Preaching During the Interim…Beginning

The aim of this blog (and I hope book) is to tell how I do interim ministry. There’s a better way and I hope to do better the next time. I think I’ve improved since my last interim I finished five months ago. This is the plan for now.

I don’t think other interim preachers need to preach the same sermons I preach the same way I preach them. This is a report — not a recommendation.

The first Sunday after moving to a new location is Psalm 118:24. I ask three questions:

  • Do you believe Jesus loves His church? Surely. He died for it.
  • Do you believe Jesus loves this congregation? Absolutely. Every saved person here is a member of His body, His bride.
  • Do you believe God will give us wisdom during this process? He promised it in James 1:5.

Listen to:  This is the Day the Lord Has Made.

The second Sunday in the new church: Recruiting People to Be in the Mustard Seed Collectors and Planters Association. Listen to Mustard Seed Sermon This is an expansion of my first rule: Try not to learn very much. It doesn’t take many Christians doing things better to help the church grow and become more healthy.

We pass out Official Mustard Seed Collector and Planter cards:

The next week I start a seven-week series on Luke 9:23:

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23, NKJV).

Before we look for a preacher, let’s look at ourselves. Are we the kind of church, am I the kind of Christian, who would attract the kind of preacher we would like to have?

Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23 the path to being His disciple, following Him: deny self, take up your cross daily, and follow Jesus. When I want to do something well, I learn best by watching someone who does it well. I believe Jesus was the best cross-carrier Who ever lived. Paul did a good job following Jesus. Jesus and Paul will be our models during this series of how to carry a cross successfully.

You Have the Power to Live Through Dying — How to Be a Good Winner by Losing
Luke 9:23

  1. What Choices Do I Have When I Face Difficult Decisions? Listen to Cross Bearing 1
  2. Why Can’t I Have Everything? What Do I Have to Give Up? Listen to Cross Bearing 2
  3. Will I Always Have Pain in My Life? Listen to Cross Bearing 3
  4. What Do I Do When I Am Embarrassed to Do Right? Listen to Cross Bearing 4
  5. How Can I Make Difficult Decisions? Listen to Cross Bearing 5
  6. How Do I Keep Going When I Want to Give Up? Listen to Cross Bearing 6
  7. Why Would I Make a Decision to Suffer? What Will I Gain? Listen to Cross Bearing 7

This is the first eight weeks on Sunday morning. I want the church to have a good transition. A good transition begins with a good ending. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). I find many get excited about resurrection. Not many want to volunteer for crucifixion. The truth is: crucifixion precedes resurrection. That’s the ending that starts the new beginning.

[reminder]

(Visited 168 times, 30 visits today)
Jerrie Barber
Disciple of Jesus, husband, grandfather, preacher, barefoot runner, ventriloquist