What to Preach Next
January 1, 2002
Just as a good restaurant boasts a balanced menu, with a wide variety of appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts, at Fellowship Church we strategically plan both the themes and the placement of our sermon series. We offer a wide range of practical themes: family, relationships, singles' issues, character, marriage, our vision and core values, and a relevant concentration on a biblical book or figure. A typical year might include a message series on each of these areas. We place these at strategic points during the year, based on the specific audience in attendance. Therefore, I plan my preaching schedule around our church attendance patterns. From day one, I asked our staff to count every person who comes to our worship services. We don't count people to pat ourselves on the back about our growth. We count people to build data on church attendance. There is a definite ebb and flow to the life of Fellowship Church. Knowing the attendance patterns helps to prepare for expected growth, message series, big events, and (last but not least) my vacation time. Ebb and flow
Since many of our regular attendees are still on vacation the first weekend of January, I begin a new series the second weekend. This series will be one of the three most important series of the year (the others are Easter and the beginning of school in the fall). Each series is usually four to six weeks, although I have gone for as long as ten weeks (with "First and Ten," a series on the Ten Commandments) and as short as two (with a series called "Got Stress?"). In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, three weekends of March are impacted by spring break. This is a great time to focus on singles. They are often still around the church while many of the families are away. One ...
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