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First Jesus Church, Eager, AZ
It was my pleasure and privilege to be able to preach at the First Jesus Community Church of Eager, Arizona on November 29, 2009. This wonderful congregation has done an amazing job of building a beautiful log cabin church building. If you pass through this town, you really must stop by and see it on the inside as well as the outside.
Eager and Springerville, these twin towns, are located at an elevation above 7,000 feet, like Flagstaff, except on the East side of the state only a few miles from New Mexico. Located in these beautiful mountains it is a picturesque place to live.
Pastor Larry Rhoads has just recently retired and they have a new Pastor beginning in January. In the meantime, they had several Pastors and a few laymen to fill the pulpit for them. Cindy and I drove up from Chandler, to Payson, Showlow, and then to Eager and Springerville. This requires ascending a peak of over 9,000 feet to get across the mountains to the church. These mountains were snow capped and beautiful on the drive both coming and going.
The congregation of this SBC church was extremely friendly and positive. This is a place where community still matters.
I was able to preach on the subject of Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, or “How Can We Approach God?” This is a message that offers a clear distinction on how people approach God and which approach is actually approved by God. It offers excellent application in terms of salvation, prayer, and attitude. This makes it an excellent message for both believers and unbelievers. There is a part of the message that I have borrowed from the great Fred Wolfe which I heard him preach in person about 20 years ago. I will add a copy of the message outline for download. It comes from a series I preached on the Parables called “Stories You Love to Hear.” The title of the message when I first preached it was, “The Fundamentalist That Made God Sick.” You can download it below. Feel free to preach it as long as you do not claim it for your own. It is an excellent evangelistic message for a Revival meeting or evangelistic crusade in your church.
Click Here to Download Sermon Outine: How To Approach God (Sermon in Adobe PDF, so you will need Adobe Reader to open it.)
Blessings on the dear members of First Jesus Community Church of Eager, Arizona!
Momentum is mysterious.
Momentum is powerful.
Momentum is an ally.
Momentum is lost quickly and easily.
Momentum can be created.
It is called “The Big Mo” and is sought by every athlete, every coach, every business leader, and yes, every Pastor and ministry leader. When you have momentum it seems like problems are easily overcome, but when you do not have it even small problems seem insurmountable. If you feel like you are having to push and pull every detail through your church and every little change, and every new ministry opportunity is met with little enthusiasm, then you are experiencing lack of momentum. We ALL know what that feels like.
When it comes to church growth, momentum is your best friend, and lack of momentum may be your worst enemy. Momentum can be delayed by gossip, bad attitudes in ministry leaders, unhealthy systems, unhealthy ministry leaders, lack of follow-through, insufficient finances, loss of good ministry leaders, and, of course, a poor attitude from the Pastor. Often lack of enthusiasm from the people is the result of a lack of enthusiasm from the Pastor, staff, and deacons.
There is GOOD NEWS! Momentum Can Be Created! Think about it. A locomotive running down the track has enough momentum to crash through brick walls, pull SUV’s down the track for a mile, and more. (Only Superman is more powerful than a locomotive.) But that same locomotive is sitting still on the track for hours waiting to be loaded down with goods and passengers. There are hundreds of tons that have to get started from a standing position. Ice can stop it. Wooden blocks can stop it. It really does take a lot to get the momentum started, but trains run on schedule every day. How? It takes lots of energy, and a plan.
Perhaps you have felt the enthusiasm of a Revival, or Youth Camp, or Vacation Bible School, 40 Days of Purpose, or a Friend Day. You know what kind of preparation went it the planning of it, and felt the momentum of getting “all aboard” both before the event and the glow of achievement and celebration after the event. It took a lot of work, but people seemed to be willing to pitch in because they understood the purpose of the event, the value or potential value of the event, and were caught up in the enthusiasm of the leadership.
Perhaps you would say, “Kelly, we are not an event church. We like to do quality worship on a regular basis and people should be willing to respond to that.” You are right, people should be willing to respond to that. But try an event and see if they respond to something that is out of the ordinary.
Perhaps you would say, “Kelly, we do events, but it is a long time between them and we lose momentum, and then we have a difficult time regaining it.” You are right, if you wait for camps and Vacation Bible School or other season events to provide your events and momentum, you are definitely at the mercy of someone else’s schedule. You must be pro-active and intentional when it comes to planning your annual church calendar. That is another topic.
Here is a great way to keep momentum on your side on a regular basis throughout the year. People love what is “New” and “Different.” Why do manufacturers continually advertise their products as “new and improved?” Car manufacturers design new body types, colors, interiors, and features every year. They are smart. They know they have to continually create a buzz, a momentum for people buying their products.
Try a New Sermon Series
Many of the large and fast growing churches have found a way to continually create momentum through good church calendar planning and through strategic “New Sermon Series.” It seems that every 4 to 6 weeks they are advertising a new sermon series. And when they advertise this new series, it is more than just an announcement from the Pastor. The entire church seems to reorganize around the new theme. The children, youth, and adults have something to get them involved. There are events planned, there are new graphics, and videos, and special speakers, and advertising, etc. People get excited. They want to attend and they want to invite their friends. How do they do it? Well, they plan for it. They get all of the staff involved, and the lay leadership is involved in the planning. It becomes a part of their structure, their system, and their church culture.
Give it a try. Use one of your best sermon series and get everyone involved in the planning and implementation. Or if you need a little help, download the free sermon series here and add some stuff to it. You can also find some great resources from Ed Young, Jr. at CreativePastors.com.
I have put together a New Sermon Series Checklist that you can use for your next sermon series and keep on using for future sermon series.
You can download it here free below. Simply “right click” on the link below and then select “save target as” to your desktop or the folder of your choice.
New Sermon Series Checklist
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