I like to watch the people as I'm preaching. Sometimes you can tell if you have them with you. Other times you can tell if their minds are someplace else. There is always a couple of people that will say "I wasn't asleep", but you can tell by the head jerks that they were.
Is it the head nods, the "amens" or the "That was a good sermon Pastor, I enjoyed that". Whenever I preach I like to think I inspire people to do something....you know a change-something like, start praying or looking for ways to reach out to people.....typical things like that. I often wonder if I do that, do I inspire change?
This week I have found another way in which to gauge if I'm connecting with my church audience. You see I preach the last Sunday of each month....this past Sunday was mine. Was it a good sermon?Here is my new way to tell....by the....
Piles of finger nail clippings left behind in the sanctuary.
This week as I was getting ready for our Back to School Bash, I moved the chairs in the Sanctuary.
As I moved the chairs, in three different rows I found.....three different piles of clippings. So not only were the people bored in the middle, there was the person on the aisle and another one on back.
So I would have to say I need to step it up a notch to keep more people engaged so they aren't bored....which means they won't want to spend time clipping their nails.
Sermon Titles I'd like to Preach:
Nails in HIS Hands....Nails in the Carpet.
Leave it all behind.
The Altar...Giving my All to God, not just my scraps!
Can you think of some good ones? Please share them with me.
I wonder if it would be ok to clip my nails in their living rooms and leave behind a pile of my own?
~Brian
10 comments:
Wow! Makes me want to run into the sanctuary and climb under the pews on my own "treasure-hunt"!
Thought: what if those were toenails? Would that be even weirder?
Stevan, Maybe we should start a collection of "goodies" and use them in an auction to raise missions money or something like that?
I'll bag em up next time and send them your way :) ~Brian
EWWWWWWWWWWW. Well you know how I feel about nail clipping in any public arena. (It hasn't stopped at work, either.) for the record, I never found your sermons to be any reason to mind-wander to nail clipping world. You often prompted me to do something....meaningful. Not nail clipping.
good job Brian!
people seem to forget that a sanctuary is a place to be reverend and reflective. i would also ban water bottles, surely someone can go 60 minutes without a "sip".
i also agree, i enjoy your sermons.
Stevan - - -we had a man who WOULD clip his toenails during service in one of our churches once upon a time.
keep fighting the fight...you never know when a nail-biter will "get it"! Sarah is a doodler..it drives me nuts
How about "Nailing Things Down"
Okay - two things: Regarding the nail clippings - ewwwwwwwwwww- I have cleaned out pews on Monday mornings - have found bulletins, empty paper coffee cups (hate that), candy wrappers, gum wrappers, just garbage, used tissues (ewwww again) and half-empty bottles of Mylanta!!! Hope that is not a reflection on MY SERMONS! ha ha ha -
and TWO: God lays a sermon on a preacher's heart - first hearer is the preacher herself (or himself) - we trust God that the Word preached is revealed to those who most need it - even the nail clippers in the congregation will one day hear "their" sermon!
How's this for a title: "Left Behind - a story of our poor pews"
:)
SIS
Oh yeah, one more thing - like the guy said about the water bottles - That goes for coffee cups, ho-hos, twinkies, ring dings, cookies and other assorted FOOD & DRINK!! We are not at the STADIUM watching the BILLS (Hey, I live in Western New York) - you can substitute Bears or Colts
When did the HOUSE OF GOD become the House of PANCAKES?????
new suggestion,
have the ushers frisk people before they enter the sanctuary.
this would remove food items, cell phones and nail clippers.
Post a Comment