A few weeks ago I posted 5 Steps to Sermon Series Planning http://wp.me/p2yUh4-8o . This week, I’d like to follow up that post by sharing my plan for the first quarter of the year. Prayerfully you’ll see how strategy and opportunity are key components of my plan.
First, through prayer, God has revealed a theme for the year. 2016 will be a prophetic year for our church. All of the messages will either come from the prophets, be about the prophets, or address topics covered in the prophetic writings. With this direction, my next prayers focused on calendar opportunities and strategy.
January – Series Theme: The Call
January is the beginning of the year and sets the tone for the remainder of the year. The plan is to examine the call to ministry of four prophets; Samuel, Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. More specifically, we will encourage our members to accept the call of faith in their lives. Strategically our 112th church anniversary is on the 4th Sunday. So the message from Isaiah is fitting. Here are the sermon concepts:
Samuel: Called into service. Called to revelation. Call to stand (none of his words fell to the ground).
1 Samuel 3:1-14, 19-21
Special note: I will be on a mission trip to Niger, Africa on the 2nd Sunday.
Amos: Called from where you are.
Amos 7:14-16
112th Church Anniversary
Isaiah: Called to go forward. Consecration, Call, and Commission
Isaiah 6:6-13
Ezekiel: Called to the church. Called to uphold the standard. Called to speak the truth.
Ezekiel 2:1-9
February – Series Theme: Love Never Fails
With Valentines Day in February, we will focus on relationships with four messages from Hosea. We’ll examine the importance of marriage, a love that has grown cold, how to work out challenges in relationships, and how to repair broken relationships. Here are the sermon concepts:
An appointed love.
Marriage is an appointment by God.
Hosea 1:2-3
Valentines Day, Sunday, February 14th.
A forgotten love.
Love in difficult times. What have you done for me lately?
Hosea 2:1-13
A working love.
Restoring the love that has suffered.
Hosea 2:14-23
A tenacious love.
The love of God won’t give up on us. We shouldn’t give up on love.
Hosea 11:1-11
March – Series Theme: TBD
Even though I haven’t named the theme for March, I know what it’s about and from which book it will originate. This series leading up to Easter will come from Lamentations. It’s all about having a burden for the city. This significant for two reasons: First, we will have revival in March so we want to encourage members to invite non-believers in the city to those services. Secondly, we will also equip members with invitations and flyers to reach out for Easter. Through this effort each year, we typically triple our attendance. Please note; the Easter message is a stand alone message. Here are the sermon concepts:
A vision for the city.
Jeremiah witnesses the destruction. He sees the current delapodated state of the city.
Lamentations 1:16 NKJV
Hope for the city.
Great is God’s faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-24 NKJV
A prayer for the city.
Remember us, turn us back to you.
Lamentations 5:1, 19-22 NKJV
Easter, March 27th, Theme: 3 Days.
Jesus’ Prophecy about the resurrection.
“Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”” John 2:19 NKJV
I’ll continue to refine these messages and themes as we get closer to their dates. Each theme will also have an image associated with it that will be displayed on the front of our programs, church website, and social media. In mid-February we will develop themes for the next quarter of the year. I pray that this post has been helpful for you. If you have questions or comments I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to post share your thoughts in the comments section of this blog.