Sermon Snippets

My college basketball coach subscribed to the K.I.S.S. method of strategy regarding many aspects of basketball theory. K.I.S.S. stands for "Keep It Simple Stupid". In these days of extreme political correctness, I'm not sure if he still uses the 'Stupid' part, but the approach was a wise one. Instead of over-thinking the process, keeping it simple allowed the players and coaches to focus on the basics and react and respond accordingly.
 
Many churches in our country need to embrace the same kind of approach to ministry. Churches are often very complex organizations with many programs and activities. Those programs are often designed with good intentions, but they often become a burden to the congregation. Churches often mistake busy-ness for progress and assume people with experience spiritual growth by osmosis. 

This past year I read "Simple Church" by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger and had our leadership read it as well. It calls churches to take stock of their ministries and get back to the basics of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

Milford First Brethren is not a large church by any measure. But even in small churches, there is the tendency to complicate what should be kept simple. 

So this Sunday, my sermon will be more of an explanation of our vision as we outline our core purpose:

Each of those biblical principles (Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples) will be pursued through three individual levels of commitment - from most basic to most involved. We are simply going to be asking, how involved am I and what is the next step I should take?

Looking forward to Sunday!