My brother, Corey Grunewald, recently put together a Christmas EP project. If you're looking for some new folksy, indie arrangements of some classic Christmas songs, you should definitely give these a listen to.
As Christmas approaches, it will become more frequent that hear the recurring debate regarding the political correctness of the phrase "Merry Christmas." In the midst of fighting against replacing "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" there also seems to opposition to using abbreviations such as X-Mas or Xmas. Many people seemingly fear that abbreviating the word Christmas is simply another secular plan devised to remove Christ from Christmas.
"This is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. They're happy to say merry Xmas. Let's just take Jesus out. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ." - Franklin Graham
While I can certainly understand the fear and the confusion behind using the word X-Mas, history reveals that the word is not a scheme to remove Christ but something far from it. As far back as the year 1021, references can be seen of the word Χριστος (Greek for "Christ") being abbreviated using the letters X and XP. It still is not uncommon to see the Christian symbol called the Chi-Ro representing Christ. The Chi-Ro was not created to remove Christ from ancient literature or the body of Christ, but it was a symbol used to represent Christ to readers. In the same way, the usage of the letter X was not used as a way to remove Christ, but as shorthand that kept Christ present and was easy to write.
The meaning of Christmas is at risk
Christ is being taken out of Christmas. But it's not because people choose to say "Happy Holidays" over "Merry Christmas." Christ is being taken out of Christmas more and more as people are worshipping something other than Jesus. We worship the holiday season. We worship gifts. We worship the lights and decorations. We worship our own holiday celebrations as Lord and not Jesus as Lord. The birth of Jesus in the first century radically challenged people to decide, do we worship Caesar or do we worship this baby? Herod gave his life to Caesar and therefore wanted to kill Jesus; the magi worshipped Jesus and saught to keep Christ safe. Who (or what) do you worship this Christmas season?
Photo Credit: Natalie Bulzan & LonePrimate
[This post is a part of the Creating a Sermon Series series]
Branding the sermon series is the part that is one of my favorite parts of the series preparation. It is the part of the planning that we really begin to think about what images, words, and symbols will help make this series of messages memorable. What visuals will help not only make it memorable, but help communicate the message that we are trying to share. The branding stage is the stage that a sermon series begins to look like an actual usable sermon series. The branding is when the series gets a title and begins to be fleshed out into all the elements that make up a sermon series.
Branding is the "name, term, sign, symbol, or combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers." In the context of a sermon series, it's the name, terms, signs, symbols, or comibantion thereof to help church-goers identify the vision and message of a set of sermons and encourage them to listen.
Branding a sermon series might include:
- Title: What words are you going to use to identify the series?
- Graphics: What's the visual feel (colors, images, sermon slides, etc) that you are going to use to identify the series?
- Tagline: Is there a subtitle that helps further communicate your message?
- Staging: Can the brand recognition be enhanced by a certain stage set-up?
- Video: Is there video that you want to use as a part of the series brand? Is there a video bumper that helps lead into the sermon?
- Sermon Titles: Is there a way you want to tie your individual sermon titles into the actual series?
[The above list is an adaptation from Tentblogger's Introduction to Branding]
A quality brand has been seen to evoke great passion amongst followers. Apple, with their simple name, logo, and design have shaped the way their customers view their products. Not only do they successfully sell their products, but they turn customers into passionate evangelists of their brand. And Apple users don't just use Apple products, they brag about Apple products.
Don't expect sermon series branding to convert people. Your creativity abilities are not going to motivate somebody to get out of the pew and into the neighborhood. A creative title doesn't move a passive churchgoer into an active evangelist. That's the Spirit's job. But branding a sermon series will help create an important sermon series recognition. When a slide is shown, when a 30 second video clip appears, or when the title of a sermon series is spoken, the message and direction of a well-branded series will be recognized.
Photo Credit: Captcreate
NewSpring Church does some of the best testimony videos that I've ever seen. I think that one of the best things that we can do to help people realize the mission of the Church is by capturing the stories of our people whose lives are being changed and making those known. I've been following many of the videos produced by NewSpring in their "A Story" category and they all are phenomenal.
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There a lots of styles of music. Because of this when it comes to the corporate act of worship, we often take those labels and use them to describe the kind of worship that is happening. Contermporary worship, traditional worship, modern worship, blended worship, bluegrass worship, or a variety of other options. We likely even leave church services on Sunday discussing whether or not this week had "good worship." The oddity of these labels for worship is that the Bible never seems to label worship as contemporary or traditional and likewise good worship and bad worship.
The Two Kinds of Worship
There are only two kinds of worship. There are thousands of styles of music, but only two kinds of worship. There are thousands of strategies to the methodology of a corporate worship gathering, but there are only two kinds of worship. In the book of John there's an incredible account of a woman who engages Jesus in a theological discussion about the context of their worship. She is concerned because one group of people say that worship should happen on this mountain and another group of people say it should happen on another mountain.
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” - John 4:23-24
For Jesus this conversation is not about what mode of worship is more "worshipful," it's about true worship and false worship. He makes it clear that the location of their worship doesn't dictate the object of their worship. True worship is in Spirit and in truth. And that can happen in any location. The same thought holds true for us today; worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth. We can worship with all kinds of instruments or no instruments, but what really matters is whether or not this is true worship or false worship. We can worship in a variety of different styles, but are we worshipping in spirit and in truth?
What is the object of your worship? The object of your worship will reveal a lot about whether your worship is in Spirit and in truth or something entirely different. Do you worship a particular musical style? Can you only worship if there are certain instruments? Do you worship a feeling you get in the moments where the music is most passionate?
Or do you worship the crucified and risen Christ? Even on the days when you don't like the song choices. Even when you find yourself at a place that does music outside of your traidtion. Even on the days when you have no desire to be present; do you worship? True worship is not determined by the appearance of our actions but by the object of our affections. Do you worship in Spirit and in truth?
Spirit & Truth
"His worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth." This is not a statement about location. This is not a statement about music. This is a statement about worship; all-of-life worship. God is Spirit; so as we worship in Spirit, we are worshipping in God. The only reason we can engage in worship is because of what Christ did for us on the cross. Worshipping in spirit, means that by the power of the Spirit alone we can approach God with confidence and respond to his death and ressurection.
The second half of the statment, "worshpping in truth," seems to be more black and white; as we worship are we speaking and living the truth? God speaks his truth to us in the scriptures, so does all we say and do line up with what God has told us to be true. When our choices are contrary to God's word, we aren't worshippng. When our words aren't biblical, we aren't worshipping. If what we are doing is done in truth, we are worshipping. The only thing that cannot be done as an act or worship is sin - because sin does not line up with the truth of scripture.
Photo Credit: camknows
Where does an idea come from? What is it that sparks the imagination so that it creates a painting, a screenplay, a poem, or a song? I am fascinated at what it is that makes one day seem like a day where creativity spills out of my brain and other days it feels like scratching nails against a chalkboard. I don't think there is a trick to make your day an idea-filled day, but I have noticed a few places that seem to help me generate ideas.
Ideas come from ideas.
We may like to believe that our ideas are completely original and purely from our own imagination, but the truth is that instead our ideas are likely connected to other peoples' ideas. This doesn't mean we are stealing their ideas, in fact, it's not even close to that. But the reality is that ideas, whether good or bad, inspire us to think of other ideas. We may have an idea for a brilliant sermon series that was inspired simply from a word mentioned in an interview on TV. It came from another idea; although there is no way anyone could ever figure out what the inspiration was. You might have a bad idea for video clip to use, yet when discussing it with the team, it triggers somebody else with an idea that fits perfectly. This is common. Ideas inspire more ideas. The more ideas you come up with, the more they will inspire. The more creative inspiration you consume, the more ideas you will generate.
Ideas come from hard work.
Some days it feels like all your ideas are terrible and there is not a creative bone in your body; those are critical moments in your creative work. You may not come up with any usable ideas on a day like this, but the creative work of putting ideas on paper improves your ability to generate ideas, and as we learned from the previous point, it may inspire other ideas on another day. Creating, just like most other skills, requires us to work on it and improve the craft. We will come up with great ideas if we go through the hard work and improve our abilities of creating by creating even on the uninspired days.
Ideas come from doing other stuff.
Have you ever had a moment in the middle of the night when you had a brilliant idea? I have, and I've also had moments where I felt the idea was so brilliant that I could not possibly forget it...only to wake up the next morning only remembering I had a great idea and not remember what it was. There is something about not working specifically on an idea that allows the brain to be creative. I'm sure there's some science behind it, but all that I know is when I do things completely other than what I'm creating, it often allows my brain to be more creative. What are mundane everyday tasks that you can do that will allow you to stop working on your ideas so your brain can be creative subconciously?
Where do you notice ideas coming from?
Photo Credit: Steve and Sara
Have you ever waited for something with great anticipation? When I gave Jessica her anniversary present, I was counting down the days before I could reveal her gift. I can think back to the evenings before the next iPhone releases that I could hardly sleep because I was anticipating the new iPhone. As I kid, I can remember the anticipation that would come the night before Christmas. Advent is a season of waiting and anticipation. For many years churches throughout the world have created certain rhythms each year that bring us back and re-focus us on the importance of the current season.
Waiting for the King
The season of Advent is a season of waiting and anticipation. Advent begins several weeks before Christmas with the intention that as we begin moving closer and closer to Christmas we will anticipate the celebration of his birth, much like people anticipated the day when the prophesies would be fulfilled. And we also anticipate not only the birth of a king, but that one day Christ will return as king.
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness." - Jeremiah 33:14-16
Imagine the anticipation that comes from hearing a prophesy like that of Jeremiah. "He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." And then the people wait. They waited for the promised Messiah for hundreds of years. Do we anticipate his coming the same way we anticipate opening presents on Christmas morning? Or do we anticipate it more? Or less?
Re-Focusing on the Savior
Long before we begin the Advent season, malls have already been decorated and radio stations have already begun playing Christmas music. While culture prepares us for Christmas by telling us we need to get our shopping done and make our Christmas lists, the Church prepares us for Christmas by reminding us that the anticipation of those things ultimately leave us empty. Gifts, decorations, shopping, and Satna Claus are fun ways to celebrate the season, but at the end of the day are we anticipating the opening of presents or the celebration of the new-born King? The Advent season is a wonderful reminder that during the Christmas season we wait for Christ.
Photo Credit: Starfish235
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If you lead a youth ministry team, you are likely looking for ways to train and equip your team. I could not do what I do without the team of volunteers that dedicate so much time to volunteering with our middle school students. As we work with teenagers, training can help our team be reminded of their calling to teenagers and be equipped as they learn what's important for this age and stage of life. The more and more we serve, the easier it is to forget some of the most basic elements of youth ministry.
In the intro to the Youth Ministry 101 series, I referenced Vince Lombardi's football camp:
Vince Lombardi, famously began his football training camp by saying, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” This was a camp with football players making more money than any of us have ever made for playing a sport. But Vince Lombardi realized something very important; no matter what you’ve already learned, the fundamentals are always critical to a person’s performance.
Because training volunteers is both essential and something that so many of us in youth ministry are trying to continually improve, I wanted to share an insider tip on what we have done that has seemed to be a great tool for my team. This may not work for you and your team, but has been well-received in my context as I've tried to consistently
Steal From 99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders
Don't steal the book, just take the thoughts from the book and use them. This book by Josh Griffin gives incredible tips in a very easy-to-read bite sized form. Every week what I do for my team, particularly those leading small groups, I give them our weekly updates and also share a section of thoughts on leading small groups. I tend to choose 3-4 thoughts from the book and put those into my e-mail as a way to remind and train our leaders every week. I use thoughts from other places as well, even generating my own occasionally, but the 99 Thoughts book has been the best resource for this that I've found so far and has been a great tool for me to make training a part of my weekly communication.
What do you use for frequent or weekly training?
Anybody who preaches on a weekly basis will tell you that they would much rather have the feeling that "they have something to say" over the feeling that "they have to say something." But what about those cases it is the latter? What is a pastor supposed to do when Sunday is coming and the pressure to come up with some words of wisdom is growing? My favorite times to teach our students are the weeks when I've studied and have felt like I have a lot to say, but the reality is that occasionally I have my selected topic or scripture for the week and my mind is blank.
Don't say anything new
There's nothing new. The message that we are preaching is one that has been preached for thousands of years. There are certainly new ways to communicate this message, but take comfort in the fact that the heart of what you have to communicate has been said by thousands of people every week. We preach Christ crucified and risen; you may not have any brilliant illustrations this week, but your message is pretty clear.
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Let God to the Work.
Scripture is the inspired word of God; it will speak for itself. On those days when you feel like you just need something to say, open the Bible, read a section of scripture and help people understand what it means. I think we often forget the words of Hebrews when it describes the Bible as "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword."
There is a doctrine in the church that can be comforting when you feel like you have nothing to say; it's the doctrine of the efficacy of scripture. Efficacy means effective; we believe that God's word is effective. Be comforted that we don't believe in the doctrine of the efficacy of the preacher; it's the Word that is powerful not the communicator. Scripture is alive and by the power of the Holy Spirit when God's Word is preached, God is at work. Heck, God even speaks through the mouth of an ass in Numbers, he certainly can speak through you when you have nothing to say.
Photo Credit: Amy Palko
This week, we finished off a 3 week series entitled "Me & My Peeps." This series was all about friendships; since friends are important to all of us, whether we are little kids, teenagers, or grown ups, it is important to look at what the Bible teaches us about choosing friends and being a good friend. The third and final week of the series was about what to do in the cases we find ourselves with a bad friend. What do we do when there are people who wouldn't make good friends; should we keep our distance or still get to know them? The best way for us to answer these questions is to dig into how Jesus responds when he is treated poorly and think about what that means for us and our relationships.
Judas betrays.
The twelve disciples were probably twelve of the closest people in Jesus' life. The disciples followed Jesus everywhere he went; they listened to his teachings, they witnessed his miracles, and walked alongside of him as he journeyed from city to city. The disciples had given their lives to learning from Jesus so that they could be like Jesus. And as we enter into the last week of Jesus' life, one of the disciples who had spent years with Jesus decides to turn his back on Jesus.
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. - Mark 14:10-11
Have you ever been betrayed by a close friend? Have you ever had a friend share one of your secrets with somebody else? One of Jesus' closest followers betrayed Jesus by handing him over to be murdered. And Jesus knew it was going to happen.
Jesus knew. Jesus ate.
Since the goal of a disciple is trying to live like Jesus, and as Christians we call ourselves disciples of Jesus, one of the best ways to learn how to respond when we have friends who have betrayed us, is look to how Jesus responds in this situation.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?” “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” - Mark 14:17-21
Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, and he still spent time eating with him. Have you ever been in an argument with somebody and then had to spend time with them? Nobody wants to be around somebody who has hurt them, yet Jesus knowing what Judas was about to do, chose to be with him. In fact, this is not the first time Jesus does something like this, all throughout the Gospels Jesus is accurately accused of eating with sinners. The people that Jesus continually chooses to spend time with are not the religious people, but the sinners.
In your friendships, it is important to have Christian friends, but what about non-Christians? Do you only spend time with your Christian friends, or do you also find ways to get to know those who don't know Jesus... even if that means spending time with someone who might not be a great friend? As a Christian, you want to have friends that help you grow in your relationship with Christ, but do you also have people in your life that are being influenced by your presence in theirs?
Jesus Died.
Even though Jesus knew exactly what Judas was going to do, he ate with him. And even though Judas followed through with his betrayal, when Jesus went to the cross his death was for Judas as much as it was for the rest of the disciples. And just as much as Jesus' death was for all the disciples, it was also for all people.
When we look at our relationship with God, we can learn more about loving others by looking at God's love for us than we can learn from looking at anything else. When I look at my friendship with Jesus, I fail often. I forget to make the Bible a part of my daily life. I don't follow his commands. I hurt other people. I even forget to spend time talking to Him. Yet even though I have failed, Jesus sacrificed his life for me. Even though I am often a bad friend, Jesus continues to love me.
There probably are people in your life that have hurt you, can you love them anyways? There probably are people in your life who won't make a good friend, can you love even people who might be bad friends? You probably can list of people who would not help you grow in your relationship with Jesus, how can you love even those people like Jesus loved others?
Photo Credit: Julie Campbell
I recently watched this video of John Piper and Matt Chandler discussing preaching. Matt Chandler is one of the best preachers that I listen to so I love any chance I get to hear his thoughts and wisdom on the subject of preaching God's word. If you cannot see the embedded video, watch it here.
I loved this post by Matt Popovits regarding "The Evidence for God." He does an incredible job laying out four basic ways that God reveals himself to man and brings up some interesting thoughts on Agnosticism, Atheism, and Christianity.
"When you choose to see it, evidence of God is everywhere. And what I’ve found is that in the face of such evidence most skeptics, who claim they can’t know if God is real, choose to live as if they’re certain He isn’t. Though they might label themselves as agnostic they live like an atheist, not praying, not worshipping, not reading the Scriptures, not even attempting to find Him or connect with Him."
Matt's blog is one of my favorite that I read, so you should be sure to subscribe to it and follow his thoughts; you won't be dissapointed.
When you see a glowing apple on the back of a laptop, what does that tell you about the computer? When you drive by a restaraunt with golden arches in front of the building, what do you immediately know about the food being sold? The branding and design help create an immediate association between the product and the context it is presented in. Certain images, shapes, colors, and stories are intertwined with a product, such as a computer, so that when somebody sees a white computer with an apple on it, it is not just an average computer but it's an Apple Macbook.
Design Matters.
When I purchase an iPhone app, one of the key factors in my decision-making process is the design of the icon; who would want an app with an ugly icon? I even recently chose to upgrade to a new thermostat based on its excellent design. We have no problem thinking about design when it comes to certain items like apps or even a thermostat, but how often do you think of a preacher as a sermon designer?
"It's easy to dismiss design - to relegate it to mere ornament, the prettifying of places and objects to disguise their banality. But that is a serious misunderstanding of what design is and why it matters... John Heskett, a scholar on the subject, explains it well: '[D]esign, stripped to its essence, can be defined as the human nature to shape and make our environment in ways without precedent in nature, to serve our needs and give meaning to our lives.'" - Daniel Pink
Designers spend countless hours crafting furniture that is both useful and significant. A designer who designs couches, must design a couch that is actually comfortable to sit on (useful) and also strive to design a couch that stands apart from the rest (significance).
There is no argument that the Gospel is the most useful and significant message on earth, yet how often do you view your sermon writing as an art? Preaching both serves our needs and gives meaning to our lives, yet how often have you thought about your time writing as a time designing? When you choose the words you say, you are designing the sermon. When you choose what stories to tell, you are designing the sermon. When you choose the fonts to use on the screens, you are designing the sermon. And that matters significantly because the message matters significantly.
Design Does Not Differentiate the Church.
Norio Ohga, former chairman of Sony, said, "At Sony, we assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology, price, performance, and features. Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the marketplace." I love design and would love for those who communicate the Gospel to have design that stands above the rest, but design should never be what differentiates the Church.
The Gospel should certainly inspire great artists and great designers. The art of inspired designers is not meant to differentiate but instead to point to that which differentiates the Church. While design may be the differentiator for companies like Sony or Apple, the thing that differentiates the Church from any organization or any other religion is that the Church is the bride of Christ.
Photo Credit: Filmvanalledag