A joke first:
Tommy Cooper arrived at a hotel and, after the porter had carried his luggage, asked him if he wanted a tip. "Yes", said the porter, so Tommy promptly said, "Don't get married!"
I am going to do something brave here, so please be gentle with me! I am going to give you my tips on worship preparation. If you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, then this will be an eye opener! I want to share with you how I come to the end result. With the publication of my sermons, I hope to publish the corresponding worship plan to help show you how important it is to me to present the whole service as a complete package. Once I know what I am going to say in the sermon then everything needs to fit in and gradually build up to a climax.
I have been doing this for a long time, but I am still learning and needing to adapt in a changing world! If you follow the blog closely you will be able to see how I do it. Please remember that each congregation is unique in likes and dislikes, age groups, and culture. For example, the first part of our morning service in Gainsborough, is accompanied by our band, and dictates to some extent the sort of hymns I have.
I have met people in my lifetime who have felt that putting a meeting together is easy, and it has shown in their boring, fragmented effort! You might put your favourite hymns in, but if they have nothing to do with what you are saying, it is not going to help people focus on what you are communicating.
Enough for now, I will give you a tip with every meeting plan I publish. If it helps you, let me know, and please share your tips, frustrations, and funny stories of which we have so many in the Salvation Army. I used to get so excited in one particular appointment when people came to the front, only to realise that they were on their way to the loo and not to the mercy seat!
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