Sermons or series

My pastor for the past two years or so has been doing series through books of the Bible, except for a recent 4 week series on the Lord's Prayer. All of this was great.

We did Romans, Ruth, and are now doing Nehemiah. It's a good in-depth teaching.

Several SS teachers take turns preparing a printed out lesson with questions to go along with the upcoming message. This is available each Sunday for people to take home and go through to prepare for the upcoming message. It's very edifying.

 

I answered for myself, although I am retired now. However, I just finished an 18-month interim pastorate, where I did mostly series preaching (almost typed "serious" preaching ... hope that was true too).

Somehow I find it easier and more fulfilling to conceptualize a whole block of services (meaning both the message and the music and other liturgical elements to support it). Doing one Sunday at a time feels like pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat.

The pastor at the church where I am now a member uses the lectionary, a practice which is becoming more and more common among Baptist pastors in our area. I suppose that qualifies as series preaching, in a way. Not my cup of tea, however.

 

Sorry, can you let me know what a lectionary is??

 

Our pastor normally has series that go through books of the Bible. However, we may have breaks for various reasons -- Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Missions, etc. We are currently in Acts of the Apostles (Titled "Act Two - Turning the World Upside Down"). Recent series over the past year or so include the Beatitudes, Nehemiah, Colossians, and Song of Solomon (wow - that was interesting!).

 

When I pastored, I generally preached theologicl topical sermons in evenings, and a free gospel type or family message in the morning. Seldom followed a series longer than a few weeks at a time. ALways switched about between Old and New Testaments.

It all depends on the preacher's abilities. We are not all series preachers, and different churches have different needs.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I usually preach through books of the Bible, little bites at a time. Occasionally, I will do a topical series. Right now...

AM: Matthew
PM: Ephesians
WED: Nehemiah

 

A lectionary is a selection of readings for each day of the Christian year, usually, I think, done as a three-year cycle, and including Old Testament, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle selections. Here is a link to the Revised Common Lectionary: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/ The fact that this particular listing is published by Vanderbilt University does not mean that they prepared it. Frankly I really do not know who prepared the lectionary; I do know that those who use it are quite dedicated to it. I have several supply preaching appointments in various churches this summer, and all but one have said that they use the lectionary and would like it if I did so as well. I'm glad they left that to my discretion, however! Continuity is not always apparent to me, at least, as I look at the selections laid out for the user.

 

Thanks! Learn something every day. I guess we are just not liturgical enough to do that type of thing.

 

I preach series. They are usually preaching through books although some of the series are more topical.
Right now we're going through

Sunday AM - Philippians
Sunday PM - Romans
Wednesday - Jude

 

I like a good doctrinal series of messages. I have even been know to give a series or two during the year. :godisgood:

 

Great points Jim.

One of the problems with series is that they can go on and on and on. Way back when (with another pastor), I remember the congregation rejoicing when we finally finished Ephesians! Most of our series last at least 2 months and that's OK with me --- 10-12 weeks is about the limit. But it is a balance. If it is too short, you can only hit the highlights (the milk so to speak).

Another issue is that it takes a unique pastoral talent to blend a series into a Sunday am service. Otherwise, you simply have a large Bible Study, perhaps more suitable for Sunday/Wednesday evenings.

One last issue -- probably happens more with OT series. One of my pet peeves is that some pastors (perhaps the younger ones) cannot properly read Scripture. If you are going to be up there leading worship, first - learn how to pronounce the words correctly and second - learn how to speak. Speak the Word with passion, with the correct emphasis, etc. Don't speak put the congregants to sleep with a monotone reading (or misreading).

One of the things our pastor did (for Nehemiah I believe) was have a lay person do the Scripture readings. This gentleman had a great "Steve Brown" type of voice and is a former (retired) news anchor. It was not a performance (as some may want to think), but rather it made the Scriptures come alive.