Category: Church and Christian Life

The Biggest Problem With Creativity

At a recent conference, I learned about the biggest problem with creativity. Here it is:

People want creativity to be like this

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People most often want creativity to be linear – straight from the need to the end result. Archimedes said that the shortest distance between two objects is a straight line. That seems to make sense, right? If that is so, creativity should work like that too, correct? We should have the ability to be creative on demand with our best ideas, right?

It may work that way for some, but most often not.

Creativity is really more like this

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The best creativity comes from a crockpot instead of a microwave. The best creativity involves starting with an idea, allowing your to marinate (ponder) what you have, making adjustments along the way, and finally coming to a finished product.

The secret is giving yourself time to ponder, edit, soak, and revise.

 

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Repentance and Restoration Night of Prayer and Worship Outline

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Welcome and Opening Pastoral Prayer

  • Pray a “We need You God” type of prayer.
  • Posture – Have everyone raise their hands to the Lord in prayer and surrender.

Suggested Opening Song – We need you God type of song – Here’s My Heart, Lord – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xD-Wz6CWOw

Praying for Justice Section – Praying against murder, violence, racism, etc…

  • Posture – Have people pray in groups around the worship center
  • Suggested Scripture – Psalm 7:14-17 – The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads. I will thank the Lord because he is just;  I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
  • Suggested Song(s) – The Lion and the Lamb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k

Praying for Christians Section – Praying for all Christians to come together.

  • Posture – Have everyone in the room join hands for prayer
  • Suggested Scripture – 1 Peter 2:9-10 – But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.
  • Suggested Songs: I Need You to Survive by Hezekiah Walker  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_7LEWnGaQ

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Praying for our Nation Section – Praying for our nation to turn to and follow Jesus.

 

  • Posture – Ask those who are physically able to kneel and bow before the Lord.
  • Suggested Scripture – 2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

 

Praying for the Church Section

  • Posture – Hands outstretched toward one another
  • Being salt and light in the world – Transforming the culture from within
  • Suggested Scripture – Matthew 5:13-15 – “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
  • Suggested Songs – This I Believe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtUNQpu2b7Q

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Praising God Prayer Section – Praising the Lord, thanking Him for who He is.

  • Posture – Ask everyone to clap after the scripture is read.
  • Suggested Scripture – Psalm 97:1-6 –  The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice!

Let the farthest coastlands be glad. Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes. His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory.

 

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Closing Song(s) – Powerful upbeat song(s), thanking and praising God!

 

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Why People Skip Church On Father’s Day*

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Father’s Day worship services can be lots of fun with giveaways, man-centered services, funny videos, and testimonies. However, Father’s Day Weekend is often a weekend when people skip church.

Father’s Day most often means “Dad’s Choice” Weekend

Let’s be honest, going to church isn’t usually on men’s top ten list of things to do. Moms and children often tell dads, “This is your day, Dad! We can do whatever you want to do!” Given this option, most dads won’t skip breakfast in bed and say, “Ok, everyone up! Get dressed and get in the car! We’re going to church!”

Men Are Afraid They’re Going To Be Lectured

Think about it. Churches often use mother’s day to shower love on moms. Often, these same churches use father’s day to tell men to step it up and be a man. Writer David Murrow, the Director of Church For Men, in his article The Futility of Father’s Day Services*, has reported that only 4% of pastors consider Father’s Day as a high attendance weekend. Murrow attributes one cause to the pastoral beating up of men on Father’s Day. He writes “Can you imagine a pastor standing up on Mother’s Day and saying, ‘Women, I know you’ve messed up your families – but it’s never too late to become a great mother.’ Any minister who said these things about women would be out of a job by Monday morning.”

 

Father’s Day For Many Is A Day of Grief

As Father’s Day approaches, not everyone is wondering about whether to get Dad a goofy tie, golf club, baseball cap, or fishing equipment. Many dread the approach of the day, the entire day itself, and the commercialism and celebration that is connected with it because of difficult circumstances.

People who often have grieving issues on Father’s Day include:

  1. Widows
  2. Widowers
  3. Orphans
  4. Children (of all ages) who have lost Fathers (and Grandfathers)
  5. Parents who have lost Children
  6. Single Men
  7. Single Women
  8. Wives and Children of Abusive or Dysfunctional Fathers
  9. Men and Women who are Childless
  10. Recently Separated or Divorced Men and Women
  11. Children of the Recently Divorced or Separated
  12. The Critically Ill and Their Families
  13. Father’s estranged from their children
  14. Children estranged from their fathers

A Few Practical Ways The Church Help Make Father’s Day Better?

  • Make it fun! Why should the day we celebrate dads be boring.
  • Use discernment and be sensitive to those who might be hurting on Father’s Day.
  • Don’t beat up on men in your Father’s Day’s Services. Honor them, challenge them respectfully, and move on.
  • If you have Fathers stand to be prayed for, consider having all men stand instead of only Fathers. You can still pray for the fathers, but you can also pray for all men present to be godly examples to the next generation.
  • Include humor within the service and message.
  • If you give a gift on Father’s Day, give it to all men and not just those who are dads.

There are lots of reasons for fathers, men, couples, singles, and children to skip church on Father’s Day. No matter what pastors and church leaders do, some people will always bail on church that weekend. However, it’s up to us to do our best, count our losses, and continue trying to plan and promote powerful service that will reach and minister to people, even on difficult days.

*This post has been adapted from a similar post in 2015. Hopefully, I’ll learn more about possible solutions by Father’s Day 2017.

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What Makes Christianity Unique?

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Once, during a British conference on comparative religions, experts were discussing if there was any belief truly unique to Christianity.  Creation, incarnation, and resurrection were quickly eliminated because of examples in other religions. C.S. Lewis wandered into the room and enquired as to the topic of conversation. When the debate was explained to him, without hesitation, Lewis replied, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

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Grace is so simple that it baffles the experts. Grace is what makes Christianity unique. Because of it, we have the opportunity to know Jesus as Savior and Friend. Grace helps us understand the difference between happiness and joy. It allows us to conquer all of our fears. There is nothing we can do to earn grace and there is no way that we can destroy it. In Ephesian 1:5-6, the Apostle Paul wrote: He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.   

Grace is free and yet it is also priceless. It truly is amazing. 

Since such grace has been given to us, we should always strive to treat others with grace. In doing so, we are imitating our Heavenly Father.

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The Pterois That Infects Us All

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida. Among the victims was the owner of a waterfront exotic fish aquarium. The man loved his fish and, not wanting to see them perish, released them into Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

Sounds reasonable and humane, right?

However, among the fish he set free were six carnivorous Pterois native to Indo-Pacific waters, better known as Lionfish. These six fish multiplied at an enormous rate. As a result, there are now millions of Lionfish spread from Bermuda to North Carolina across the Caribbean and hundreds of miles up the Amazon River. These carnivorous fish are wreaking havoc on native populations of fish such as snapper and grouper, eating their young before they have the chance to mature. Unless something happens, certain Atlantic based species of fish may become extinct.

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Here are some facts about Lionfish:

  • Lionfish have no natural predators in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
  • Adult Lionfish have 18 poisonous spines.
  • Female Lionfish produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs every few days.
  • Lionfish are sexually mature in one year.

Who would have thought releasing six fish would have such a devastating impact on the waters surrounding two continents?

As I pondered these facts this past week, I realized that there is another Lionfish with another name in the church, in politics, and in society today. The name of this Lionfish is gossip.

Gossip is something that cannot be contained once it is released. It often does it’s damage and then continues to spread until people grow bored with it, despite the facts.

Here’s one example:

One year before Hurricane Andrew prompted the exotic fish tank owner to dump his Pterois into Biscayne Bay, a rumor surfaced that Tropical Fantasy Soda Pop was actually manufactured by the Ku-Klux-Klan and contained a unique formula which caused sterility among African-American men. Sales dropped 70%. Even though the rumor was discounted, sales never fully recovered and smaller rumors continue to this day.

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Here are some facts about gossip:

  • As long as there have been people, there has been gossip.
  • Percentage wise, men gossip almost as much as women. They just call it marketing.
  • People often begin false rumors about themselves. Oscar Wilde once said the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

A pastor I know once said that spreading gossip is like cutting the paper from a notebook into tiny pieces and setting them out for the wind to blow them where they may. No matter how much you try, you’re very unlikely to regather all of the pieces.

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How do we stop gossip? It’s doubtful gossip will ever fully be stopped this side of Judgement Day, but here are some steps we can take to remove it (or at least reduce it) in our own lives:

 

  • If possible, don’t be an audience for gossip.
  • Make the rumor stop with you.
  • Share positive information.
  • Pray for yourself and the victim of the gossip.

The Apostle Paul wrote the following advice in Ephesians 4:29:

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

I’ve read that the suggested way many governments are requesting fisherman to deal with Lionfish in the Atlantic is by removing them one at a time. Perhaps this is the best way to deal with rumors and gossip as well.

It’s time for us all to spread good news and speak life to those around us. The world needs our encouragement much more than it needs the Lionfish of gossip.

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Why Pastors Should Keep Track of Weekend Worship Service Attendances*

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I recently joined a discussion with a few pastors about the importance of tracking weekend worship service attendance.

In our conversation, it seemed everyone agreed that weekend attendance:

  • Is the most obvious measure of success.
  • Is fairly easy to track.
  • Is easily understood by most church leaders.

However, as we were about to move to another topic, one pastor, who may have been playing Devil’s advocate, asked the following question:

How can we justify counting people in our worship services when King David got into so much trouble with the Lord when he conducted a census?  

He was referring to a story in 2 Samuel 24. The scripture indicates that the Lord was angry with Israel and caused the king to want to count the people of Israel and Judah. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 actually reports that it was Satan who caused David to take a census. However it took place, it’s possible that David’s sin was not the counting, but pride associated with the numbers. Joab even tried to stop David from ordering the census, saying:

May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now!  But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?  2 Samuel 24:3 NLT

After reading both accounts, it seems that King David might have been:

  • Putting his trust in the numbers of his people rather than in the Lord.
  • Taking his eyes off of the Lord when earthly success seemed evident to all.
  • Stealing the glory of what the Lord had reserved for himself.

Whatever the reason, before the Lord’s punishment of David for the census was completed, a 3 day plague swept through Israel killing 70,000 people. (One could easily wonder how they knew the number of people who perished without enduring more punishment for counting). I’ve made lots of mistakes about lots of things in church work, but never anything that’s caused even one death (that I know of), much less 70,000.

So is it wrong to keep track of your worship service attendances?

Interestingly enough, until that pastor asked that question, I had never compared knowing the attendance in a worship service with King David taking a census of Israel. It could be because many of the churches I attended while growing up posted the weekend attendance in the worship center for everyone to see. Another reason may be because the Bible is filled with examples of people counting.

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Here are a few examples:

  • The total number of Jacob’s descendants moving to Egypt was 70 (Exodus 1:5).
  • The Levites killed about 3,000 of the Israelite brothers after the incident with the golden calf(Exodus 32:28).
  • On the day the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, about 40,000 were equipped for war and crossed to the plains of Jericho (Joshua 4:13).
  • The 4th book of the Bible is Numbers.
  • The Lord limited Gideon’s Army to 300 when he attacked the Midianite camp  (Judges 7:1-8).
  • Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen (1 Kings 10:26).
  • Jesus broke bread and fed 5,000 men plus women and children (Mark 6:44) and then later fed about 4,000 men plus women and children (Mark 8:8).
  • On the day of Pentecost, 3000 were added to the number of believers in one day (Acts 2:41).

How did Jacob know he had 70 family members with him when he moved to Egypt? You can bet with a family that large they stopped to count everyone before journeying forward each day.

How did Gideon know the Lord had left him with only 300 men to help in attacking the Midianite camp? Someone must have counted.

How did Jesus and the disciples know that there were 5,000 men present when Jesus broke the bread and fish? One of the disciples must have counted. They would want to know because that’s a whole lot of people to serve even if the food is being miraculously multiplied.

Still not convinced?

I asked my social media friends why it would be important to count worship service attendees each week. Here are a few answers I received.

– Counting your weekly attendance helps you celebrate what the Lord has done and also helps keep you accountable for pastoring the people with whom God has blessed you.

– You count your offering, right? Why wouldn’t you be as faithful with the people resources God has entrusted you with?

– Tracking and then studying the numbers can help you spot trends and know your congregation…  It can also help you see decline before it is full-blown. Numbers in organizations are like numbers on a growth chart for a child in development. They’re indicators of what’s working and what isn’t.

– It can be used for message traction. One church I was in before learned that too much effort went into teaching series openers. There was a large (15%) spike in attendance for the first message compared to the others. It helped us re-tool how the series were put together.

– I’m responsible for the team setting up for communion each month and let me tell you, counting is important. Our church attendance kept rising, but no one ever told me so I didn’t buy enough supplies. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell congregation members they can’t participate in the Lord’s Supper because you’ve run out of juice?

– Being able to look at trends and seeing low attendance periods helps church leadership know when they need to step up marketing, promotions, etc…  It also helps to know that sometimes a slump is just prime vacation time.

While being surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses to the benefits of tracking attendance, I must say that keeping track of worship service attendance numbers is not only beneficial, but is an absolute must for any pastor desiring to serve and lead in a thriving, healthy ministry.

All this being said, here are some practical steps to remember when keeping track of attendance:

1.  Tell the truth. If all of your attendance numbers begin with the phrase Evangelistically speaking we had… something needs to change. Lying about your attendance is like cheating on your eye exam. You’re only hurting yourself.

2.  Count in the second half of the service. It’s my experience that the number of people you have in the building at the beginning of your service is no indication of how will be there by the end of the service. (This is a different problem for a different article). For accuracy, have someone count in the second half of the sermon. People are normally seated during this time and they’re easier to count anyway.

3.  Create an easily accessible graph for your own reference. Doing so will allow you to compare attendances quickly and efficiently.

4.  Compare attendances from season to season, year to year, and finally Sunday to Sunday. Consider the why’s regarding your trends.

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Willie Nelson once said When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. It’s uncertain if keeping track of your ongoing weekend church attendance will turn your life around. However, it is certain that those you are counting are God’s blessings for you to evangelize, disciple, and lead.


Happy counting!  

 

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The Culprit In The Sanctuary

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“There must be a culprit in the sanctuary,” I thought.

The video equipment had been set up and taken down by the same faithful volunteers for close to a year and a half without any problem. Now, each week, throughout the service, the video system would suddenly lose connection for a second or two and then return to normal. It started happening once every five minutes or so, then the problem grew steadily worse.

Pastors, leaders, technicians, and volunteers were all baffled over the situation. Over the course of several weeks, different teams tried updating the presentation system, double checking the connections, updating the computer, using different computers, checking the multiple adapters, replacing a converter, checking the temperature of the equipment, and checking the stress on the cabling, all to no avail.

In the end, I wondered, “Could someone be sabotaging the system?”

Finally, the entire system was setup during the week by a small group, determined to double check every connection until the issue was discovered. However, when everything was setup, the problem could not be reproduced.

Fortunately, one of the team members received a text message, and the problem occurred. Testing a theory, he sent a text message, and the disconnect happened again. Then, the technicians realized that a phone could simply be placed near certain connection points and the glitch would occur. The team found a thicker, more insulated cable and retested the system, placing cell phones over the cables and sending text messages back and forth.

No glitch.

The culprit in the sanctuary had been found. Unseen frequencies, which had previously not been released for cell phone use, had been steadily increasing in the room as people had updated their phones, thereby causing problems in the wired video equipment.

Crazy, right?

Thank the Lord we were able to purchase higher grade, better insulated cables. We would have hated to make everyone check their cell phone at the door.

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What Christians Can Learn From The Life of Prince

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As a teenager, I had a love hate relationship with Prince’s art. I never saw Purple Rain, but I knew every lyric on the soundtrack. However, I was once so convicted when I caught myself singing some of his unsavory lyrics by my high school locker that I pulled all of the tape from the cassette (yes, I’m old) and burned it in our fireplace.

But now, hearing of his death, decades away from that moment, I find myself once again perplexed by this man, but for a different reason.

In his song Raspberry Beret, Prince states his boss, Mr. McGee, didn’t like his kind because he was a bit too leisurely. That’s an interesting line in the song, but apparently, the opposite was true of Prince. He worked hard, writing songs and recording music at all hours of the day and night. He was known for waking up sound engineers in the middle of the night, requesting they come right away to record a song he had just perfected.

I read yesterday that Prince has a vault with so much unreleased recorded music that if his estate were to release one album per year of completely original music that the world could have new Prince albums for the next 100 years. If an average album has twelve songs, that means he could have around 1200 unreleased songs.

Prince apparently was never really known for doing something close to nothing.

In the book of Colossians, Paul encourages Christians to work hard as well. He writes, Work willlingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

At the end of our lives, we may not have a century’s worth of unreleased recorded music, but if we serve God faithfully and do the work he’s called us to do, we’ll have something even better, the pleasure of our Lord and Master.

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My Favorite Illustration Giving Talk

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One purpose of the offering introduction, or giving talk, in a Christian worship service is for ongoing stewardship education. Those words may sound dry, but the giving talk doesn’t have to be. In fact, the more interesting a giving talk is, the more likely the listener is to hear the point and apply it to his own life. In this type of giving talk, illustrations are important because they draw the people in.

Here is my favorite illustration giving talk I’ve seen to date:

Illustration Giving Talk – Wind Farms

We’re about to receive our offering. Many of you have already given online and we appreciate that. While the rest of us prepare to give and our ushers prepare to receive, I like to show you a picture.

(Show picture of wind farm)

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Wind farms like these now produce almost 3% of the world’s energy. Many of you have probably seen farms like these in your travels.

Have you ever wondered how windmills are able to capture the wind’s energy? Here’s a brief explanation: A wind turbine blade works like an airplane wing. Blowing air passes around both sides of the uniquely shaped blade. The uneven pressure around the blade then causes it to spin. The blades are attached to a shaft, which turns about 18 revolutions per minute. This doesn’t seem like much, however the shaft is connected to a series of gears, which increases the movement to about 1800 revolutions per minute. At that speed, a generator can produce a lot of electricity as long as the wind is consistent.

You may be thinking, “This is all very interesting, but what does that have to do with my offering?” Sometimes, people think that the amount they give can’t make much of a difference. Like the large shaft that only turns 18 times a minute, it seems like their gift is insignificant. However, God blesses the offerings given by people and allows the church to connect them with the gifts of others, multiplying it a thousand times over in various ways that then produce amazing results.

However, as with the wind and the windmill, the secret to this occurring is faithful and consistent giving.

Let’s pray.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing examples of giving talks which serve other purposes. I hope you will join me. In the meantime, if you have a favorite giving talk, feel free to comment or contact me personally.

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Good Friday Outline/Script using Hillsong’s “O Praise The Name”

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Here’s a basic outline/script for Celebration Church’s 2016 Good Friday service. It’s my hope that other churches can find it helpful and meaningful in the future.

Three basics props are needed for this service:

  1. Biblical Whip
  2. Crown of Thorns
  3. Three large 8-10 inch nails

We chose to use a high table for the props.

O Praise The Name Good Friday Outline/Script

3 Opening Songs – Based around the cross and the goodness of the Lord

Brief Offering Introduction and Prayer

Transition Video – http://www.danstevers.com/store/life_with_god/ (also available in Spanish)

THE NAME OF THE FATHER SECTION

Speaker: (quoting video) Life with God is not about a religion. It’s about a relationship. Here at Celebration Church, we encourage everyone to know God personally.

When you first meet someone, you most often learn each other’s name. When meeting the Lord, most people realize that He already knows their name, but how are we to address God?

I mean, really, what do you call the Supreme, Ever-Present, All-Knowing Power in the Universe? Let’s explore that.

For thousands of years, there have been many names for God

  • He is Elohim, our Mighty Creator, who spoke and the worlds came into existence. (Show slide displaying the name “Elohim”)
  • God is called El Shaddai meaning God Almighty(Show slide displaying the name “El Shaddai”)
  • He is YAHWEH, which is sometimes known as the only proper name of God. This name was revealed when Moses asked the Lord for His name. God answered by saying, “I Am Who I Am.”(Show slide displaying the name “YAHWEH“)
  • God is also called Adonai which simply means Lord(Show slide displaying the name “Adonai“)

There are many other names of God in the Bible reflecting on the attributes of God, but the name Jesus most often used when praying and teaching others to pray was Father.

(Show slide displaying the name “Father“)

The name Father was more descriptive than most other names because the word Father describes more than a characteristic of God. It describes a relationship.

Think of all a Good Father is and that describes who God the Father is to us. He is our Provider, our Shelter, our Forbearer, our Wise Ancestor. He’s given us Life, Protection, and Nourishment. He’s our Source, our Sire, our Parent. No matter if you call Him Padre, Papa, or Daddy, He is our Father. Our Good, Good Father.

Let’s take a moment and think about His goodness.

Sing: Good, Good Father – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gwz_IDY7w (Spanish version also available)

(Soft music from one instrument continues to play as speaker continues)

THE NAME OF JESUS Section

Speaker – God, our good, good Father, patterned mankind after Himself because He desired a personal relationship with each person. However, man’s sin created a problem. You see, God is so good and so Holy that sin cannot exist in His presence.

In fact, we learn from the first part of Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death…”

(Show Romans 6:23a slide as it is being read)

Basically, it’s saying that the punishment for our sin is death. With that being said, it sounds as if we are doomed. However, Romans 6:23 also continues to say, “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus our Lord.”

(Show Romans 6:23b slide as it is being read)

So God provided a way for us to be forgiven. But how can this be? Why would He do such a thing? Because our Good, Good Father loves us.

The Bible actually says in Romans 5:8 – “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  

(Show Romans 5:8 slide as it is being read)

Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He took our place and endured the punishment that we should have received.

Taking this punishment is the reason Jesus was born in the first place. It’s how He got His name. An angel appeared to Joseph and said, “You are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

(Show Matthew 1:21 slide as it is being read. Music switches to minor key)

CRUCIFIXION SECTION

However, the punishment He took for us was serious, painful, punishment. John chapter 19 describes much of this torture Jesus endured in detail.

(Stagehands uncover table. Music continues)

Speaker: “Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.” (John 19:1)

(Show John 19:1 slide as it is spoken)

(Speaker goes to table and examine lead-tipped whip. Holds up the whip for all the see)

Speaker: Jesus was beaten at least 39 times at the whipping post. The whip lashed His shoulders, back, and legs, cut through His skin and tissue, and caused blood to ooze from His capillaries and veins. The lead tips produced deep bruises which were broken open by subsequent blows. Many who were sentenced to crucifixion never made it to the cross because they died during the flogging.

(Speaker returns the whip to its place)

Speaker: “The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head,” (John 19:2)

(Show John 19:2 slide as it is spoken)

(Speaker holds up the crown of thorns and examines it while speaking)

Speaker: The main purpose of the crown of thorns was for the pleasure of the mocking guards, who thought it was hysterical that Jesus should call Himself a king. The guards formed the crown from thorns of a nearby plant. They shoved it down on Jesus’ head so that it would not fall off during the crucifixion. The humiliation of the crown continued throughout His crucifixion. Every step Jesus made towards his own death, His followers saw the crown of thorns. His enemies pointed and laughed and continued the mocking.

(Speaker Return the thorns to the table)

Speaker: “So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called the Place of the Skull. There they nailed him to the cross.”  (John 19:17-18a. Show slide as scripture is being read)

(Show John 19:17-18a as it is spoken)

(Speaker picks up the nails and holds them at arm’s length toward the people)

Speaker: Imagine the soldiers stretching one of Jesus’ arms out and nailing His hand to the cross.

(Speaker hits two of the nails together three times)

Speaker: Think about the soldiers stretching Jesus’ other arm out and nailing His other hand to the cross.

(Speaker hits two of the nails together three times)

Speaker: Picture the soldiers placing Jesus’ feet one on top of the other, and driving a nail through them.

(Speaker hits two of the nails together three times)

Speaker: The soldiers raised the cross and Jesus hung there for everyone to see. It was there that Jesus, the Son of our Good Father, who received His name because He would save His people from their sins, died.

(music stops abruptly)

Speaker: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  (Show John 3:16 slide as it is read)

(Music for next song begins and Speaker exits)

O Praise the Name – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqBpifDpNKc – (Also available in Spanish)

Gospel Presentation/Decision Ministry – 

Communion Intro – We’ve shared tonight about the love of our Good Father and the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Now, together, let’s take time to commemorate what Jesus did for us on the cross by observing communion together…

Communion –

“You Are Good” (Kari Jobe/Gateway) – Suggested Song for Communion – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O15tsWWo_Ys

Closing Remarks

Closing Song

Dustin Lee - Unsplash 1

(Photos courtesy of Unsplash)

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