Archives For holiness

Request for Holiness Sermons

navets —  May 20, 2013 — 1 Comment

This is the week we solicit your nominations for holiness sermons. Here’s what we hope to receive:

  1. A link to the sermon that includes at least the audio, hopefully video. Manuscripts not required, but outlines are great. The link is the only non-negotiable.
  2. The sermon should reflect the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification.
  3. The sermon should represent holiness without self-righteousness or guilting.
  4. You have to like the sermon.

That’s all!

Send us your sermons by including them in the comments link below.

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Five Common Hangups to Holiness

Dave Ward —  May 13, 2013 — 3 Comments

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1. The belief that all sin is the same

“I sin in thought, word, and deed every day” you have heard many say. You have also heard your people say “I think every sin is the same, who am I to judge?” Then the proof texts come out: “If you look at a woman you have committed adultery in your heart.” Nobody really thinks this is true. We don’t expel pastors from pulpits from looking the wrong way at a woman. We might rebuke them, but we don’t expel them. We do discipline them for adultery. That means we know there is a difference. We know it so deeply that our entire justice system is built upon this same belief. Intent to harm is judged over accidental harm, and so forth.

Not all sin is the same. Willful sin is the sin you can be free from. Unintentional sin is part of the human condition for life. Purposeful violations of God’s laws can be avoided. Flaws of character and flaws of performance are part of our ongoing battle to be more like Christ. They remain at some level until death. Not all sin is the same.

2. Personal setbacks

Many have pursued holiness only to continue stumbling into one vice or another. They struggle, they pray, they ask God for deliverance. Then they fail again. As human beings are known for doing, we look for justification. We find a proof text for this as well, “Paul was left with his thorn” they say. Paul never said it was a sin, it was a messenger. Yet we grasp that verse out of the many and let ourselves off the hook. It may take more time for us to surrender our attachments than it does for others. It may take more crises of conviction before our pet addictions are finally named. It may take more growth in grace, support from community, or understanding of God’s character before we finally are ready to give ourselves fully up to God. God may choose to delay his work in our hearts for his own reasons that we cannot discern. Our setbacks do not disprove God’s power to save, and to save from sin.

3. High profile failures

My first two academic advisors in ministerial studies had moral failings. Removed from their ministry posts and their academic posts their failures stung many of us in that generation of Wesleyan preachers. You have your own heroes and heroines who have fallen. For many, when someone was an exemplar of godliness to them, and that someone falls, cynicism sets in. “If that person couldn’t be holy, then no one can” we think.

The failure of one does not rule out the possibility for others. Think of it this way: does the doping charges of several high level baseball players rule out even the possibility of integrity for all baseball players?Isn’t it possible that one or two players never doped? How would that logic work if you applied it to a minority group? One or two key figures from that group act immorally so you rule out the possibility of morality for all members of that group. That’s called prejudice. It’s a form of weakened thinking. We have all fallen into it, but it does not rule out holiness.

4. Pride in the proponents

Holiness evangelists used to walk down the campground aisle with dark overcoats during the last of the song set. Sitting up front in a full suit, well above the crowd, they would glare (not singing) out over the crowd. They were setting their sites on their victims. A preaching friend of mine told me the story of giving an altar call in a holiness camp to which there was little response. The old evangelist by his side leaned over and said “Let me show you how this is done, son.” He stood up, manipulated the moment, and brought many to the altar.

Pride. We don’t like it. When the proponents of a position are prideful we like to discard the position. We throw out the baby with the bathwater. Have you ever read the phrase “Don’t rule out the use because of the abuse?” It’s a time worn rule of good thinking. Most Philosophy or Logic classes teach it. When we are tempted to discard holiness because of prideful proponents we need to remember they are not God or the scriptures. When we reject holiness, if holiness is true, it is not the flawed representatives we reject, but the scriptures testimony.

Are these the obstacles you have wrestled with? Do you have others? Share your

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Pastoral Counsel on Experiencing Entire Sanctification | Dr. Chris Bounds

navets —  May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

sanctificationThe beauty of The Wesleyan Church’s teaching on holiness is the optimism and expectation that God can work in the present moment to bring about entire sanctification. It fosters in us a posture of expectation and earnest seeking, confident that the holiest longings of the human heart can be realized in our lives, sooner rather than later. As a preacher who regularly calls people to the experience of entire sanctification and desires they have a genuine experience, I share with you the counsel I offer in preaching, personal advice and altar counseling.

A. Surrender Fully to Jesus Christ – Make a Total Consecration of Life to God

If we desire to experience entire sanctification, we need to fully surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. We cannot hold back any part of our lives from God. We need to give it all to God – our dreams, talents, fears, emotional wounds, physical resources, strongholds of sin, divided heart, pride, etc. – and withhold nothing. We must be willing to go anywhere and do anything for God. We must consecrate to God all areas of our lives over which we have control, as well as those over which we have no control – the beauty and ugliness of our lives. Christ must have it all. If we are unwilling or unable to do this, the possibility of entire sanctification for us is handicapped and we need to seek Christ for His grace to enable us to make this total consecration.

In the American holiness tradition, the total consecration of a Christian to God is described as placing our lives on “the altar of God,” offering it as a sacrifice to God, waiting to be consumed by God’s sanctifying fire. The attitude of the human heart in this full surrender is captured well in John Wesley’s Watchnight Covenant Prayer, “I am no longer my own, but I am Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low for You; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am yours. So be it.”

B. Believe in the Divine Work of Entire Sanctification

If we desire to experience entire sanctification, we need to believe that Christ presently makes people holy in decisive moments. It’s not enough for us to suppose theoretically that it’s possible for God to bring about personal holiness; we must believe that God indeed does it in Christian hearts. If we do not see entire sanctification as something God does in a moment or if we are not at least open to the realistic possibility that God can do this in human lives now, the prospect of us personally experiencing entire sanctification is weakened.

While belief in entire sanctification may seem simple enough “on the face of it,” there is a deep and pervasive skepticism about it in the American Church. Even in traditional Wesleyan Holiness denominations cynical attitudes about its possibility are found. There are at least three reasons for such disbelief. First, even though Evangelicalism talks about spiritual transformation in Christ, focus is placed on justification and forgiveness of sins. Salvation is seen primarily as a ticket to heaven. When sanctification is taught, it’s portrayed as a slow and gradual process in a Christian’s life, with little emphasis and expectation of a sudden, decisive intervention of God that radically alters a person’s life, much less setting people free from the power of sin and orienting their hearts in love of God and neighbor. Second, many believers who grew up in the American Holiness tradition at some point sought entire sanctification in their lives and when they did not experience it after a period of seeking, lost hope that it could be realized in the present moment. Finally, many doubt the possibility of entire sanctification because they witnessed such poor examples of holy living among those professing the experience of entire sanctification.

Holiness theology has “fallen on hard times,” resulting in greater difficulty for people to believe that God sanctifies entirely in a decisive moment. Therefore, if we desire personal holiness for our lives, but are skeptical about its attainability, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to its possibility.

C. Ask Christ in Faith Specifically for Entire Sanctification Now

If we desire entire sanctification, we need to go to Christ in faith and specifically ask Him to sanctify us entirely in the present moment. Because entire sanctification is the work of Christ and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it is not something we can generate, produce or bring about in ourselves. We are totally dependent upon God to do this miraculous work. Therefore, we must go to Him and ask Him for the gift of entire sanctification. While God can and does the work of entire sanctification in human hearts without specific intercession for it, He brings personal holiness most often in response to prayer. We need to “call on the name of the Lord” for it.

When we ask, we must exercise faith in Christ. This faith in Christ is more than a general belief in the divine work of entire sanctification, the belief that God does this work in human lives; it is a personal faith in Christ that Christ desires to do this work in our lives and will do it now in our lives. John Wesley describes the personal faith that sanctifies entirely as “a divine evidence and conviction, first, that God has promised it in the holy Scripture…secondly, that what God hath promised He is able to perform…thirdly, that He is able and willing to do it now…and to this confidence, a divine evidence and conviction that He does it.”

As has been stated already, American Christianity as a whole is deeply suspicious about the possibility of entire sanctification. There is a climate of unbelief. In the face of such skepticism, personal faith for entire sanctification is even more difficult to come by. It is one level of faith to believe that the Holy Spirit can sanctify wholly another person, but it is another level of faith all together to believe that He can do it and will do it now in us. If we lack personal faith to believe God for entire sanctification, if God has not given us “faith to believe,” again we need to go to the Lord and ask for this faith. The enduring scriptural prayer, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief,” is most appropriate here. We must ask the Lord for personal faith to believe that He can make us holy in a moment.

In the history of Christianity in general and in the history of the Wesleyan Holiness tradition in particular, there are many testimonies of God bringing entire sanctification about in the lives of people in the first moments that they asked for it. God does this work of grace in the instant they ask in faith.

D. Seek Entire Sanctification Persistently until God Brings It

If entire sanctification does not happen in the moment we initially ask for it or even after a season, we need to persistently seek this experience and the faith that appropriates it in the means of grace, looking for the Holy Spirit to work through these means to bring personal holiness into our lives, and not grow weary until God brings it to us. While God is not limited to bringing entire sanctification only to those who persistently seek it, we most likely will miss out on this divine gift without such diligence and hunger. Entire sanctification by faith must be actively sought, not passively.

What does it mean to seek entire sanctification persistently until God brings it? Although hardly exhaustive, here is a sketch of some of the ways we can diligently seek for personal holiness in the means of grace. We can regularly set aside specific time in our lives to fast and pray for the experience of entire sanctification. We can find people who have experienced entire sanctification in their lives, listen to their testimonies and counsel, and ask for their intercession. We can read and study holiness literature and biographies of Christians who lived lives of complete surrender to God. We can seek out other Christians who believe in entire sanctification to “lay hands” on us and pray for this work of grace to be done in our lives. We can seek to be a part of a group that keeps us accountable for persistently seeking entire sanctification until it happens. As we participate in Holy Communion, we can ask God to sanctify us. When altar calls are given to invite people to experience entire sanctification, we can go forward to pray. We take opportunity to serve others through our local church, asking God to perfect our hearts in love as we serve. As we worship and hear the Scriptures read and the Word of God proclaimed, we can listen attentively for the still small voice of the Spirit to say to us, “Today is the day of your deliverance.” Through actively seeking the experience of entire sanctification by faith in these and other means of grace, we position ourselves to receive God’s sanctifying work when God brings it.

In the American holiness tradition, this active seeking is often described as “tarrying in Jerusalem until the Spirit comes,” as adhering to the exhortation “do not grow weary” in seeking the fullness of His Spirit, and “praying through” until victory has come. If we persist in seeking entire sanctification by faith in the means of grace, God will come and give this gift.

Conclusion

These are not rigid boundaries for God, God is not bound or limited to them, but they express the wisdom and ways in which God has most generally worked to bring people into this beautiful work of grace. They may be helpful to you as you preach on holiness and guide seekers.

bounds_chrisDr. Chris Bounds is an Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan. He came to IWU in the Fall of 2002, after serving eight years as a pastor in Arkansas. As a pastor, a theologian and a professor, he is committed to communicating Wesleyan theological distinctives to his students, contemporary Evangelicalism and society.

He and his wife Tamara have two children, a daughter named Maris and a son named Morgan.

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Setting Holiness Too High | Dr. Chris Bounds

navets —  April 29, 2013 — 2 Comments

holiness-pedestalIncreasingly, Wesleyans are losing the ability to articulate clearly, succinctly, and persuasively our understanding of holiness. One of the reasons behind our problem is confusion over the meaning of entire sanctification. While the Wesleyan Church has a clearly defined Article of Religion on holiness, different descriptions of entire sanctification exist among laity and clergy. As I have listened to holiness preaching over the years, I have identified four different definitions of entire sanctification. While there is common ground among them, two of these set entire sanctification too low, one too high, and one accurately captures our Wesleyan view.

A. Entire Sanctification as Simple Consecration (Too Low)

The lowest view of entire sanctification I’ve heard preached equates holiness with simple consecration. When Christians sincerely give themselves “entirely and completely” to Christ, when they have surrendered every part of who they are and all they have, when they have offered themselves on “God’s altar,” they are said to be entirely sanctified. To be entirely sanctified means to be fully surrendered to Christ.

Sanctified Christians from this perspective earnestly desire to follow Christ, to love God and neighbor, but still may have strongholds or patterns of sin in their lives over which they have little or no control, may still succumb occasionally to ungodly manifestations of pride, anger, and selfishness, still have a “bent toward selfishness and disobedience,” and may still “give in” to temptations in moments, although this is not what they wanted. Their intentions are good, but there are times and places where they lack the power to follow through on them. However, because they have consecrated themselves entirely to God, these “struggles,” “infirmities,” “weaknesses” often are overlooked and they are said to be entirely sanctified.

At this point, it may be helpful to clarify that while entire consecration is essential to the realization of entire sanctification, it is not the equivalent of it. A truly Wesleyan definition of holiness affirms that it’s possible for a Christian to be fully surrendered to the Lord and not be entirely sanctified.

In short, entire consecration as entire sanctification falls short of a truly Wesleyan definition because it settles too easily for a life characterized by servitude to sin, too quickly glosses over strongholds of sin and original sin. Entire sanctification entails far more than entire consecration. Consecration is a means toward entire sanctification, but not its equivalent.

B. Entire Sanctification as Freedom from the Power of Sin (Too Low)

A second definition of entire sanctification I’ve heard preached equates holiness primarily with freedom from the power sin. When Christians have been set free from intentional sin, when they have the power to refrain from known sin, when they are empowered to walk in obedience to Christ, they are said to be entirely sanctified.

Sanctified Christians from this perspective are freed from the power of sin, but aren’t necessarily delivered from the nature of sin in the present life. Christians will persistently struggle with an inner attitude of rebellion, selfishness and pride. This is more than external temptation, but an internal bent to sinning that persists. The sanctified can suppress the sin nature, but can’t be free from it, be victorious over it in any given temptation, but an internal struggle to sin will persist until glorification in death.

While entire sanctification truly empowers freedom from known sin, this definition sets entire sanctification too low, because it does not take seriously deliverance from nature of sin, our “bent toward sinning.” There have been a number of expressions used by Wesleyans to describe the inward freedom from the power of original sin. Negatively, “eradication of the sin nature,” “overcoming the sin principle, “cleansing from original sin,” and “deliverance from inward rebellion” have been some of the popular ways it has been described. Positively, “baptism of the Holy Spirit, “infilling of the Spirit, “perfect love,” and “full salvation,” have been some of the expressions to define it. Regardless of the language, all these expressions covey a redemption from that part of human existence that sets itself up against the rule of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life, a liberation from the “old man” that cries out “I won’t” and/or “I can’t” to the call of discipleship.

In short, entire sanctification as freedom from willful sin falls short of a truly Wesleyan Holiness view, because it loses focus on the possibility of Christians being set free from the “bent toward sinning” and having a heart perfected in love. It captures part of the truth of entire sanctification, but not the whole.

C. Entire Sanctification as Freedom from the Possibility of Sin (Too High)

While I rarely hear the third definition of entire sanctification proclaimed anymore in Wesleyan circles, it occasionally finds its way to the margins of the church and often is the working conception of entire sanctification for Christians outside of the Wesleyan tradition. It understands entire sanctification as an incorruptible state of holiness. In addition to being free from all known sin, and the nature of sin, the sanctified are set free from the possibility of intentional sin. Love for God and neighbor is so complete or perfect, defection from this love is impossible. At times, this perspective has argued that even being tempted is impossible, because the fruit of the Spirit is so perfected in the believer.

While different aspects of this position may be brought to the fore, sometimes emphasizing the impossibility of sin and at other times the impossibility of temptation, the primary focus is the incorruptibility of Christian perfection. The entirely sanctified Christian can’t fall into intentional sin.

In short, this definition of entire sanctification sets holiness too high, a higher state than even Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden before the fall. There is not a state of holiness in the present life that sets a person free from the possibility of temptation or disobedience.

D. Entire Sanctification as Freedom from the Power and Nature of Sin and a Heart Perfected in Love (The Wesleyan View)

The final definition of entire sanctification I’ve heard preached navigates well between views that set the sanctified life too low or too high. It satisfies the three criteria for our holiness teaching as defined in The Wesleyan Church’s Article of Religion – (1) freedom from the power of sin, enabling the Christian to walk in obedience to the known will of God, and (2) freedom from the nature of sin, correcting our “bent toward selfishness and disobedience, (3) empowering a love of God and humanity with the whole heart. From this perspective, entire sanctification sets people free from the power and nature of sin in order to set them free to truly love God and neighbor. However, the sanctified can still be tempted, are still capable of disobedience, and remain subject to limitations in judgment and understanding (sins of infirmity).

This Wesleyan definition also makes a distinction between entire sanctification and Christian maturity. It is possible for a person to be set free from inward and outward sin, perfected in love, and empowered for ministry, but not have the knowledge, wisdom, and experience necessary for Christian maturity. Yet, a Christian cannot become fully mature without the experience of entire sanctification. A believer can know what to do in a given situation, but not have the power or proper motivation to execute it in a way fitting with spiritual maturity.

While this truly Wesleyan understanding of entire sanctification maybe nuanced in different ways, when the Spirit takes residence in our lives, He begins the process of transforming our attitudes, interests, and actions, while confronting us with an internal principle of selfishness and sin, persisting stubbornly in us. This is often called “initial” and “progressive” sanctification. While it may be described in different ways, Wesleyans believe the Spirit in a moment of consecration and faith can (1) conquer this principle or deliver us from this principle, (2) thereby enabling us to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves and (3) making possible our complete obedience to God’s revealed will.

Conclusion

Even during the 18th century Methodist revival, John Wesley had to address repeatedly definitions of entire sanctification being set too high or too low by his preachers. This issue continued in American Methodism and the holiness movement. As I have observed holiness preaching in my life, I have seen this same tendency. Because of this natural susceptibility, it is important for us as preachers and pastors to reexamine what we preach and teach about entire sanctification to make sure we are not promising too much or too little in the “full gospel” of Jesus Christ and are able to articulate what we believe as Wesleyans.

bounds_chrisDr. Chris Bounds is an Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan. He came to IWU in the Fall of 2002, after serving eight years as a pastor in Arkansas. As a pastor, a theologian and a professor, he is committed to communicating Wesleyan theological distinctives to his students, contemporary Evangelicalism and society. He and his wife Tamara have two children, a daughter named Maris and a son named Morgan.

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SHOULD HOLINESS DIE?

Dave Ward —  April 22, 2013 — 2 Comments

should-holiness-dieThere is only one conclusion regarding holiness with two emotions attached. The single conclusion is that holiness is rarely preached. The emotions attached are relief on the one hand and grief on the other.

The relieved: Some among us are relieved that they no longer have to watch men in black suits pound elevated pulpits in muggy tabernacles for an hour on the evils of sin and the necessity of holiness. This crowd grew weary of legalistic rule making where everything was required and nothing was forgiven. Many were nauseated by long testimony services where the bragging of spiritual victories seemed to be the tone, not the celebration of God’s victorious grace. I have to admit, I miss testimony services, but I do not miss the bigot who shared a racist joke with me in the hallway standing up and saying he had not sinned in fifteen years. You say this was an unintentional sin. The only problem was, he shared that racist joke right after a sermon on racism that mentioned racist jokes. I am not completely relieved that holiness is rarely preached. I am a little relieved though. I understand this group.

The grieved: Holiness is a beautiful doctrine. We do not have to live in chains of slavery to willful intentional sin. We do not have to fall to every temptation that knocks powerfully at our soul’s doors. God’s grace, meeting our surrendered obedience is enough to bring us to victory over intentional sin. We can live lives that are truly set apart, truly holy. That is a beautiful idea. This group is grieved that we no longer believe this beautiful doctrine. This group sees Alcoholics Anonymous groups that believe you can be freed from the need to drink. They say things like “Alcoholics Anonymous has more faith than we do.” And they are right. This group reads stories of life transformation in Oprah’s magazine and says “Oprah has more faith than we do.” And they might be right. I am relieved that some of the abuses have dwindled (though certainly not died.) But I am grieved as well.

I believe, because I have seen, that God does work in people’s life to such a degree that they do not willfully intentionally sin. A few years back a woman wondered about the doctrine like we all have. I know that woman well. So I asked “When was the last time you can remember knowing something was wrong, and doing it anyway? I don’t mean mistakes or losing your temper in the moment. You knew it was wrong. You decided to do it. You did it. When was that?” She couldn’t think of a time. I knew she couldn’t. I’ve been married to her for enough years to know she’s holy. None of us are without flaws, but some of us truly are holy.

I believe because I have seen people not only freed from sin, but freed for love. A former gang member became a pastor in North Carolina West and oozed love on me at every church camp I went to. A friend of mine regularly ministers in prisons, constantly recruits others to go with him, and is full of joy doing it. It isn’t legalism. It’s love. He truly loves those broken men. It brings him joy to go. These people are holy in the way humans can be. You know people like that too. The elderly woman who prays for you every week without fail. The young man who shovels four extra drive ways every storm. The lay evangelist who has brought four people to Christ this year alone and does it without an ounce of self righteousness, just love. You know these people if you think about it long enough.

The next few weeks we will focus on Wesleyan Sermons on holiness. For two weeks straight we will read clear articles on preaching holiness from one of our great theologian preachers: Dr. Chris Bounds, professor of Theology at Indiana Wesleyan University. A pastor of ten years, and a well loved itinerant preacher his is a beautiful life as well. Then we will be asking you for nominations of great sermons on holiness that call us to the beautiful life without beating us up with guilt. So start thinking of the holiness sermons you want to highlight for us and we will ask for them in a few weeks. In the meantime, and beyond, seek holiness. If it is true, you will receive it in God’s time. If it is not true, you have lost nothing by seeking.

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Becoming Like God – Cost vs Worth | Aaron Perry

navets —  October 10, 2011 — Leave a comment

SERMON: Becoming Like God – Cost vs Worth

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DOWNLOAD: Sermon Audio (.mp3) | Sermon Outline (.pdf)

BIO: As Pastor of Christian Education (Adult) at Centennial Road Church in Brockville, Ontario, Aaron oversees and organizes the discipleship ministry which includes small groups, support groups, group Bible studies, and conferences. He also serves on the teaching team. Aaron and his wife moved to Brockville in 2009. Centennial Road is a Wesleyan church that averages around 450 on a weekend and seeks to serve as a regional church for our surrounding communities. Aaron encourages preachers to “Work to sense the good news of the gospel so strongly that you can’t wait to proclaim it!”

Lenny: First of all, I love the “laughing guy” in the beginning of the audio sermon who did not seem to realize his microphone was on. Who was that guy? More importantly, why did you sense the need to begin the message with a humorous anecdote? Is this typical of your preaching or a device for this particular sermon?

Aaron: Our Lead Pastor, Eric Hallett, is a true encourager. He probably left his microphone on so that just in case the joke fell flat, I wouldn’t hear crickets. I liked this story because it combined humour and the sermon’s theme in a natural way. You always have to be careful with canned-humour, but in this case the theme of the sermon and the joke paired really well. I don’t always open with humour, but when an introduction includes humour, emotional poignancy, and fits the sermon’s theme the result is truly memorable. I had the chance with this one, and went for it.

Lenny: Your message focused primarily on loving like God loves, which includes the mandate to love our enemies. In Jesus’ Jewish context, the enemies were Romans and any Jews who compromisingly cooperated with the Roman government. Who are the “enemies” of your particular local church? In other words, which group or person seems most difficult for your people to love?

Aaron: Neighbours, co-workers, bosses, brothers, sisters, parents, spouses, etc. I think the easy way around this passage is to deny that I have any enemies and so Jesus’ words don’t impact me deeply. But once I reflect on the reality of life, then I have to deal with real people who run on my continuum of relationship somewhere between “very best friend” and “mortal enemy.”

Lenny: Your message was very Wesleyan in that it defined “perfection” as holy, God-like love for all people, including enemies. Some of our listeners might say, “Duh, of course a Wesleyan Church already knows that holiness is defined by love.” However, you and I have served as pastors long enough to know that sometimes Wesleyans put the emphasis of holiness on a syllable other than love. How have you seen this played out in your ministry context?

Aaron: My temptation is always to pin holiness down, to name it as specific actions, disciplines, and attitudes. This is tempting because once completely defined, then holiness is under our control. When we lose the relational nature of holiness as perfect love, then the next step is to set it up as a list, even if the list might change—for example, from holiness being defined as no dancing and no movies to holiness being defined as buying domestic clothing and always recycling.

Lenny: As a staff pastor, you are not the primary preacher for the church you serve. What are some of the pros and cons of preaching as a staff pastor? For instance, one of the pros for me when I preached as a staff pastor was that I had two months to focus on one sermon. The con, of course, is having so much to say I tried to say too much in one sermon. What are some other pros and cons when it comes to preaching occasionally as a staff pastor?

Aaron:
Pro: Recovery time- Whether after a single sermon or a four-part series, I know I have extended recovery time once it is over.
Pro: You can exemplify team. I love being able to support the vision the lead pastor is setting out or an event that a colleague is championing through the sermon. Those things are expected of the lead pastor, but staff pastors can embody team in those moments too.
Pro: You develop other avenues for teaching. Whether in personal conversations, small group, or another avenue, when all your spiritual eggs aren’t in the preaching basket, you are forced to develop multiple means of communication.
Con: Lack of practice. Preaching, like any skill, requires practice to improve.

Lenny: Aaron, I really appreciated some of your play on comparisons like life and death, as well as cost and worth. I think these concepts anchored the focus of your sermon, tying it together in one trajectory. Your sermon was not built on points, though it had a point to make. Walk us through the structure of this sermon by telling us how the sermon journeyed from move to move?

Aaron: I love Eugene Lowry’s narrative plot. Lowry’s homiletical form has a series of moves and I’ve gradually modified it to reflect my own style. These are the moves I try to make:
1. Conflict: What grabs the listener? What knocks them off kilter? I tried this with the idea of cost vs. worth and the story of Fred and Millie.
2. Complication: This is the problem of the passage. Why does the passage make us feel uncomfortable? Why does Jesus have to teach this and people don’t just practice it on their own? This is where preaching goes deep into the complexity of life. I used the story of the Christmas / Holiday Tree here as an example of a common-sense response that didn’t match Jesus’ words.
3. Shift: This is where the theme of the sermon, taken to its deepest level through the Complication, gets turned on its head. Jesus makes this move himself by comparing his listeners to their very enemies if they only love when it is easy. That kind of love costs them nothing and is worth nothing.
4. Good News: The Good News is that when we do precisely what others don’t do—love indiscriminately—that we are like God. And yet this love is not developed by our own effort, but by God’s grace through our commitment to him. I tried to camp here for a while, offering force through the Old Testament prophecies from Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
5. Unfolding: I then moved into unfolding the Good News as our commitment to God involves the death of self through the cross of Christ. The route to indiscriminate love comes through Christ’s death and then our own death to self through commitment to God. This makes sense because this is the very nature of God. And here we see why it costs us everything, but why it is worth more than the whole world.
6. Implications: Where does this good news impact my life? In this case, I spoke briefly of the lure of wealth and materialism and moved into the implication that this is only good news, not because of what material blessing we receive, but because it promises the presence of God.
7. Communal Practice: Finally, we practice communion as a tangible response or practice of the sermon, still trying to focus on the sermon’s theme of cost vs. worth.

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Restoring The Future | Dr. Steve DeNeff

navets —  May 2, 2011 — 3 Comments

SERMON: Restoring The Future

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DOWNLOAD: Sermon Audio (.mp3) | Sermon Outline (.pdf)

BIO: Steve DeNeff has served for more than ten years as the Senior Pastor of College Wesleyan Church, a church of 1200 people, in Marion, IN on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University. College Wesleyan Church is an inter-generational congregation in an academic setting that exists within a city that is economically and educationally strained. Steve shares the following words of wisdom with his preaching colleagues: One good person, doing one thing well, in one essential place, long enough can move the earth toward heaven.

CONVERSATION:

Lenny: Your preaching context is unique. Tell us a bit about your preaching context. Who are the people sitting in your pews and how do you strive to preach to all the people?

Steve: You’re right, our congregation is diverse. We’ve got almost fifty couples who have been married 50 years or more; we’ve got several hundred students who are 18 and under; but our fastest growing population is the twenty-thirty year olds, like you. Like many congregations, we’ve become more ethnically and culturally diverse, too. And on top of that, our television ministry reaches hundreds who never set foot in our church. If I get stopped 10 times, during the week, by someone on the street who watches the sermon, eight of them will be blue-collar, lower-income people, and about six of them will be African-American. So yes, we’re very diverse and that presents some unique challenges. The key, I think, is in bringing together the peoples’ most pressing need and the Bible’s most appropriate text. The most pressing need is usually not the first need people admit to, nor the first one that sends the preacher to the text. It’s the real need, behind the other needs. For instance, our problem is not that we’re busy, nor even that we lack focus. It’s that we have confused the secondary with the essential. We have let someone else imagine, for us, a better life. We are not seeking the right things. That may take many different expressions – depending on one’s age or career or culture – but it is essentially the same problem. One’s status or income or education does not affect, one iota, their deepest, most pressing needs. So I try to preach to those and when God’s Spirit applies to them the most appropriate text, the impact of God’s Word is incredible. There is nothing more powerful than the Word of God let loose on raw human need.

Lenny: You started your sermon with the question, What is God like? You started with a theological question to frame your message. I have heard you preach on many occasions and it seems to me one of your preaching goals is to help people see what God is like. Some preachers focus so much on giving people life-application advice that they don’t say much about God. You, on the other hand, seem to be convinced that preaching is theological, that it should reveal something about God that actually reveals God in the moment the words are spoken. Is this theological preaching emphasis intentional or accidental?

Steve: It’s intentional. In my opinion, most sermons fail because, in the end, the preacher did not have anything interesting (or new) to say about God. Think about that! The heavens cannot contain him, yet a preacher can’t think of something interesting to say about him. How often is that true? Our congregation sends us up the mountain every week, to get for them a word from the Lord, and so often we come down with a handful of practical tips to make their lives a little easier. I don’t think that’s what they want. Yet we are so busy that we sometimes forget we are the resident theologians and the resident scholars of our churches. There is no one in our churches who knows God and theology; who understands grace and the human condition more than the preacher. I think our preaching must reflect that because our people will not go any deeper than our preaching.

Lenny: I have puzzled over your manner of structuring sermons. You are not typically a linear point by point preacher. Neither do you seem to be a pure narrative preacher who structures the sermon with the flow of setting, problem, plot, climax, and resolution. Once you develop all of the parts of the sermon and decide what parts will make their way into the sermon, how do you tend to structure the parts of the sermon for focus and flow?

Steve: Ha! Lots of people are “puzzled” over the structure of my sermons. Even me. I told this to one of my staff and they said, “Your sermons have structure? Really?” For me, the sermon moves through four stages, or four “shifts” (literally; you can watch the people shift in their seats as the sermon moves; look for it the next time someone else is preaching and you’ll see it). The idea, if I have it right, is to coordinate the movements of the sermons with the shifts in the congregation. They will tell you when it’s time to move on. It begins by (1) engaging people’s interest (the introduction and the all-important transition); then moves toward (2) deepening their understanding (where we explain the meaning and relevance of the Text). Then from there it (3) triggers their comprehension (this is the “aha” moment where they begin to see where we’re going; why we’ve brought all of this up; what we really want them to see and we begin to unpack some of the implications of this one profound truth on their lives). Finally, the sermon ends by (4) calling on their passion (this is where we ask for some kind of change, some practical response; this is the plea or the climax of the sermon). I think at this point we are seeking to do one of two things: Convict or inspire. And of course, we can’t do either of them apart from the Holy Spirit.

Lenny: You preach in a variety of contexts outside of the local church you serve as pastor. Does your preaching change, in terms of either content or delivery, based upon the context in which you’re preaching? If so, please describe those changes?

Steve: Yeah, the shifts are different. So the rate of delivering the sermon has to change. I was preaching to a couple hundred (non-Wesleyan) district leaders just last month and I noticed this in the first five minutes. I was ready to move on but the look on their faces was like, “Wait! Could you say that again?” So I started looping the sermon more. You know, taking longer to say the same thing and telling more stories to illustrate each point. Last week I preached to the Chairman’s Circle for our city’s Chamber of Commerce and it was just the opposite. Only one person there knew what Maundy Thursday was (Ha! I bet he was Catholic) so everything I said to lead up to the point meant nothing to them. They wanted the bottom line and they wanted it now. So I made my loops smaller, threw a bunch of material overboard, and cut to the chase. Seven minutes into the sermon I was already to the comprehension part. All that was left was the passion part. So I finished by saying, “What does power look like in your office? Do you use it to wash people’s feet or do you use it just to get something done? Why don’t you wash someone’s feet today and go do your secretary’s job. Let’s pray!” Fifteen minutes, man. It was a little long for the Catholic fellow, but the rest of them were happy.

Lenny: As a preacher and as a teacher of preaching you have influenced many aspiring and seasoned preachers. Is there a person, book, or experience that has profoundly influenced your preaching?

Steve: I read a couple preaching books every year. I learn something from each of them but there isn’t one that I would go to as the quintessential book on preaching. I’m about done with Steven Smith’s, “Dying to Preach” (great book!) and I’ll pick up Robert McKee’s “Story” after that. McKee’s book is not for preachers. It’s for script-writers but I think there is something to learn from that discipline. That goes for other disciplines too. As for mentors, I’ve spent much time with Dennis Kinlaw over the last 4-5 years. I visit him each time I’m in Asbury and spend a couple hours talking about theology and the Church. Dennis is almost 90, and still he moves seamlessly from Plato’s Republic (quoting it in Greek) to John Paul’s Theology of the Body, to Tom Torrence’s book, Incarnation, then he brings it right back to the practical and daily work of a pastor. Finally, I watch people while someone else is preaching. They will tell you when someone is interesting and when he is not. So I go to school on them while they’re going to school on you. And you’re pretty good, man.

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On the Other Side of the Lake | Matt LeRoy

navets —  February 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

The first Sunday in the Christian season of Lent is coming on March 13. Lent is the 40 day period preceding the celebration of Christ’s resurrection that is marked by the mourning of our sin, repentance, and a deeper commitment to the holy life that disciples are called to live. The season of Lent is a call to pray and fast, to confess and repent, and to share selflessly of our “alms” with the poor and needy. Over the next few weeks you will experience some excellent sermons that intersect with these Lenten themes. Until we fully experience the sorrow that comes from mourning our sins, the brokenness of the world, and the sacrifice of Christ, we can’t fully celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection. So, toward the season of Lent we run!

SERMON: “On the Other Side of the Lake”

Download:

DOWNLOAD: Sermon Audio (.mp3) | Sermon Outline (.pdf)

BIO: Matt is the lead pastor of Love Chapel Hill, a new church plant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He serves on a team with some of his best friends in the world. The church is an eclectic collision of college students and homeless men, young adults and families, artists, academics and activists. They meet on Franklin Street in the heart of downtown. Love Chapel Hill describes themselves as “an experiment in grace, living as captives to the truth that sets souls free.”

Follow Matt on Twitter.

CONVERSATION:

Lenny: Describe the congregation you serve in terms of levels of spiritual maturity?

Matt: In a word, diverse. We have a somewhat quirky kind of diversity in our congregation. We have a lot of college students from UNC who are seriously some of the smartest, most impressive people I know, who excel in a high-pressure academic environment. At the same time, in stark contrast, homeless men make up at least 10% of our church family. Many of them wrestle with the vicious cycle of addiction. On occasion they come into church drunk, sometimes making the sermon an “interactive adventure,” which keeps things fresh. So, you have people asking the deep spiritual questions about the existence of God and the problem of evil. And at the same time, you have people whose most nagging question deals with where the next meal will come from. The beauty of the Gospel is that, regardless of our bright futures or broken pasts, it forges us together by our shared desperation for rescue and our common hope in the grace of Jesus. It speaks across the spectrum.

Lenny: You preached a message that challenges would-be disciples to consider the costly commitment entailed by following Jesus. What led you to preach a sermon like this? Were there things going on in your context that revealed the need for such a forthright message on the cost of discipleship?

Matt: Two things sparked this message for this time. First, of course, we were entering the liturgical season of Lent. We are committed in our preaching to be Story-centric and tied to time. In other words, rather than planning series based on hot topics and issues, we base our series on the arc of Scripture’s narrative, and follow the rhythm of the ancient Church calendar. A happy accident of this is that we’ve spent almost equal time in the OT and NT, and hit on just about every hot topic you can imagine! As a new church we are always innovating and experimenting, but recognize the need to root ourselves in the sweeping history of the Church—to remind ourselves that we are a small expression of a much, much larger Story. Secondly, this message doesn’t just articulate the call of Lent, but the heart of what discipleship is about—a willingness to follow Jesus, driven by a reckless kind of love.

Lenny: Your introduction was light-hearted and humorous. The point of the opening story, I think, was that love makes us do crazy things. Did the thought go through your mind, “I’m preaching a tough message and it would be wise to use some humor to begin”? I tend to do this when talking about financial stewardship, always a hard message for me to preach. So, what were you trying to accomplish through the introduction about your friend who had a crush on the substitute biology teacher?

Matt: That’s about the best story I have. So my folks hear it once a month. Just kidding. Maybe. I definitely love to use humor in my messages. I feel like humor allows everyone to relax and engage, and gives an opportunity for the preacher’s personality to come through in a way that is authentic and natural. It gives the people and the preacher a chance to connect with one another on a personal level, and has a way of removing some of the distance between the people ‘out there’ and the person ‘up front.’ We don’t give Jesus enough credit for this. It’s part of the genius of his teaching (about 1/3 of his teaching comes to us in the form of parables—story or image). Think about his story about the guy with the plank in his eye. I’m sorry, but that image is hilarious. What brilliance and skill, to drive home a painful point about hypocrisy with such a ridiculous and funny mental picture.

Lenny: This was very much a Wesleyan holiness message for today. You were calling your people to sanctification, without using that particular word. You called it, “giving your all to Jesus.” What are the challenges of preaching a message on discipleship that “bids us come and die,” to borrow from Bonheoffer, in an American church context that has become narcissistic and consumeristic?

Matt: You’re right in saying this is a Wesleyan holiness message for today. I agree completely. While never using the terms of holiness or sanctification, we clearly spelled out the heart of those truths, calling people to surrender, to the unrivaled reign of God in their lives. And of course a key text in the message was Jesus’ articulation of the Great Commandment, which Wesley used as his definition of holiness.

And I think that your assessment that our church culture is often tangled up with consumerism is right as well. But the ironic thing is, we invited this. This is actually a sign of our success to a certain extent. We adopt methods perfected by corporations whose goal is to create consumers. So, when we use the exact same methods, we achieve the exact same results. We have created consumers by promising a better version of church than they experienced before we came along. But that is not what we are meant to promise. We are meant to promise hope and grace and love and life, won by Jesus through the cross and the empty tomb. We are meant to promise the dangerous reality of discipleship that comes from following Jesus. “Come and die” is not an effective marketing pitch. It is, however, a compelling, counter-intuitive call into authentic life.

Lenny: I love how you played with the phrase “the other side.” This phrase was used in your title and then at the end, pointing out that despite the cost there is something joy-filled and life-giving “on the other side of the cross,” “on the other side of death” to self-centeredness. These phrases not only tied your sermon in a focused bow, but connected to the season of Lent in a profound way. At what point in the sermon preparation did this “other side” metaphor surface?

Matt: This metaphor captured my heart years ago. When reading through this passage once, I tripped over that phrase and the imagery reached out and grabbed me. Since then, this has been a central message for me in preaching and living. I’ve preached it a dozen times. I’m trying to start living it. I feel like it will remain an enduring theme in my life.

We can turn the idea of discipleship into a complex, vague kind of concept. But this phrase is powerful to me because it is more than just verbal– it is also visual. It immediately sparks in my mind an image, helping me ‘see’ what discipleship is about. It helps me see discipleship in a way that is simple, but in no way easy.

Lenny: At the end of the sermon you drew the net (pun intended) by inviting people to write their names on a piece of paper and place them in a literal boat, to evidence their willingness to jump fully into the boat of discipleship. Why did you feel the need to do something so tangible, so concrete?

Matt: Some messages are more informative, some more inspirational. This message was designed as a call to action. And so it demanded a response. I’ve found in my own life that I remember these kinds of moments more vividly. When I physically respond to a message in some way, it reminds me that this is not about being entertained by a speech. This is about stepping into the story God is writing in my life. This is alive. This is active.

Also, this was a pivotal message for our church. As a leadership team, we wanted to intentionally spell out for our people what discipleship looks like, what Jesus asks of us, and therefore what it means to be a part of this church. It was an individual invitation. But there was an unspoken communal element as well, to join us as we surrendered the future of this church to his leadership and vision and direction.

The cool thing is, this action didn’t only create a memory for the people who responded to the call. It continues to remind me of our shared commitment on that day. I keep all of the pieces of paper in my office. Every time I see the stack of colorful paper, the collage of surrender, it reminds me why we are here and where we are headed.

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