Sunday is Coming...ready or not
12 November, 2008 -
Sunday’s come around with weekly regularity, whether we are ready or not. It can be a challenge to make sure we are ready and prepared. There are 168 hours a week, we get to craft 1 maybe 2 of them into a corporate worship experience. If we miss the target, that’s it for nother week. All of us want our weekend services to make an impact.
Going to church ought to be one of those “we’re different because we came” occasions. We’ve had a perception check, a heart encounter with God and others and maybe even received a challenge we can embrace, to “up our game” in our Christian walk. Reveal” research by Willow Creek Church tells us that over 80% of people in every congregation every weekend want relevant Bible eaching to help them with everyday life and they want their experience to be challenging or thought provoking.
How will the message I am going to share today make a difference? Being clear about what you want the people to know, see, feel and do as a result of being in church will guide your planning and the implementation of your message. By message I am not just talking about the talk or the sermon. We must communicate the same message all the way through the service. Firstly raising the relevant issue, then discovering the life-changing biblical principle, and then unpacking ways we can live it out. It is the same way an advertising company, raises the perception of the audience and creates a felt need, then offers a solution. That’s why we suddenly feel thirsty after seeing a can of cold coke opened on TV! This is where the creative Arts can be a real plus – not presenting answers but raising the question.
Once you have established the li
Carefully think out your transitions: Start, stop start, stop is bad enough when it’s an Auckland driving experience, but even worse as a Sunday morning service. Yet so many churches do this repeatedly. “Thanks for singing”, it’s time for the announcements, the children can leave now” When crafting the Sunday morning experience it is important to consider how each element seamlessly merges into nother. What we say and how we say it makes all the difference. If we don’t give this thought before the service we can innocently say something that just kills the moment. Pauses can be very productive at times, creating a specifc effect, however most of the time pauses are delays and become distractions.
Who needs to be where during the service? “Where is Mrs Brown, she wants to tell us about.......?” Mrs Brown then wastes valuable time getting to the stage and disrupts the fow of the service.
Does it really need to be said? Is there any more effective way to give out notices? If they are all in the bulletin then why aren’t people reading that? The truth is if the service is engaging, people will have forgotten the announcements anyway.
How long does the impact of the weekend service last? Are there any intentional steps made to integrate learning into the week
ahead? With all the other demands and distractions that people face in their everyday lives, what will grab their attention? grip their hearts? and challenge their thinking?
The bottom line is, You only get “An Hour on Sunday”, that’s why Nancy Beach wrote the book to help Pastors, worship leaders and others involved in Sunday morning planning and programming. It’s not cookie-cutter how-to’s, rather enduring principles that great ervices are built on.
“I am convinced that modern-day miracles can take place when people enter our churches. The hour on Sunday can be a time of wonder, a time to quiet souls, spark deep emotion and prompt turning points with eternal signifcance.” Nancy Beach
What Nancy has to share is too vital to ignore, that’s why we have fnally managed to get her to come to New Zealand and lead an interactive training Event in February/March 2009. Read the book then hear her live – register today at www.willowcreek.org.nz. You will be amazed how being intentional will help you and create momentum in your weekend service.
Blessings,
Margaret Spicer
National Director
