in view of call and questions ...

Good attitude. Be prayful and listen for guidance through this process.

The answer to all your questions cannot be properly answered by anyone here.

If you are led by the Spirit, new sermons beginning a new book series are definitely the way to go.

If you are led by the Spirit, candy stick sermons are definitely the way to go (apparently Jesus also preached similar sermons in more than one location).

If you are led by the Spirit, the topical sermons are definitely the way to go.

The bottom line is that you need to listen for the Spirit’s leading and be obedient. You definitely know that you will not take that pastorate of at least one of those churches. You need to love and respect both of them enough to honor God’s desire for each of them.

Perhaps you need to develop FOUR different sermons and preach a new one at every opportunity. Remember, the power of your message is not necessarily related to how hard you work on your sermon – the Spirit gives God’s message in your word’s the power to pierce the heart and change lives. If you are obedient to the Spirit you have nothing to worry about.

I shall pray. You just need to calm down, lay aside any ego or desire to impress, and focus on loving these people by delivering to them the message that God impresses upon your heart.

 

John,

Glad to hear this good news. If it doesn't work out in MI., come on down and help me here in Mo.

Any chance you'll be traveling I-70 here in Mo.? If so - When?

 

What I usually do is to ask several questions about the needs of the church and where the church is at now.

Until you know for sure what the church is like I would stick with the basics. Usually people struggle with who God is, who Christ is, who the Holy Spirit is. Everyone struggles with keeping right relationships. People need to be encouraged to do the right thing.

Don't preach at them. Preach as though you are in the struggle to please God with them. It makes a huge difference.

 

Anytime you are preaching to a new audience you must remember that they do not know you. I have always tried to include a lot of personal testimony information in candidate sermons. They need to get to know you a little. That does not mean that you need to turn your message into a formal salvation testimony, but it should be in there somewhere.

I would probably stay with a topical sermon and not start a book study I would be unable to finish.

But follow the spirit, that is always the best advice. I always have several new unpreached sermons ready and many times have only known which one the Lord wanted me to deliver moments before entering the pulpit.

 

If I may ask, how did you know which one the Lord wanted you to deliver?

 

Glad to hear the news, John!

I concur with the above. Let the Lord lead you as to what type of messages to prepare. If you are anything like me, it will change somewhere betwwen you leaving your seat and you stepping behind the pulpit.

I am praying for you, for the churches, for your family. But most of all that the Lord's will be done in and through your life.

In Christ,
Trotter

 

No dice, Hardsheller, this young man's coming up the I-44 corridor. We're gonna have lunch, right JB? Just joking - anyway, I'll be attempting to persuade him into a vacancy here in the Meramac Association!

(That being said, you must of course go where the Lord leads!)

 

It has been said that a preacher who builds sermons on topical items will run out of sermons to preach in about two years or so. A preacher who builds sermons on exposition will never run out of sermons to preach. It would seem to me that a sermon built on the exposition of a passage that would focus on your vision for that church as thier pastor would be a proper direction to build from. But as always, follow the Holy Spirit.

 

Having experienced the stress of moving several times, I know what this is like!

Seriously though, you are in my prayers. Keep us up-to-date! I'll PM with my POC info.

 

Cuba, Missouri, Dr B. I'm hoping to treat our brother to a meal when he rolls through!