Strengthening Mission Churches

A ministry of the Waterview Church of Christ, Richardson, TX

When the Phone Rings on Sunday Morning

Jan 25

Posted by Robert Taylor in Leadership, Preaching | No Comments

Sunday started out as a normal day–until the quiet evaporated with the ringing of the phone. At 6:45 a.m. my day shifted dramatically.

The call informed me that our preacher had fallen ill during the night and I was on tap to preach. I now had three hours to prepare and polish a message for an audience of 1000 listeners.

The sermon went well and was well-received. While that may be true, it is difficult to go from 0 to total presentation in three hours. How do stay ready so you prepare effectively when under the gun?

It doesn’t start when the call comes. Someone once asked me how long it took to prepare a sermon. My answer is simple–it took 30 years. All immediate preparation is a reflection of years of training. If you don’t put the hard hours in the cool of the day, you won’t be ready when thrown into the fire.

Yet, you need to do some things regularly to prepare for the last-minute situation. (These are also essential for the routine preparation of sermons.)

Read widely.

Reading is the river that fills the mental reservoir. Reading puts ideas into the mind and into notes. Read novels, self-help books, biographies and books on Bible topics. In addition, find some mind-stimulating blogs and read them daily. All will allow ideas to haunt the mind, reading it for the call when it comes.

Reflect daily.

Sermons take place at the intersection of text and current events. Think daily about what is happening. Analyze the news and think through reading. What do the events mean? What kind of implications are there for living? This kind of thinking is a tumbler turning rock into gemstone.

Write regularly.

One reason I write a blog post is to force me to do focused thinking. I write in a journal, put words into letters and memos, and make presentations. All are the whetstone of thinking. If the knife is not sharp, there’s no time to do it at the last minute. Too many preachers are dull because they don’t sharpen themselves regularly.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t enjoy the pressure of hurry-up preparation. I would never recommend it as a steady habit of life. However, when you take moments to prepare yourself daily, you are ready to prepare a message in a pinch.

The Music of Leadership

Oct 30

Posted by Robert Taylor in Leadership, Uncategorized | No Comments

Many leaders can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but they must learn to play the music of leadership.

Musicians use diverse tools to get a desired effect. When the score calls for a sustained note, the violinist draws the bow across the strings. However, a rapidly moving piece demands the machine-gun sound of a staccato tongue. It depends on the effect needed.

What kind of leadership music do you play? It depends on the effect you want to get.

Most leaders start with the question, “what do I want to do?” That question can have many answers.

  • …preach a sermon.
  • …hold a seminar.
  • …have a meeting.
  • …teach a class.

All are good answers to that question. But the question is asked out of sequence. Before “what” you must ask, “what effect do I want to get?” That question yields dramatically different answers.

  • …create excitement among the parents of our young children.
  • …have 40 people from our community.
  • …train 20 of our members to teach the gospel to their friends.
  • …energize our deacons to keep them from getting discouraged.

The second question frames a better answer for the first.

  • The preacher will craft his sermon in a certain way to reach the audience.
  • The seminar will need a topic and approach which entices the community.
  • The meeting should focus on praise and planning.
  • The class must do more than provide information. It must focus on hands-on training.

When a leader starts with the effect question, he then knows what to plan, whom to target, and what to avoid. Too many times events result in sighs of “I don’t know why they are not interested.” That’s because the leaders ignored the “effect” question.

The musician uses the tools at his disposal to get the proper effect. The leader, too, must master the music of leadership. Ask the right question first.

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Becoming a Better Preacher: Drawing a Bead on the Target

Oct 9

Posted by Robert Taylor in Preaching, SMC Resources | No Comments

It’s Sunday morning and when the preacher steps to the platform, he presents an “ok” sermon. But in another church, a preacher “hits the bull’s eye.” Is one a better preacher? Perhaps, but it may be that one took a better bead on the target.

Let me explain about a small, subtle step that puts the arrow on the flight path to hitting the listener where they live.

I’ve known Robert Oglesby for over 40 years. He trained me as a preacher and I learned a lot. But perhaps one of the things he taught me about communication happened when I started working on staff with him 9 years ago at the Waterview Church of Christ.

The final step (which I omitted for several years) is a “final gleaning.” After hours of preparation, Robert has a perfectly crafted outline typed out and ready to go. But then comes the final gleaning. Robert sits down on the morning of his presentation, with legal pad and pen in hand, and quickly outlines what he will say. This resulted in taking out the chaff and leaving the presentation (sermon or class) with laser-beam focus. The final gleaning takes about 5 minutes but it makes the difference in what the audience keeps.

Recently I spoke at Waterview during Robert’s absence. The lesson just didn’t have the “zing” I wanted. So I did a final gleaning. I ended up taking 10 minutes and refashioning the conclusion. It had drama and movement and the punch it finally needed.

If you have to communicate on a regular basis, don’t ignore this last step. It solidifies your thoughts, focuses your attention, and takes your message to the next level.

One warning: don’t try it unless you really want to make your speaking better!

(For more help in preaching, email us and ask for Program 102–Preparation and Delivery of Sermons)


The Struggle of Small Churches

Oct 1

Posted by Robert Taylor in Uncategorized | No Comments

Locked doors. Grim faces. Frayed emotions.

Sadly, this is the picture of many small churches of Christ. Begun with dreams, they died for lack of resources. They needed to reach out, but didn’t know how. They had people, but they did not know where to go or what to do. It was hard to keep the wolf from the door.

Somewhere in the journey, frustration overcame the dream.

It was out of that picture, the Waterview church in Richardson, Texas gave birth to Strengthening Mission Churches. Armed with the passion that small churches can survive, thrive, and grow, the Waterview elders put into play a video library stocked with titles by experienced and talented church leaders. They could teach leadership, church growth, Bible class teaching, preaching, and involvement.

At SMC, we want to be your partner in ministry. We want to help you. Look through our site and you will find a video library with dozens of title to help you. You can learn leadership, how to survive in ministry, and get some inspiration at the same time.

Thanks for coming. Let’s get to work in a small church!