For all of my devoted readers, both of you, let me first issue my apologies for not posting in a few months. I could list any number of excuses, but honestly you don’t want to read them any more than I want to type them. I’ll just say I’m sorry and let it go at that. However, in the last few months I have put a lot of thought into how I want to develop this blog looking toward the future. In the past it has basically been a sounding board for me to write about anything that might have crept into my random little head. Well, that probably won’t change, but in my attempt to become much more regular with posts and to have some type of structure for my readership to expect, this is what I have in mind.
Having preached on a regular basis for over 11 years now I am well familiar with the “Monday Morning Blues.” For all of you non-preacher types let me explain. The “Monday Morning Blues” is a common affliction presented each Monday morning as a preacher sits in his office for any amount of time wondering, “What am I going to preach next Sunday?” While it is far more prevalent with some than others, I think it still hits us all at times. One of my favorite things to do is to collect skeleton outlines of sermons. I honestly don’t get much out of having an entire sermon outline laid out before me because I can’t preach it. Its not mine (preachers you know what I mean). However, if I can get a text and some good major points, I can take that skeleton outline and put some meat on the bones myself, make it mine, and preach it. Thus, one thing I intend to do with this blog in the future is every Monday morning post a “Sunday Sermon Starter.” It will be mainly a title, text, and major points probably with some brief explanation of those points to help in their development. Most of these outlines will be mine. I’ll say from the outset, though, that I do not claim complete originality. I have written sermons for so many years that by now I can’t remember when I developed the outline or got it from someone else. Additionally, at times when I come across a particularly good outline from someone else, I’ll post it and give them credit. This is simply being done to provide a good jolt to our weekly sermon preparation and I hope that they will be beneficial to anyone who stumbles across them.
My second plan is to post a Thursday Thought every week. These posts will be much like the ones I have posted before and will primarily seek to capture the essence of my byline – “looking at life through the eyes of a preacher.” These will be short, devotional type articles used to encourage and instruct. My hope is to keep the blog up to date with these two regular weekly entries. I appreciate everyone who stops by and reads and hope that it serves as a blessing rather than a burden.If you’ve made it this far, here is your reward. This coming week marks Labor Day weekend, and as a big fan of preaching sermons centered around holiday themes our first Sunday Sermon Starter is a sermon examining the service that we render to God according to the structure that He has provided. God did not organize Christians into local churches by accident. He had a plan behind the fellowship we enjoy in our local congregations. This sermon discusses our labor in God’s service.
Title: Getting Things Done
Text: Ecclesiastes 4:9-11
Major Point: While in many areas of life we cherish our independence, feeling that we can accomplish things quicker and more efficiently by ourselves, the work of Christians is a cooperative effort that requires teamwork in order to reap the greatest harvest.
Discussion Points:
- It is a System of Service – In an “every man for himself” world, we must learn that God’s system of service is joint participation (definition of “fellowship”). While the reality of many congregations may be that 20% of a congregation does 80% of the work and 80% of the congregation does only 20% of the work, that is not a scriptural precedent. God’s system requires 100% doing 100% just like the Philippian church (Philippians 1:3-7).
- It is a System of Support – The church is the “house of God” (1 Timothy 3:15) thus it is to be considered as a family. Ecclesiastes 4:10 discusses the support system arranged in God’s plan that when we fall, we have someone there to pick us up rather than kick us while we’re down. And 1 Corinthians 12:24-26 discusses how each member of the church contributes to the work of the whole body given their own particular abilities.
- It is a System of Success – We must constantly be reminded that God’s plan works and if we will simply yield to God’s plan for how the church is to be structured with us all working together in a humble but efficient manner, we will be just like those many members contributing to the functioning of the one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-18).
There you have it. If you can use it, use it. If you can’t, well I didn’t make any promises did I? Above all have a productive week and let’s all do something for God today and everyday!
-Andy Brewer