind people of and connect people to your church’s vision. Not only does this give your events more purpose, but it also keeps that vision front and center in the minds of your congregation. For example, if you have a Serve Day, you can say, “One of our church values is to bring Heaven to Earth in our community, and we’re going to do this by serving these individuals this next week.” It helps people remember why they’re doing what they’re doing. 7. Be Creative Don’t be afraid to get creative and have a little fun with your Sunday church announcements. You could tell funny jokes, use a hip-hop beat in the background, use entertaining slides, or tell interesting stories. You could even film the announcements at a separate location to be live-streamed or played later during church announcements. Make sure you give yourself time to plan in advance and then ask yourself: How can I share this update in an interesting, entertaining, or memorable way? The sky’s the limit! 8. Use Different People to Present Rather than always having the pastor or one specific ministry leader do the church announcements, why not mix it up? Have various people from different ministries give the announcements. Not only does this keep the Sunday church announcements fun and interesting, but it also allows your congregation to learn more about the church and the various volunteers and staff members that are a part of it. Plus, having the person most connected to the ministry or event share the announcement is likely to be far
Preaching Through Pain
When you became a pastor, were you “signing up” for despair and pain? To be honest, it is part of the equation of leading. Have you modeled healthy leadership during seasons of pain? Sometimes we do, and there will be times when we flat-out make mistakes. In those scenarios, we mend offenses. Likely, many of you have already been through hard times. And for others, the reality is they are just ahead of you. Pain on earth is inevitable. So how do we, as pastors and preachers, lead with integrity and authenticity through those times? Whether we like it or not, our challenges will come through our speaking and mannerisms when we preach. Some might be better at hiding pain than others. There will be people in your church who notice something is going on. Most of us don’t have the luxury of taking a break from teaching while facing hardships. There might be opportunities to get someone else to preach here and there, but often our hurtful times aren’t planned – they just happen. That said, what does it mean to be a good pastor/leader/shepherd in difficult or painful times? Let’s explore how to actively lead while experiencing pain. Pain is Part of Leading It might be easier to speak publicly about seasons of pain 5, 10, or 15 years after they happen, which seems to be common for pastors. But what does it look like to lead with authenticity and wisdom amid your hardships? We must face the fact that pain is a reality in this life. Many might think that pastors don’t get hurt and pastors don’t hurt people. Well, both of those statements are false. Both are possible and happen often. A positive thing about going through pain is that it grows our compassion and relatability with our congregation and those around us. When you experience different challenges and hurtful situations, you have a level of expertise and credibility with your people. Often, they are more likely to trust you and respect your leadership. But how is it best to navigate pain in those moments when your life isn’t going great for whatever reason? You may have heard it said, “If you preach to people in pain, you’ll always have an audience.” If that’s true of people in our pews, then it’s true of us. Preachers bring their entire selves to leadership moments. We are real people with real problems like everyone else. It is ok if there is a need for counseling or an authentic meeting with your board to explain what you’re facing. Pastors are real people. Different Kinds of Pain A few types of pain that we all face include categories such as: Interpersonal Examples Personal Examples How Hard Times Shape Your Preaching Preparing the Preacher When thinking about your sermon plan, you not only want to prepare for your message but prepare yourself as well. Preparing the preacher is the ongoing work of anyone who’s teaching. Anyone can prepare a sermon, but the sermon is drawing from a personal well of life experience, education, etc. Check out another resource that references this concept, Preaching Through Christmas and Easter. The best gift you give in your leadership, preaching, and family is your transformed and transforming presence. Preaching is very draining. Why? It’s giving yourself. You’re giving your presence away as you preach. If you’re giving of yourself and you’re in pain, that’s going to come through. And it should. It’s ok. We are real people, not just brains on a stick. It doesn’t mean we share all the details of what we’re facing with the congregation. It still takes evaluating in wisdom who, if anyone, should hear details. Preaching Isn’t Just Transferring What You Know But Also Who You Are As pastors, we go beyond information. We offer our whole person when we preach. The apostle Paul said to the Thessalonian church: “we shared with you not just the gospel, but our very selves.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, paraphrase). We bring more than a transfer of knowledge to the preaching moment. We bring our person, our presence, our love, our affection — our whole person. Think about how Jesus lived as a real, dynamic person. Get him off the 2-D flannel graph and paint a full, HD picture of who He is. He dealt with real emotions, feelings, situations, and dynamics. You might want to listen to our podcast episode, Preaching Through the Gospels, for more reference on this. Did Jesus feel tired or was he hurting during some of His preaching moments? He was a real person that brought His real self to the ministry. We know He experienced a full range of emotions by how it’s laid out in the gospels. Consider Paul’s hardships. When he boasted to the Corinthians, it was about his trials, pain, and difficulty. Thirty-nine lashes, shipwrecks, the pressure of the churches, and more… It was like he was saying, “You want proof that I have real spiritual authority? Here it is.” What marks our ministry’s credibility is pain. Our pain will show up in ministry and will impact it in positive ways. The Lord can use our hard times to sanctify us and make us more Godly. When you’re in pain, you’re more sensitive to people in pain. That can come through in positive ways when you’re preaching. On the other hand, if you’re not processing it well, you might lash out, respond in anger, or do something else. Like the saying says: hurt people hurt people. And that can become true, so it is important to seek help and counsel when you find yourself in a painful season. Either way, the pain is going to impact you, and who you are is going to come out. HALT There are times when we crumble under the weight of the trial and hurt. In those times, it can be super advantageous to reach out to a trusted friend and share the burden of what you’re dealing with.
How to Preach Through Cultural Events: Tragedy and Controversy
Postures pastors can take from the pulpit as they address headlines, happenings, and major cultural events that are tragic or controversial.
