Context matters – we cannot expect people to discern all that we say.
Churches will often title a sermon series but unless you’re somebody that actively attends that church, those titles are often very cryptic. Here are some examples that I found while researching:
- Doors
- Comfortable
- If The Shoe Fits
- Thread
- How To Be Rich
- Night Shift
- Forget About It
- There
- The House
If you were looking for a new church and you saw one of those titles, would you have any idea what they were going to talk about?
Granted, the written word can provide context, but the visual impact can often do it much better. Cross Point Church in Nashville recently began a new sermon series entitled ‘More.’ What does that mean?
Well, Pete Wilson along with his creative team that includes Stephen Brewster and Matt Singleton shot, edited and released the following video in four days to preview the series:
Is your church doing this or considering it?
David says
At a certain level video has to come into it.
It demonstrates how much effort they are willing to put in. The style of the service can be gleaned as well.
I guess I never thought about looking at the sermon titles when looking at a potential church. Would I even find the current series (or just see the one the ended last month)?
Here are the topic for my church. by themselves, not very descriptive:
The Unseen
Quandary
Intervention
Reckless
Appetite
Uprising
Tabula Rasa
Permanent Ink
Buried Life
Listen to the Music
Pro Choice
The Event
Lies my Pastor told me
The Challenge
The Pickers
ARK [Acts of Random Kindness]
Compared to A guy who works through the Bible in order (the series title is pretty clear):
* Luke’s Gospel: Investigating the Man Who Is God
* It’s All About Jesus
* Trial
* Generous
* Pray Like Jesus
* The Peasant Princess
* Jonah
* Doctrine
* Religion Saves
* The Rebel’s Guide to Joy
* Nehemiah
* Titus
* Redeeming Ruth
* Vintage Jesus
* 1st Corinthians
* Christ on the Cross
* Genesis
* Epistles of John
* 2 Timothy
* 1 Timothy
JayCaruso says
The way a lot of church websites are designed, the first thing that people see is the graphic for the latest sermon series so a video seems like a natural fit. I like what you said about people perhaps gaining an idea of what the style will be like. That’s a good point.
Jenni Catron says
Thanks for featuring Cross Point. I know I’m biased, but I’m grateful for the amazing team that we have.
I agree with you on creating context, especially if we are trying to reach the unchurched who have no idea what we’re talking about or what a sermon series is. We’re fortunate that today we have more ways than ever to distribute our visual media – blog, twitter, facebook, youtube, vimeo, etc. It’s an exciting time for the church to be able to engage this way!