Worship as the basis for ministry

The most important hour of the week for the local congregation is the worship hour on Sunday Morning. Preparing for this event should take at least 10-20 hours per week. The preparation might be broken into three stages: liturgy, preparing the sermon, and preparing oneself to lead the service.

                    1. Liturgy should be prepared well in advance. Ideally it should be planned
                        seasonally, and shared with everyone leading the service.

                    2. Sermon: subject/text will need to be selected, text researched, and
                        illustrative material gathered. The manuscript written, and edited several times.

                    3. The minister prepares self to lead the service, and preach the sermon.

     Good worship has a central theme which begins with the Prelude and ends with the Postlude. The hymns, prayers, scripture, and sermon reflect upon this theme. When the congregation leaves the theme is imprinted upon their conscious and sub-conscious minds. They may not remember everything about it. However; parts of it will surface in their thoughts and conversations in the days ahead. The theme should always keep in focus the "spiritual needs" of the congregation and the Biblical answer to them.  Worship so centered will allow the Holy Spirit do great things in the congregation.

What are the spiritual needs of people? There are several places in the Bible to obtain lists. The Ten Commandments exists as one of the oldest such lists. Paul's writings in Romans 1, and most of his letters; plus the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-6.  

How clergy handle giving advice in dealing with "spiritual needs" is most important.  Seldom does giving advice really hit the mark.  Few adults really want advice.  If they do they will seek it in private.  

     On the other hand a good story will get the message through to the hearer. Stories are heard in the subconscious side of the brain.  It will identify the hidden problem, allow the individual to feel the results of the pain, and provide a suggestion to its solution. The solution has to be the Spirit's. The Holy Spirit can cause the individual to be sensitive to his/her problem, and suggest solutions.

     On the other hand direct advice lands upon the conscious mind. There it is evaluated. The person who gave it is also evaluated, and most of the time the advice is rejected or soon forgotten. Most of the time intriguing advice will send the congregation's mind on a trip away from the sermon. However, a good story well told will capture the conscious and sub-conscious mind of the hearer, and keep the hearer with you to the end.  Each individ8al has to work out their own way.  If we can just mark the way we will have helped a great deal.

     This why a good story teller is often amazed at how stories are interpreted in the minds of hearers. Sometimes a member is heard to say, "I sure did enjoy the story you told about so and so subject in church Sunday." You don't want to admit you can't remember having preached on such a subject. So you ask ... tell me about the story. "You know", and then they tell you the story from a view point you did not realize existed.

      That is the Spirit applying the story. It has become a personal story. It has effected a change in the person without them realizing it. It may be a very small change. Over a period of time many small changes make for a new person.

"Preparing to tell a good story"

A good story teller lives the story while it is told. In order to get into your stories on Sunday morning spend some time feeling them during the week. Analyze the characters. What is the story saying? Make a list of the verbs in the story. Are they strong enough to convey the feelings and theme of the message. If not, change them and memorize stronger ones. When the story is told leave it. Let it stand on its own feet. Don't try to explain it. Leave it alone. Let the spirit explain it and apply it.

   If you have your lead in sentence for the transition well thought out, and you will not have trouble leaving your story. Sometimes an uncomfortable pause after the story will be a good way to end it. If your lead in sentence to the next point is before you in print you can move on with strength.

     Sometimes our most powerful sermons are a story.   In such sermons give a short explanation of the lesson, and tell a story. Then quit. I have several such sermons.  One is on "forgiveness". It is a true personal experience.  The story is on the story section of this webb site. I have a sermon on the Pearl of great price which is mostly an imagined happening I made up surrounding the statement in the scripture. More lives have been changed by that sermon than any other I preach. I've read it many, many times and can not understand why. It came to me on my way home from a week of leadership training event at Lake Junaluska. The week changed my life and I'm sure the process is hidden somehow in the sermon.

     The minister can learn where ministry is needed by feed back to the sermons and worship. Listen to what people are hearing you say. "When you told the story of the man who helped his neighbor ... it made me conscious of my opportunities to do the same." I miss so many such opportunities. When you hear several people make a similar statement think about how the church could help them respond. Your answer could be a program in the church, or the theme of another worship service. Remembering what people say is crucial. It tells you what your people feel they really ought to be about in ministry. Like all preachers I was guilty of planting ideas from time to time. However, the most fruitful programs were those coming out of the needs of the people expressed in response to worship.

"On preparing the self to lead worship"

Self preparation for worship is the difference between powerful worship and a boring, wasted hour. One prepares one's self by in depth prayer, or meditation. Get away to a private place. Let your mind wander until it focuses on God, and the coming worship service. Think about your people and their needs ... Pray for them. What are your feelings about this congregation? Do you love them? Do they love each other? What could this group of people do if they were really motivated? Visualize in your mind how the sermon might speak to them. Think about the power of God and how he works in our lives. Ask and answer the question ... Why is this sermon important? When one enters the sanctuary convinced inwardly that there is a word from the Lord today ... things will begin to happen.

     The healing of a congregation is much like the healing of a person.

     Let's look at how the patient/doctor relationship works to promote physical healing.  Doctors can not heal diseases, but they can deal with the symptoms. In working on the symptoms they aid the body in healing itself.

     Clergy can isolate the symptoms of pain in the congregation and deal with the symptoms.  In working on the symptoms healing will occur in the body of Christ. We spend too much time exhorting on the illness.

     An example of what I'm after can be seen in the American family. It doesn't help to say ... " the family is disintegrating before our eyes. Divorce is rampant. Children are terrors." Ask yourself ...Why? Why? Answer the why and preach it. Tell your congregation how to deal with the "whys" because they are the symptoms. When they become aware of these symptoms and deal with them healing will take place.  Some symptoms are: selfishness, total individualism, getting ahead, unexpected set backs, feelings versus commitment relative to relationships,  unfaithfulness,  using others, biases, and frustrations of life. 

     Most churches are not growing. There are so many symptoms. Why are so many of our congregations war camps, closed shops, and stingy? One need not be a regular member to be aware there are problems in a given congregation ... one can feel it when one enters the sanctuary. It expresses itself as cold feelings of isolation on the part of members. Everything is formal. There is little banter, and joyful greeting on the part of the people. The overwhelming reality is ... When the clergy enters one discovers the congregation is reflecting his/her style. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING in your sanctuary on the average Sunday?  Oh, how important your answer is to this question.