LOCAL CHURCH MINISTRY CLASS 10
MIN
201 - INSTRUCTOR: LEN BALLENGER
I. Maintaining Powerful Worship - [Psalm 40:3]
A. It is easy to underestimate the power of music in worship
1. Music and song can touch people in a way that a sermon cannot
2. Music can bypass intellectual barriers and take a message straight to the heart
3. Music can open up the hearts of the lost to Christ
4. Every true revival has always been accompanied by new music
B. Music is a divisive issue that separates generations, cultural regions, races, personality types, and even family members
1. You will never find a style of music or worship that pleases everyone
2. You must decide who you’re trying to reach, identify a style of music that connects with them, and press toward excellence in skill and spirit
3. You must also survey your resources, people, instruments, and equipment
C. Music and worship has direct ties to background and culture.
1. No particular style of music is “good” or “bad”
2. Style does not determine whether or not music is sacred – the “message” does
3. It is amusing to hear people who resist modern styles of music and worship declare the need for the church to return to its “roots” in worship and music.
a. How far do they want to go?
b. The “hymns” mentioned in Colossians 3:16 does not refer to the same style of music we call “hymns” today.
c. We do know that the New Testament church used the style of music that matched the instruments and culture common to that day.
D. The background of music styles and transitions in worship have affected many who, like ourselves, were not overly embracing of change. Songs we now consider sacred classics were once as criticized as today’s contemporary Christian music.
1. Martin Luther’s, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God was borrowed from a popular song in his day.
2. Charles
Wesley used several popular tunes from the taverns and opera houses in
3. John
Calvin hired two secular songwriters of his day to put his theology to
music. The Queen of England was so
incensed by these “vulgar tunes” that she derisively referred to them as Calvin’s
“
4. When Silent Night was first published, one church music director called it “vulgar mischief and void of all religious and Christian feelings.”
5. Handel’s Messiah was widely condemned as “vulgar theater” by the churchmen of his day. Criticized, like our modern worship choruses, as having too much repetition and not enough message – containing nearly 100 repetitions of “Hallelujah.”
6. Even the hallowed tradition of singing hymns was once considered “worldly” in Baptist churches. People in the early 1600’s considered singing as “foreign to evangelical worship.”
E. The way people worship is intimately connected to the way God made them. Worship is a personal expression of love for God.
1. When someone criticizes the way another person worships, it can naturally be taken as personal offense.
2. Harmony is the key. To “harmonize” means to “bring into agreement.” Let the flavor of the church determine the style of music and worship and bring everyone together in worship to the Lord.
3. Remember most of all that worship is more about ministry to God than focus on self. Music is a tool with which we worship, but true worship comes from the heart.
II. Preaching Relevant Messages – [Colossians 4:5-6]
A. Long before the pastor preaches, the visitors are already deciding if they will come back.
1. Every pastor must decide whether he wants to impress people or influence them
2. Jesus often established a beachhead for evangelism in a person’s life by meeting a felt need.
- Anybody can be won if you discover the key to his or her heart
- A church will never grow beyond its capacity to meet needs
- Changed lives are the greatest advertisement
3. Most unbelievers are looking for relief, not truth.
B. The greatest complaint of our generation in church is “boring, irrelevant sermons.”
1. It is not enough for a message to be doctrinally and homiletically sound. A message must relate to the people we are trying to reach.
2. The word “communication” comes from the Latin word communis which means “common.” You can’t communicate with people until you touch something you have in common with them.
3. Preaching that changes lives brings the truth of God’s Word and the real needs of people together through application.
C. Make the Bible Accessible to Unbelievers
1. Unbelievers and young believers usually feel intimidated by the Bible. It is filled with strange names and titles and sounds like nothing they have read before
2. The Bible is the only book that puts numbers before each sentence and is bound in leather. This causes many unbelievers to have a superstitious fear about reading or even holding a Bible
D. Make Preaching Powerful
1. Use visual support such as outlines or projected presentations with scriptures written out
2. Use illustrations, visual aids, and stories
3. Plan titles that appeal to the audience
4. Preach in series – there is power in momentum
5. Be consistent with preaching style
6. Preach for commitment: Too many ministers go fishing without ever drawing the net into the boat
III.
Turning
Members into Ministers
A. Membership: Communicating the Value of Membership
1. Membership Classes
2. Membership Covenant
B. The Church must always be growing larger and smaller at the same time
C. Five Measurements of Maturity
· Knowledge (what): Balanced education program
· Perspective (why): Understanding something because you see it from a larger frame of reference
· Conviction (motivation): Without this, people become discouraged and give up
· Skills (how): How-to steps of spiritual growth
· Character: Never built in the classroom – built in life
D. Every member is a minister
CONCLUSION
The Most Overlooked Key to Growing a Church: LOVE
Love unbelievers the way Jesus did [John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-8]
- Love draws – A lack of love drives
- No program, method, or technology can replace love for unbelievers
- Common Sense – Golden Rule
Too many use the church but don’t love it – Serving God’s purpose