pushing it...

I was gong to have a pro-photographer friend of mine shoot that shot--and it would have been better if he had--but his schedule was just crazy this week so I up and did it myself.

(And, no, the tylenol are not arranged like a cross on purpose. I just kept pushing them around while shooting and this one was the one I liked best.  So I colored it, THEN realized the whole cross thing which almost made me cut it, 'cause I 'knew' some people would think I did it on purpose which would be really cheesy.  But I didn't, so there...)

It's for the promo card we'll be using for a new sermon series we're launching this week at THE WELL.  

I mention that new series because it's a new deal for me.  I'm going to be preaching verse by verse, chapter by chapter through an entire book of the Bible.  I figured, given that this is such a new thing for me, I'd preach from one of my favorite New Testament books--Philippians.

Here's how I used to preach--like from 1994-2006--I'd read my Bible every day (typically between three and nine chapters a day) always reading my way through the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Psalms and Proverbs all at the same time.  So, I'd keep three bookmarks in there and just keep cycling through it.  I'd typically read through the whole Bible twice a year or so.

I'd read with pen in hand.

(I figure reading with a pen is 'work', reading without a pen is 'fun')

And every time something would jump out at me I'd make a note next to it in the margins. Then, come Wednesday or Thursday depending on my mood I'd sit down, ask God to speak to me, and review all the chapters I'd read in the past week taking note of the 'notes' I'd made. The note that 'sang to me' (or grabbed my attention) with the most resonance would be the one I'd pick to preach on.

So, my preaching came from my devotional life.

Almost all of my peers during that time (and to this day) either preached through some kind of lectionary (a list of readings that have been compiled by their denomination) or through thematic series or through entire books of the Bible.

I never did.

But when I decided to launch THE WELL I decided to try and repent of every system or habit I used to employ.  I figured I'd try to start 'fresh' since this was, truly, a fresh start for me in that particular 'zone' of my career/gift mix/calling.

So I started by preaching monthly series.  I'd pick a theme then pick a book of the Bible and build all the sermons for that series from that Book, in a sort of 'broad thematic survey'. Even that was a stretch for me as the longest series I'd ever preached in my entire preaching career was three sermons and I'd only ever done two series period; the aforementioned three-week one and a two week one a few years prior to that.

Obviously I was 'reaching' with my approach at THE WELL.

But it went very well and, I've got to admit, the growth we're seeing so far is much faster than anticipated in any book you read on church planting and much faster than what I experienced at FT the first time around.

Now, let me be clear, I don't pretend to 'know' the reasons for the growth we're seeing. The Bible is very clear that it's Jesus who builds His Church, so any kind of 'trying to figure it out' we do must ultimately be done in submission to Him with open hands and hearts.

That said, conventional wisdom is that preaching is 'the' thing that most impacts the growth of a church.

That said, I'm not altogether surprised that THE WELL is growing faster than anything I've ever experienced because I've never preached with the kind of series-consistency I've deployed with this church plant.

So, I had planned to spend 2010 doing 12 monthly series that were hooked to the major cultural events (or themes) that dominate each month of the year (new years, valentines, St. Patrick's day, etc...) but as the new year approached I started feeling a sense that I should just bite the bullet and start preaching through books.

The peers I admire most have been doing it that way for their entire ministry and I had to face the fact that I might have chosen to not preach that way just because I wanted to be different. Now, I 'get' that that impulse can be 'sinful' and therefore something I must confess, repent of and learn to walk in newness of life through, but, I also know that I've been 'wired' with a desire to be a bit different, to do things in unexpected ways, to try new things and to buck the system to some degree.

("I mean, come on, "Producer" AND "Preacher"? Those two just don't FIT!")

I'm also a guy who can easily get proud or arrogant.

So, I had to weigh all of the above in trying to figure out what I should do.

Anyway, I asked my congregation to let me know what they thought (being very clear that I wouldn't 'decide' based on their feedback but that I'd carefully consider it) and asked some of my peers and mentors what they thought and ended up deciding to go for it.

Totally out of my comfort zone. Totally different than anything I've ever done. Making a me a bit worried--'cause, really, how can you sustain interest in a book for 19 weeks?--and forcing me to trust.

Which is a good thing.

I thought maybe you'd take the above and spin it into your own life and see if there's an area in which you can grow and expand while trusting.

Just wondering...

T