Tag Archives: church

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Preaching in Your First Year at a New Church

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Picture this. 

You have accepted a new job as the new lead pastor at ________ church. You have moved your family or moved offices if it is a succession process. You are excited and ready to go. 

You want to come out of the gate strong in your first sermon and sermon series. You want to show who you are and cast a vision for what is next. You are ready. 

But what do you talk about? How do you connect with people who don’t know you? How do you connect with people you don’t know? 

In the back of your mind, you wonder, what if you bomb? What if you choose a topic that no one is excited about or say the wrong thing and step on a landmine you didn’t know was there?

Go here to get an idea of what I preached when I first came to CCC in 2021. 

6 things to think through when you arrive at a new church.

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Know this is just the start. It is hard to remember this when you arrive, and you are excited about this new chapter, and the church is (hopefully!) excited about it, but remember, this is just the beginning of a long ministry. You don’t need to say everything in one sermon or one series. There are specific things you want to hit on in your first sermon and series, but as you stand up that first Sunday and the ones to come, know that this is just the beginning. 

Don’t make any grand pronouncements as you stand up on that first week and in the first months. Don’t discuss goals and numbers or where you will be in 5 years. Just start. 

Now, if you are going into a situation where things are volatile, the church is running out of money, etc., then you might need to share more specific plans to get out of the rut the church is in. But most of the time, you shouldn’t need to do that. 

Find out as much as possible about the history (and where the church is). Hopefully you learned as much as you could about the history and state of the church during the interview process. But if you arrive and still have questions, ask them.

When I arrived at CCC, I interviewed over 30 people and asked them the same eight questions to get an idea of where the church is, what was at the heart of the people here, and trying to learn as much as possible about New England. I read books and blogs about the area I was moving to, talked to previous pastors, etc. You want to become as much of an expert as possible about the place you are stepping into. 

You want to know things like: How many pastors have they had in the last 10 – 15 years? How many staff transitions have they had? Were there any moral failures or firings? Are they excited and hopeful or sad and grieving? Do they trust leadership or struggle to trust leadership? Every new leader walks in with a little bit of leadership change in their pocket because they are new, but depending on what happened before you arrived, that can impact how much trust a group of people give you. 

Find out what they preached before you arrived. This one is more tactical, but find out what they preached before you arrived. Two of the books of the Bible I wanted to preach through had been done in the year before I arrived, so I had to pivot. 

The other reason you want to know this is because it will also give you an idea of where everyone is, what they have been walking through together as a church, and the style of preaching they are accustomed to. While you don’t want to change your preaching style to something it isn’t, knowing what they are used to before you put your unique stamp on things is important. 

Preach on things close to your heart. As you plan your first sermon and series, preach on things you are passionate about and close to your heart. There should be a match between that and where the people are, which is one of the reasons God led you there. Is there anything that God has taught you in the last season of your life or your move that might speak to where the church is?

Let the church get to know you. Part of why you should preach on things close to your heart or things God has taught you recently is because one of your goals in your first sermon series is for your church to get to know you and your story. You can do this by sharing your testimony (which I’ve seen people do on their first week) or weaving things about you into the opening sermon series. At the end of your first month, people should have a clear idea about who you are, your preaching style, your marriage and family, and your spiritual journey. 

Keep in mind the season of the year and the season of the church. The last thing to consider is when you will start preaching in the calendar year and where the church is in the season of its life. 

Arriving in January, Advent, Easter, or the start of school will impact what you preach. 

Is the church excited or hurting? Do they trust or not trust the leadership? These questions help determine their season and what they most need to hear. 

6 things you need to know before you preach your first sermon at a new church.

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While your first sermon or series doesn’t make or break your ministry at a church, it does set the tone. So it matters to get it right. 

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The Three Groups in Your Church

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Leaders inevitably make changes and lead to new places.

What can be disorienting for pastors and leaders is how people respond. Each time I’ve made a change, the person who got upset, sent an angry email or left the church always surprised me. Yes, sometimes the people made sense because of what I knew of them or the change we were making, but someone always surprised me.

As I thought about it, you need to understand the dynamics of change and how people fit into those dynamics.

Often, when a change is brought about, you will hear people talk about early adopters, late adopters, and everyone in between. But there are other dynamics at play in a church setting. And, just because you are an early adopter of one change or idea doesn’t mean you are an early adopter of everything. You might be, but that isn’t always the case.

Just because you are an early adopter of one change or idea doesn’t mean you are an early adopter of everything.

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As you think about any change or decision, you must consider the different groups you are communicating with. While there are more than the 3 below, I think these are the biggest ones:

People who want to keep the status quo. The status quo could be anything, but it is often to keep things as they are. The reason is that maybe they are tired of changes and transitions if there has been a lot at the church or in their life. They might think I don’t have the energy for something new, to learn something new.

They might also wonder who gets hurt in the change or who might not go along. They will often want to keep everyone happy and together, even if that means the church doesn’t move forward (whatever that might mean).

Their heart is for people. But what can happen in this group is that you are for the people already there, which isn’t bad. But it is the blind spot you have to be aware of. One change I made years ago was when someone told me honestly, “I don’t think we should make this change to reach people; people should just do what we do and like it.” And that is a real feeling.

As a pastor, you will feel this as well at different moments. When a younger leader suggests something, you think, “Do I want to learn how to do this?” I know many pastors felt this about preaching to a camera during COVID-19. Do I want to learn something new? How do I hold an iPhone for a reel, and what is a reel?!

When we feel this, we often say that we don’t have the energy for something new; we don’t want anyone to leave or get hurt because of this change.

As with all responses to change, the answer isn’t wrong, but as a pastor, you must be aware of how you speak to this group.

How to speak to the people who don’t want to follow along with a change you are making.

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People who want to return to the glory days, real or imagined. Memories are powerful, whether those memories are in our personal lives or our churches. When you are parenting teenagers and see a photo of your toddler, you long for those easier days, even though those days were filled with tantrums and sleepless nights. But you only remember the cuddly moments as you look at your gangly teenager.

The same is true in our churches. The further we get from a season of ministry, the more we romanticize the past and only remember the high moments. As you change, people will feel a pull to what was before. And you can’t compete with their memories.

The call for the good old days will often happen in a declining church. People will start to reminisce and say, “If we did what we did before, maybe it will work again.” There is also a pull for this group to keep doing things they or those they care about started. This is similar to the status quo in that it is hard to learn new things, try new things, or quit doing things that work differently than they used to. 

Pastors can feel this, too, as culture shifts and they learn new preaching or worship styles. The old days or the glory days are comfortable. 

But, instead of recreating the good old days, let’s celebrate them. Let’s thank God for what He did in that season and through that ministry or people. But, then, move forward. I often wonder if this group would feel more on board if they felt like the leaders celebrated the good old days and acknowledged the prayers and effort that went into them. 

People who want to bring change. With every change and new idea that comes up, you will have people who are ready to do it. As I said before, just because someone wants a new idea doesn’t mean they will be excited about every new idea. 

This group will jump on board, often from the very beginning. They will be your earliest cheerleaders and most prominent supporters of your change. This can be encouraging and good. But you also need to be careful not to jump too far ahead of the other two groups because you will find some wisdom that you need to be aware of within those groups. You might need to move more quickly or make the right decision. 

Here is what is essential to consider as a pastor: Often, people can switch which group they are in depending on the decision, and people are often unaware of which group they are in.

In one situation, someone may be staunchly against an idea, but then in another situation, they are the first ones to sign up. Yes, personality plays into this, but even the early adopters can find themselves wanting to hold on to the status quo of something. 

People (including the leader) are also often unaware if they are trying to keep the status quo or return to the good old days. We constantly work from what we think is best for the church, ourselves, and those around us. It usually takes a crisis or an outside perspective to help us see what we are blind to. 

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How to Handle Tension at Church

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Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash

You will have a season of tension or crisis at some point in your leadership or church life.

This might happen because of something you do, a decision, or a change you lead. It might happen because of what is happening outside the church in the culture, politics, or within the local school system. The tension may come from a staff transition or sin within the leadership that affects everyone. The tension may come from disagreements between the staff and leadership over a decision. Everyone is taking sides, sending texts and emails and posting on social media about which side they are taking up.

You walk through the corridors of your church, and you can feel it. Everyone can.

You stand on stage and feel the daggers coming at you, and you struggle to preach to your people and to lead them lovingly.

What do you do in those seasons? How do you lead, keep your integrity, and hold the unity of your church?

How to lead through a season of tension at your church.

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Protect your heart (and that of your spouse and kids). As losses pile up in leadership, it is hard to protect your heart. It is easy to see people as the enemy instead of the devil. But the people around you, especially those upset with you or “taking the other side,” are not the enemy. They might make you into the enemy, but don’t let that creep into your heart.

This becomes even harder to do with your spouse and kids. They will feel for you and want to protect you; people might be talking to them to get to you, or they may hear what is being said about you. This places them in particularly difficult crosshairs.

You must know how you talk about the tension and the people involved. It will be easy to unload on your spouse and kids to share things you shouldn’t share with them, especially if you feel alone. Be aware of what you share. Yes, you need someone to share this with, walk with you, and point out your sins and blindspots, but you also need to be aware of how you speak of others.

Years ago, in a counseling class I took in seminary, the professor made this comment that has always stuck with me: When a relationship is out of control in someone’s life (boss, spouse, child, parent, etc.), or something else is out of their control that is a big part of their life (job, finances, health), they will take their anger, stress and anxiety out on the next closest authority figure and that tends to be the church and the pastor. 

What is difficult to remember is that the anger and tension directed at you as the leader often has very little to do with you as the leader.

Whenever someone leaves a ministry I’m a part of, I try to meet with them to hear about their experience, what I can learn, etc. At that meeting, more than half tended to be about something else in their life that had nothing to do with me or the church. That doesn’t mean they aren’t upset, but this comment has proven to be true in my life for over 15 years.

What if your church is filled with tension?

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Prepare yourself and those around you for losses. While I would love everyone to love every change I ever made as a pastor, that just isn’t possible. Change is different. Change means loss. Change means that what you used to be no longer exists.

When changes are made, when decisions are made, losses happen. When you cut a program or ministry and let a staff member go (for whatever reason), people will be upset and leave. People will direct their anger at you. That is part of being a leader, so you must be prepared. 

What is hard about leading is the relational loss that happens. The people you thought would be excited for the change were those who used to be there but weren’t. The people who got tired from transition fatigue (which is real) went to another church. These losses will stack up for you and those around you. Your staff and elders will feel it. I remember an elder saying to me once, “I’m just not sure I can do another transition.” Not because he didn’t believe in the change or what we were doing, but simply on a human level. 

Your spouse and kids will feel these losses in acute ways. They will wonder why that person is no longer there, why their friends don’t attend church anymore, or why they won’t talk to them because of a change you, their parents, made. And that will be hard for your child to understand and for you to navigate. So prepare yourself.

Keep your integrity. You will be tempted to treat people the way they are treating you. Remember, they are acting out of hurt and anger. It is okay to be angry, but don’t sin.

Keep your integrity. Don’t fall into sin. 

This means you must figure out how to handle your hurt and emotions. You will need someone to talk with who can listen, be supportive, point out blind spots, etc. 

Just because someone lies to or about you doesn’t mean you should return the favor, just because you are treated horribly by people doesn’t give you a reason to do that. 

Just because someone lies about you or to you, doesn’t mean you should return the favor.

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Yes, people will lie to you and about you. People will act immaturely. The people who will treat you the worst will surprise you. So be prepared for that.

Walk through the lobby with your head held high. As a leader, making decisions people don’t like creates tension in your church; people are watching how you will respond and what you will do and say. You will feel their stares and see people whispering to each other in the corner while stealing glances at you.

You will want to walk over and talk to them; you will feel embarrassment, hurt, and frustration as you walk through your church. This is all natural. But walk through your church and hold your head high. They are not your enemies but the people you are called to lead and shepherd. You must stay true to what God has called you to, even if everyone doesn’t understand or go with you.

How to pastor a church in tension.

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Say what needs to be said publicly and nothing more. You will be tempted to preach a sermon series on what is happening, to pulpit shame people, but don’t. This is hard, especially if you are justice-minded and like to win. For one, the sermon isn’t for that; the sermon is for good news and hope. Two, the people you want to preach at or to aren’t listening, damaging your church and your integrity.

You don’t need to speak to everything publicly; you don’t need to refute every rumor or lie. You need to speak to some things, but for most things, you need to let go. It will fizzle out.  Eventually, the people who are upset will leave, and you will be able to move forward to what is next. 

5 ways to lead through difficult seasons at your church.

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Seasons of difficulty and tension are unavoidable in leadership. They will happen. There can be times when you grow as a leader and take your church to new places. But, they can also be seasons that take many leaders off course or out of the leadership game if you aren’t careful. 

Navigate them wisely so that you can lead not only in the season of tension but in the one that comes after (which will hopefully be a season of health and unity). 

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How to Plan a Preaching Calendar

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

It’s the summer time, which means for many pastors, they are working on their preaching calendar for the coming season and year at church. The summer is a great time to pull back as a pastor, strategically evaluate your ministry, and plan for the future.

I’m often asked by pastors and church planters about how to plan a preaching calendar. While each church is different, I think there are some things that can be important for every pastor to think through when it comes to giving your church a healthy, balanced diet of preaching.

Before getting to those questions and guideposts, you need to decide that planning ahead is a wise idea. I just heard from a worship leader who told me he finds out what his pastor is preaching on as late as Thursday. If you are that far behind, it is hard for your team to plan with you. It creates stress for your group leaders (if you discuss the sermon, which you should), and for your worship leaders who are trying to plan songs and moments.

Now, someone will say, but if you plan too far in advance, you take the Holy Spirit out of it. Yes, that is possible. It is also possible to plan too late and have no room for what the Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit also can move months in advance, so this is a weak argument to me. Anyone who has followed this blog for any time knows that I am a proponent of planning ahead.

I would encourage you to take a day or two to get away with your bible, some books, and your journal and listen to what God is saying for the coming year for your church.

How to plan a preaching calendar.

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What have I already preached on? It is important to know what you have already preached and not repeat it. When I came to CCC in 2021, I wanted to start with the book of Ephesians, but they had just preached on it, so I had to pivot.

Change it up if you’ve done 3 New Testament books in a row. If you’ve done 4 topical series in a row, put an expository series in.

One thing that can help with this is alternating between Old and New Testament books.

What topics do I feel my church needs to hear? This gets at who is at your church, who you are hoping to reach, and what questions your culture is asking. Every year at our church, we seek to preach about marriage and relationships; and one on generosity and money. We will hit those topics every single year regardless of what books we preach through. Why? Our culture is always asking questions about those things.

Think through the seasons of the year. You also need to think through the seasons of the year. What people are asking and thinking about in January is not what they are thinking about in September. It is important to match a series to what your people are walking through.

What haven’t I talked about recently? This helps to identify the places you gravitate towards and helps expose things you are afraid to address or have skipped. This is when you look back at your old sermon schedule and see where you’ve been. Maybe you’ve been at your church for 5 years and never preached through a gospel or an Old Testament book. That would be a good place to start.

Questions to ask as you plan your next preaching calendar.

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What am I passionate about? This can be good or bad. It is good because you have to preach what you are passionate about. Otherwise, no one will listen. It isn’t good because you can easily preach what you are only passionate about.

Where is my church going? This is a vision question. What is coming up in the next year that you can preach about? If you are praying about planting a church, preach about that. If you feel like you need to preach on generosity or grow in community, preach that vision. This means, though, as a pastor, you need to lead with vision and know where you are going.

Is there anything big coming up I need to be aware of? As we enter 2024, the election is on the horizon. one of the things I’ve been thinking through is the topics I need to teach to prepare my church to follow Jesus in the midst of election season.

7 things to keep in mind when planning a preaching calendar.

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What I Didn’t Know About Being a Lead Pastor

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I recently talked with some newer pastors who want to be lead pastors but aren’t yet. They asked, “What do you know now as a lead pastor that you didn’t know in your 20s?”

I have had a unique opportunity over the last few years.

What I didn’t know about being a lead pastor.

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I planted a church in 2008 when I was 28 years old, and then, in 2019, I became the teaching pastor at a church for two years (where I wasn’t the lead pastor but sat on the exec team) and then became a lead pastor again in 2021.

You only know what goes into a seat once you sit there. Just like, if you aren’t a teacher, doctor, or electrician, it is hard to know what it is like to sit in those seats. We might think we know, but we only have ideas about it. 

Before I became lead pastor, I underestimated all the things the lead pastors I worked for had to deal with, all the shots they took, and this is a big one, all the protection they gave to me and my ideas.

If you aren’t the lead pastor, it is easy to underestimate what your lead pastor does.

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You think about stewardship differently. Money doesn’t factor into things as much when you aren’t a lead pastor. You aren’t responsible for the budget, payroll, or the building. 

As a lead pastor, I know how much a meeting costs the church. Meaning, take how much you pay each person per hour who attends a meeting, and that’s how much a meeting costs. This idea has changed my thoughts about meetings, who is there, and how hours get spent at a church.

Before being a lead pastor, that wasn’t on my radar.

The other thing that changed related to money was the weight I felt for making sure we could pay people, knowing that families relied on the paycheck from the church. I never even thought about this when I wasn’t the lead pastor. I didn’t worry if our church could make payroll, but I have spent many nights worrying about that as a lead pastor.

6 things I didn’t know about being a lead pastor until I became one.

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Decision making. Decisions are obvious when you aren’t the lead pastor. Decisions are obvious for everyone who isn’t the boss. Decisions are obvious if you attend a church. But decisions are obvious because you only see what you want to see or what you can see.

The reason decisions are obvious is that you only see what you want to see or what you can see.

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When you are the lead pastor, you know more about the moving pieces of the whole church, the ministry season, the budget, etc., than anyone else on staff. You see more. This changes how you think about decisions and what to do. 

You still need to get it right; you see decisions differently. When I wasn’t the lead pastor, I failed to see the dominos on the other side of a decision. I only saw the decision. 

Expectations. You need to find out the expectations people have. Take your expectations and multiply that by how many people there are in your church, and now you know how many expectations are on a lead pastor (and their family). 

Yes, people in the church have expectations for staff members too. But it is multiplied for a lead pastor, a weighty thing that is easy to miss if you aren’t the lead pastor. 

When I wasn’t a lead pastor, I could see my lead pastors’ weaknesses and the areas I thought they needed to grow. I know my staff is well acquainted with my weaknesses. What I often needed to see, though, was the strengths that they brought to the table. The sad reality is we expect pastors to be great at everything. Don’t believe me; look at a job listing for a lead pastor. Now, search teams want a lead pastor with a Master’s or Ph.D., 10+ years experience in leading staff, and a great preacher, counselor, manager, and Bible scholar. The reality is no one is good at all of those things, but the expectations still exist. 

Yes, there are expectations for every staff role in a church, but I’ve seen that they are different for a lead pastor. Throw in a lead pastor’s age and expect someone in their 30s to be more mature than they are and for someone in their 50s or 60s to try to stay hip!

The expectations on pastors are overwhelming and hard to manage.

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Responsibility. There is a responsibility that a lead pastor carries that no one else has. The lead pastor is responsible for their role, leading the staff, preaching, teaching, etc. But they will stand before God for how they led and what happened in their church.

Focus. When you aren’t the lead pastor, you want the lead pastor to care about your ministry or passion as much as you do. But then, so does everyone else on staff and in the church. 

I underestimated how easy it is for a church to get off focus and lose sight of its mission and what it should be about. 

It is hard for a lead pastor to keep their focus because they have competing voices on their team and in the church, the latest book or conference idea, and the things they’d like to try, all while still leading in the mission and vision the church has. 

Your lead pastor provides protection and freedom for you that you might not be aware of.

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Protection and freedom. I have seen this more clearly as a lead and teaching pastor. A lead pastor will take shots for their team, protect them when complaints come in, and when elders (or an elder’s spouse) have questions about a staff member or a ministry, the lead pastor runs interference for that person or ministry. Some things land on a lead pastor’s desk about staff members that many staff members never hear of. 

Their family. I never understood a pastor’s family experiences until I became a lead pastor. Yes, all pastor’s wives and kids experience life in the fishbowl and expectations from members, but it is different for a lead pastor’s family. Part of this plays out differently depending on church tradition, but every lead pastor’s family experiences things no one else does. I once had a worship pastor whose wife told me, “I don’t see myself as a pastor’s wife; my husband plays music.” That could never happen for a lead pastor. If the lead pastor’s wife isn’t at church, people notice. If the kids aren’t, people see. 

6 lessons I learned as a lead pastor.

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No lead pastor is perfect. None of them claim to be. But they do carry things that no one else in the church has. Their families experience things no one else in the church experiences. 

So, give them some grace as they lead. You’ll want the same grace from others if you happen to become a lead pastor one day. 

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When Everything Falls Apart at Church

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Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

If you’re a pastor, married to one, or in church leadership, you have probably experienced a Sunday morning where everything that could go wrong went wrong.

It might be technical difficulties, angry church members, a sick child (or being sick yourself), a volunteer canceling at the last minute, or maybe you woke up and didn’t feel like leading and preaching that day.

I’ve been in church ministry since I was 18, and these Sundays happen more often than I wish.

Recently, I had one of these Sundays. I slept horribly on Saturday night; I woke up not feeling great, my sermon seemed off and disconnected, and the mood in the church just felt hard.

This will happen. Chances are good; it might happen this weekend to you.

As pastors and ministry families, we aren’t helpless in these moments. But it takes some preparation and wisdom to navigate these moments.

As I looked back, here are six things to remember and do:

What to do when Sunday morning goes off the rails.

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Prepare on Saturday night. We do very little on Saturday nights. We try our best to have a quiet night at home, watch something funny, try to relax, and get a good night’s sleep.

How your Sunday morning goes as a pastor starts with how your Saturday night goes.

Very few people will feel what you feel. This is good and bad. It is good because even if you feel off, your church might not. It can be frustrating because we’d like people to relate to us on this level, but that’s a different post.

Over the years, I’ve learned that just because I feel something at church doesn’t mean everyone feels something. Just because I feel off with a sermon or something feels out of sync, that might be just me. Now, there will be Sundays where what you feel, everyone feels. So be aware of the feeling, but also don’t overthink what you feel. 

It will happen at some point. While this won’t be a regular occurrence (hopefully!), it will happen at some point.

Pastor, here’s how to handle a difficult Sunday morning.

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This means you must plan how to handle it mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. How will you calm your mind and body to do what you need to do? How will you refocus?

This is why your prep and run-through are so important. I’m a big believer in doing a sermon run-through and think more pastors should do it. Whenever I have a stressful or difficult Sunday morning, I am thankful for the prep I’ve done and that I’ve already run through my sermon. This takes a massive weight off my shoulders regarding feeling prepared for what is ahead.

The power of prayer. One thing our elders do with whoever is preaching is pray over them before the service. This moment on a Sunday morning is incredibly powerful to me. To come together, share where I am, and have trusted leaders pray with and for me.

Take a deep breath and go. Ministry and leadership are hard. This is all over the New Testament, but whenever it gets hard, we are surprised. We must know the difficulty ahead of us, pray, be prepared, take a deep breath, and go.

6 ways to prepare for a Sunday morning as a pastor.

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4 Ways to Build a Strong, Healthy Elder Team

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Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash

One of the most critical but often overlooked parts of being a lead pastor is interacting with and relating to your elder team. If you get this right, you will find smooth sailing and incredible momentum that is felt throughout the church. If you get this wrong, it can lead to many difficulties, frustration, and heartache on the part of the lead pastor, the elder team, and, ultimately, the church.

Over different seasons, I have gotten this right and gotten it wrong.

Recently, I was reading CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest, and the authors have a whole section on the interactions between the CEO and the board of a company. They are: 

  • Choosing radical transparency
  • Building a strong relationship with the board chair
  • Reaching out to individual directors (elders)
  • Exposing the board to management

Let’s take them one at a time and apply them to churches:

4 important lessons for lead pastors and their elder team.

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Choosing radical transparency. It is amazing to hear how much or little pastors tell their elder teams. I get that it can be hard, and often as a lead pastor, you are dealing with your old wounds and scars as you step into trusting this group.

But one thing you should always strive to do is tell your elder team what is going on. Don’t hide things from them. If something happens in your church or you think something is going to happen, make sure they know before it happens or as quickly as possible.

There have been times I’ve told my elder team something might happen, and then it didn’t happen. But that openness has brought about a lot of trust and confidence. And many times, my current elder team has said, “Thanks for keeping us in the loop.” That trust goes a long way.

Building a strong relationship with the board chair. This person is the lead pastor in some churches, but I don’t think that’s wise.

Our church calls this person the elder facilitator to clarify what this person does, which I like more than the board chair. But whatever you call this person, it may be the person with the longest tenure or most influence on your board, whoever they are, build a relationship with them. They can be an incredible help to you in terms of advice, moving things forward, and getting a sense of what each person needs or where the church is, especially if you are new.

4 things pastors and elder teams must do to work well together.

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Reaching out to individual directors (elders). While the elder team works as a team, it is crucial to understand each person who serves on that team. Get to know their personalities, how they think and process things, their histories, theologies, and passions for ministry.

One of the things I do is meet with each elder individually throughout the year. I get feedback from them on how I’m doing, how the team is doing, and what they see and hear in the church.

If things get off track, they can be a pastor’s greatest asset and the first line of defense. But you have to invest in them relationally.

Exposing the board to management. This one is important but often tricky in a church setting. It is really important to clarify your governance and who answers to whom. In our setting, I, as the lead pastor, answer to our elder team, but everyone on staff answers to me. While the elder team is ultimately responsible for our church, they don’t oversee the staff. So the staff doesn’t have two bosses. In some church settings, this can get confusing. Clarifying this first is crucial to a healthy church team.

Once this is clear, you must figure out how to connect your staff and elder team. Unfortunately, many churches keep them apart, which can lead to disaster. 

One of the ways we do this is through reports that staff write or give to the elder team; we also connect one elder with each staff member to meet once a month to connect, pray together and have that elder attend one team meeting for that ministry each year. The elders then report to the whole elder team about how things are going in that area and what the elders should know and celebrate. 

The relationship between a lead pastor and elder team often makes or breaks a church.

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Many lead pastors, unfortunately, are suspicious of their boards or see them as getting in the way. Working well with your board will relieve so many headaches and heartaches and make your church stronger and healthier. 

4 ways to work well with your elder team.

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Gospel Centered Preaching

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Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

There’s been a resurgence in the last decade around the gospel.

This is a good thing.

This has helped churches have a more robust view of the gospel. We see the gospel as more than just how one is made right with God, how one is changed, and how one goes to heaven. We are seeing the gospel for Christians and how the power of the gospel changes us into who God has called us to be.

This is positive.

It has also created a new thing to complain about and judge others.

Now, preachers are gospel-centered preachers. If you want to sell a book, throw the word gospel into it. Parenting, preaching, church planting, maybe even writing a book called the gospel. 

People on Twitter complain about writers and preachers who aren’t gospel-centered. Maybe, if you are a pastor, someone told you, “I’m leaving your church because you aren’t gospel-centered enough.”

When I’ve heard this, it often means, “You don’t preach the gospel the way I think the gospel should be preached.” In other words, “I think the gospel has specific components and need to be said in a certain order (i.e., the Romans road), and if you don’t say them in that order, you haven’t preached the gospel.” Or, sometimes, they want to hear the name of Jesus several times.

When I entered ministry twenty years ago, the debate was around deep and shallow preaching. People say, “I’m leaving your church because you aren’t deep enough.” The gospel-centered discussion is this generation’s deep preaching complaint in some ways.

So, if you are a pastor and get someone who comes up to you after a sermon or sends an email telling you that you aren’t gospel-centered, even though someone started following Jesus in that same sermon, what do you do?

Ask them what it means to be gospel-centered. While there are some agreed-upon components, each person has a different definition of what it means to be gospel-centered. As I said, this is about being Christ-focused or centered; for others, it is about giving a clear presentation of the gospel to follow Jesus; for some, it is about saying the name of Jesus. For others, it is about finding Jesus on every page of Scripture. For others, compare what you say to their favorite gospel-centered preacher and see if you use the exact words as Tim Keller or John Piper.

One of the best ways to learn from them and help them understand your perspective is to ask them what they think is gospel-centered. Sadly, most people who make this complaint cannot articulate it. For them, it comes down to a feeling or a sense they get from your preaching. It is essential to understand what you are talking about when you say “gospel-centered.”

At that point, you can have a conversation when terms are defined.

Lovingly tell them the gospel from your perspective. As you move forward, explain the gospel from your perspective to them. All over the New Testament, there is evidence of Peter and Paul communicating the gospel differently, depending on their audience. This is important for a pastor to keep in mind.

It is also essential to understand if someone is preaching at a conference or a church when they talk about the gospel. This is important. Many messages people point to for gospel focus happen at a conference with many pastors or Christians in a room. This differs from a week-in, week-out worship service at your local church.

The goal of preaching, from my perspective, is not a theological class. This is the goal of some conferences and can become the measuring stick for people in your church. So, it is vital to be clear when someone asks what your purpose of preaching is. Start here if you don’t have a clear answer as a pastor or a church.

Understand the fears and desires that come from someone in this conversation. When people bring up gospel-centeredness, it comes from fear and a desire to not water down Scripture.

The longer I’m in ministry, the more I see that when someone brings any complaint or question to me about anything, it is often from fear or concern. That’s a good thing.

In the end, gospel-centered preaching should always push people to a decision. It should show someone, whether they are a follower of Jesus or not, who they are apart from Jesus, their default sinful nature, and how their only hope for life, freedom, and peace is found in the power of the gospel. It should also show us God’s ultimate hope for the redemption of all things. It should show the defeat of evil and the enemy. The gospel is robust, not small.

Know that you emphasize a part of the gospel. The reality for every Christian and preacher is that we all emphasize a part of the gospel. For some, the focus is on the cross. For others, the focus is on the resurrection. For some, it is about law and obedience. Each preacher and Christian has a part of the gospel they emphasize over another part. This comes from your story, personality, church background, and other factors.

It is essential to know this and be aware of the blind spots it can create.

Recently, I spoke with someone about this topic and asked him: What is the church’s mission?

What is the mission of the church?

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This is an essential question in all of this. It is easy to get into a mud-slinging debate about the gospel with someone and even think someone is beneath you as you look at them and their preaching.

The church’s mission, what you think the church exists for, determines much of what you do in a worship service, groups, and preaching.

It also determines how you communicate the gospel you preach each week. Throughout the book of Acts, Peter and Paul and the apostles contextualized the gospel based on the city and setting they were in. Same gospel, just different aspects of it depending on where they were. This is essential work as a pastor but can be easily misunderstood.

And, without realizing it, you can have different opinions on the church’s mission and what you are trying to accomplish in your Sunday morning gatherings.

Don’t stop preaching the way God has called you to preach. Be clear, passionate, and focused, and be the pastor God has called you to be. 

How preaching connects to the mission of the church.

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Finding Hope, Fighting Cynicism at Christmas

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Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash

We have a lot of feelings at Christmas time. Feelings of happiness and joy, laughter, parties, and gifts. 

But we also experience some deeper, sadder feelings. The feelings of loneliness, being left out or forgotten. But one feeling creeps up on us, especially as we age. And that’s cynicism. 

It’s easy at Christmas to be cynical. To look at people and think life doesn’t turn out that way. Like the commercials, people don’t just buy cars for their spouse without telling them. It’s easy to hear children’s dreams and think, good luck with that. I wish I could get the new iPhone too! To watch another hallmark movie and feel you can’t just leave the big city and move to a small town in New England and find love! It doesn’t work like that. 

We do this with God too. To hear the stories of Jesus coming to earth and think, God doesn’t love like that. He doesn’t enter into the messiness of my story. 

Advent is the answer to our cynicism and skepticism. The weeks remind us that when Jesus came and when Jesus comes again, we have hope, joy, peace, and love. Those aren’t just words for songs; they are real things and things we need. 

But another reason we get cynical is we’re tired of waiting. We’re tired of trusting. We’re tired of asking: When will God heal my body and mend my relationships? When will God free me from this addiction? When will God do this for the people closest to me?

What do we do with our cynicism, so it doesn’t ruin our holidays?

Carey Nieuwhof said, “Cynicism happens not because you don’t care but because you do.”

Cynicism happens not because you don’t care but because you do. -@cnieuwhof

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The places in our lives where we become cynical are deeply personal hopes and dreams that we carry for our present and future.

In this place, we have to battle for contentment and fight cynicism.

One of the things we miss when we think about contentment is that our contentment in life, marriage, parenting, and leadership is not just about us but all the people connected to us. Our spouse and kids are affected by our contentment or lack thereof.

If you are a pastor, leader, or boss, those following you are impacted by the contentment or cynicism you feel. As a parent, your kids feel the weight of cynicism or the joy of your contentment. 

As a parent, your kids feel the weight of cynicism or the joy of your contentment.

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We can easily beat ourselves up because of contentment and cynicism ebb and flow.

But how do you fight for contentment, especially if you are not naturally optimistic?

3 ways to fight cynicism.

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Surround yourself with contented people. A thankful person is a joy to be around. Get around them, listen to them. They have peace that few other people have.

Learn what leads to cynicism. If you are a church planter or pastor, cynicism comes from hearing about a larger church or a church planter who was given a building out of the blue (that’s mine). If you are a parent, it might be hearing about another family or seeing something on Instagram. Know your triggers. Know when they might hit. Hint: it will often happen when you are tired or emotionally depleted. Just be aware of that.

Be grateful for what you have. One of the practices that has helped me this past year is writing down at least three daily things I am thankful for. This has caused me to pause in my day and see how things are going well, things I can celebrate.