If you're looking to spice up your sermon preparation, try sketchnote outlining.
Draw images of the key ideas—connected by lines, symbols, and arrows—to lay out your sermon spatially on a sketchpad. This allows you to visually represent and organize the content of your sermon.
During a bout of writer's block while writing his dissertation at Fuller Seminary, C. Wess Daniels adopted the sketchnote technique and not only broke through his writer's block but has been using it almost exclusively to outline his sermons over the past year. He said that since he has adopted sketchnote preaching, his study has been "more focused" because he has to slow down in order to figure out how to visually represent concepts. His memory of his outline has improved, his sermon illustrations are more vivid, and it has "energized" his preaching overall. He explains his practice in a blog post on Patheos.com.
Free Up Sunday Morning for Outreach
Moving a church's worship time to reach new people is not a new practice, but Dave Barnhart, pastor of Saint Junia United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, has seen several benefits come from moving his church's main service from Sunday morning to afternoon. One of the biggest benefits is it frees his congregation up for service projects on Sunday morning.
While most churches are conducting their services, the members of St. Junia can be seen out in the community sharing the love of Christ in tangible ways with the unchurched. Often members will even invite unchurched friends to serve alongside them. Barnhart notes that on occasion, members of other churches will bring their unchurched friends to St. Junia following their own services.
In a blog post for MinistryMatters.com, Barnhart writes, "Being out in the community on Sunday morning helps turn the church inside-out in their eyes." It helps make the church more inviting to those who wouldn't normally attend. Another church leader noted, "It helped us ease into going to church after having been out of church for a long time." Though meeting on Sunday afternoon sometimes creates scheduling conflicts, Barnhart says, "For us, it's really a choice about our mission and the people we're trying to reach."
Give an Invitation to Follow Christ on Funeral Cards
Funerals are events when those normally closed to the gospel can be uniquely receptive. Clem Walchshauser, pastor of Three Rivers Church in Plainfield, Illinois, discovered a simple, effective way to present the gospel to funeral attendees. He provides small prayer cards with biographical information of the deceased along with an invitation to trust in Christ, and a salvation prayer the attendee can pray.
Before he began this practice, he felt his gospel invitations at funerals were falling on deaf ears. But when he printed funeral cards, he discovered that they were rarely discarded and often opened up opportunities for follow-up with funeral attendees. The widow of a man for whom Walchshauser recently performed a funeral said the funeral cards provided a natural opportunity for her to share her faith with those in attendance.
Funeral cards can be an effective way to honor the deceased, provide comfort and support for those who are mourning, and share the hope found in Christ.
Write a Note to Guest Families in Your Children's Ministry
Making connections can be a daunting task for families visiting a new church. Dale Hudson, director of children's ministries at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach, Florida, found an effective way to welcome new families. The church has a separate check-in area for new families, manned by enthusiastic volunteers. After the volunteers have registered a new child, they walk the family to their child's classroom. The volunteer then immediately writes a postcard to be mailed to the family that week, noting particular details about the family and telling them how good it was to meet them and how they look forward to seeing them again. The child also gets a postcard from one of the children's area leaders.
These deliberate, personal connections speak volumes to the visiting families and give them a reason to return. Hudson also notes in a column for Ministry Today that this practice has boosted the volunteers' enthusiasm, because they've made an investment in guest families and can't wait to see them come back.
Offer Prayers To-Go
Keys of the Kingdom Church in North Tulsa, Oklahoma, started offering a prayer drive-thru with "menu items"—healing, faith, salvation, etc.—for which community members can request prayer. After receiving prayer, donated clothing and food are made available to participants. Myechia Love, who organized the event, told an ABC affiliate, "The whole idea is to be able to spread the love of God. And prayer works. People are hurting … I just felt I had to bring some good news to people."
Additionally, as Lent approaches, a growing number of churches are offering "Ashes to Go" on Ash Wednesday. Volunteers set up shop in high traffic areas of a city and offer Ash Wednesday liturgy to passersby. It's a quick but meaningful way to make a connection and show compassion to members of the community. "People are regularly astonished and grateful that the church would come out from behind the walls and meet people where they are," Emily Mellott, coordinator for AshestoGo.org said. "Most encounters are brief … but sometimes bringing the church out into the world creates the opportunity for deeper healing, with conversations about the pain in people's lives and a chance to offer individual prayer and comfort."
Provide Short-Term Housing for Homeless Pregnant Women
Just outside Seattle, Overlake Christian Church provides short-term housing for homeless pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 25. Through a ministry called Special Delivery, up to 10 women at a time are able to stay in a large house in Woodinville, where they receive the support and encouragement needed to develop an independent living plan. Lauren, an alumna of the program whose sister was also in the program, said, "I remember feeling so safe and warm. It's the biggest blessing I've ever experienced. [Special Delivery] gave us the hope [that we can be self-sufficient, and] it's gonna be OK."
The program includes individual counseling and classes on life skills, parenting, and childbirth. In addition, Special Delivery partners with other agencies and programs addressing substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and transitioning out of the sex trade, as well as access to government assistance and longer term housing resources. Xandy Coddington, the director of the program said, "More than anything, our desire is to show the women God's outlandish love for them and have them come into a relationship with Jesus that will alter the trajectory for them and their children."
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