Sermons

Easter is such an important holiday in the Christian faith, and Easter videos for church are becoming more common as congregations recognize the impact videos can have within a congregation.  Easter is such a fun holiday because everyone is excited about coming to church on Easter Sunday.  Many visitors often come to visit the church on Easter morning, and it is a time when we can really reach out to unbelievers throughout the church body.

There are many opportunities to use church media in your Easter videos for church.  There are many videos, countdowns, and motion and still backgrounds you can use in your services.  Here are some of the best Easter mini-movies to use during youth group or Sunday morning services.

Empty Tomb

This video from Sagebrush Community Church tells the story of Easter with music and words flashing on the screen.  It uses text that is taken directly from Luke 23 and 24.  Specifically, it talks about Christ rising from the dead and the empty tomb.  It is one of the most popular videos that have been viewed in church services over the last several years.

We Are Here (Easter)

This popular church media video from Igniter Media is designed to begin the service.  It starts with a video of the sun rising over a field presumably on Easter morning.  The video specifically calls the congregation into worship, and it reminds Christians to dwell on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what he did for us 2,000 years ago.  This mini movie is better for a calm beginning to the Easter Service.

Easter Quotes

This is another one of the most popular Easter videos for churches.  It is also designed to be used to begin an upbeat Easter service.  It includes many quotes from popular Christian speakers, and it also includes scripture verses from 1 Corinthians and other books of the New Testament.  People love quotes, and many people will remember quotes from this video.

The Week After Easter

This is a video that is designed to be shown the week after Easter.  It was produced by Floodgate Productions.  It is one of the most convicting videos I have seen regarding the holiday.  It discusses how Christians celebrate the holiday, and then we just go on about our busy lives.  It encourages people to dwell on the season of Easter and not to run from God or the church once the Easter season is over.

Easter: Invite Me In

Are you encouraging members to invite people to church on Easter Sunday?  This video from Floodgate Productions is a heartfelt message produced to help encourage church members to invite people to church for Easter services.   He speaks from the point of view of someone who is just waiting for their Christian friend to invite them to church.  This is one of my favorite Easter videos for churches that should be shown in every church pushing evangelism for Easter services.

There are many Easter videos for church you can show at your local congregation this year.  In our ever changing culture, we need to find new ways to reach Christians, and Easter videos can help make this happen!

There are many Valentine’s Day church videos that are being produced for the church these days.  Just like many of the other holidays for the year, there are more and more videos being produced for the church all of the time.  This is the time of the year when husbands and boyfriends cringe over the thought of spending hundreds of dollars on their woman!  Singles who are infatuated with someone of the opposite sex hope that they will have a date with their special friend this year.  Singles who are unattached get together to hang out for guys night or ladies night!

The holiday is always a hot topic among youth groups.  Youth pastors recognize the youth are going to talk about this day whether they want to or not, so it is a good idea to address it in your service.

What are some good Valentine’s Day videos for church and youth groups?

Valentine’s Day: Tremendous Gift

This is a brand new video from Beamer Films themed for Valentine’s Day that is perfect for the church!  In this short film, a mom helps her son with crafts for Valentine’s Day. While the video is targeted for use around the holiday, the video also communicates God’s incredible love that he has for each one of us.

Moms everywhere can relate to this video, but dads and singles will love it too.  If you want to utilize church media in your Valentine’s Day sermon, then this is the video to start off your message.

Who Needs Valentine’s Day?

Muddy Toes Media produced this themed video to express how we should love people every day!  It is not just Valentine’s Day where we need to express our appreciation for others.  No matter what kind of love we are talking about, everyone needs to know we appreciate them on a regular basis.  The love we have for each other needs to be expressed all the time!  It may not be expressed verbally.  You can express your love for someone simply by spending time with them, buying gifts, physical touch, or serving them.

Davin’s Valentine’s Day Video

This is a humorous video from comedian Davin Bryngrim.  He has produced a new video that is great to show in youth groups around Valentine’s Day.  The humor might not go over that well with adults, but it is great and family-friendly for youth groups for evening services.

Valentine’s Day – Cupid

Crossroads Creative created this Valentine’s Day church video to open up sermons in youth churches all over the world.  Teenagers understand cupid, and this is a great way to open up a sermon where you can talk about love that Jesus has for us.  This video works especially well for youth groups where you have a lot of unsaved teens.

Valentine’s Day church videos are perfect for churches to use to talk about the special holiday in Sunday morning services and youth group services on Wednesday nights.  Most everyone cares about Valentine’s Day, but it has different meaning to different people.  If you are going to talk about the holiday in your Sunday morning message, make sure to incorporate church media!

Check out lots of outlines for sermons on Easter!

As pastors are writing sermons on Easter, they recognize that Easter is the most important holiday of the year for Christians.  This is the Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!  It is because of what Christ did for us on the cross that we can celebrate eternal life.  When thinking about your sermon for the Easter service, you have to remember that there may be a lot of guests who only attend church at Christmas and Easter.

Easter is one of the best opportunities for the church to give a salvation message and reach new people for Christ.  In order to give an effective and persuasive message where the lost will respond, there are several questions that your sermons on Easter should answer:

What happened to Jesus body?

The Scriptures are clear that after Jesus rose from the dead, rumors spread that the disciples stole the body of Jesus while the guards were asleep.  It even says that this rumor would be spread for generations to come.  (Matthew 28:12-15)  There are some atheists who believe that the disciples stole Jesus body after he died.  The Scriptures are clear in Matthew 28 verse 5 that an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and Mary Magdalene and told them that Jesus has risen.

The guards knew that Jesus said he was going to rise again after three days.  As a result, they were ordered to make sure the tomb was as secure as possible.  Since the tomb was guarded the entire three days, and the guards took extra steps to make sure the tomb was secure, it would have been impossible for the disciples to be able to steal Jesus body!  Sermons on Easter should always talk about Jesus body.

How does Jesus save me from my sins?

In order to understand what Jesus did on the cross for us, it is important to review everything Jesus said to us.  John 3:16 states “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  When God sent his son Jesus into the world, God became flesh.  Because we all sin and fall short of the Glory of God, only God can save us from eternal death.

In the Old Testament, people had to sacrifice the best animal they had to be cleansed of their sins.  They couldn’t just pick any animal for the sacrifice.  This is why Jesus had to come into the World as God in the flesh.  Jesus had to die and go to heaven to be with God, and when he did this, he took all the sins of the world with him so we could have eternal life.

How do you know that Jesus is the one and only way?

This is one of the toughest questions to answer.  Jesus tells us in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  For someone who is skeptical, there is no scientific evidence to prove this is true.  Christians must believe in Faith that this statement is true.  We can also persuade the lost to follow Jesus through our own testimonies and walk with the Lord.  Sermons on Easter should discuss how Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

If I do enough good deeds and I am generally a good person, will I go to heaven? 

This is one of the greatest misconceptions of the lost today.  How can God send good people to hell?  Why would God let anyone go to hell?  If God is love and he loves everyone, wouldn’t everyone go to heaven?  Sermons on Easter should answer these questions.

The lost have to understand that we are all going to face eternity in hell unless we accept Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior.  You cannot do enough good works to get into heaven.  Jesus was clear that we must accept him as our Lord and personal Savior if we want to have eternal life.  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  It is important to emphasize that Jesus will meet you right where you are today.  With your sermons on Easter, you should also emphasize that you don’t need to stop sinning to accept Jesus, but you need to accept Jesus so he can work in your life to help you stop sinning.  It is only through the saving grace of Jesus that we can become more like him, and we can’t do it on our own strength.

Since God loves us, he gives us a free will, and that means he will allow us to do whatever we want.  God wants us to love him enough for us to make the choice to serve him so that we go into heaven in our free will.

There are many other questions that the lost have, but these are some of the main questions that need to be answered.  When pastors plan a salvation message during Easter services, their sermons on Easter should definitely answer these fundamental questions unsaved visitors may have.

It is that time of year when preachers are thinking about sermons about love and Valentine’s Day.  Love is probably one of the most complicated and confusing topics in Scripture.  There are literally thousands of verses that talk about love, but despite what we read in the Bible, we still have a hard time understanding it.  We may love our favorite TV shows and we may love our job, but we love our spouse too!  We love our children and our families, and all of these statements of love mean something different.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, most people are thinking about Agape love and having a special someone for the big day.  Pastors are trying to decide how to incorporate the holiday into their sermons.  Since it is one of the most popular topics in the church, here are some verses you could use to talk about love in your sermons about love.

Genesis 29:20

“So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel.  But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.”  Can you imagine waiting seven years to marry someone?  Many adults and teenagers don’t even want to wait an extra 10 minutes to cook in the oven instead of the microwave!  Jacob had to wait years just to get the woman he wanted, and many men won’t wait that long today.  With our fast-paced lives and the internet at our fingertips, the idea of perseverance has gone by the wayside.

This passage of Scripture puts circumstances in the proper perspective for singles.  It is easy to get frustrated about not having a mate or someone special, but God will bring the right person into your life at the right time.

Ephesians 5:25

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  Husbands need to learn how to love their wives.  Many men are guilty of spending too much time working or watching TV to spend time with their spouses, and that can cause a lot of issues over time.  Husbands have to be willing to make sacrifices to spend time with the family and the wife.

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  Fear is the opposite of love.  When we have fear, we cannot have love.  Most Christians don’t understand this Scripture, so that means it would make a great verse to reference when you are preaching on sermons about love.

1 Peter 4:8

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”  Love is the key to restoring relationships and marriages.  When we put all of our hope and trust in Christ, God can do the impossible in our lives.  The Lord wants to work through our lives by teaching us how to care for everyone regardless of how they treat us.  We are supposed to love our enemies, and we can only do this through God’s love.

John 15:13

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  This is a key verse about love.  We are supposed to love everyone more than we love ourselves.  This means that we are going to make sacrifices from time to time where we put others first.

When you are preaching on sermons on love for Valentine’s Day, remember that love is much more than agape love.  Love is one of the central themes of Scripture, and God’s love should be evidenced in our lives every day.

Christmas sermon outlines are great when you are trying to decide what you are going to preach on Sunday mornings leading up to your Christmas Eve service.  There may be some pastors who don’t understand why you would want to use a previously written outline for your sermon, but there are many ways you can use an outline to help develop your own message that is tailored for your congregation.

Obviously, you want to begin your sermon planning through spending time in devotions seeking the Lord’s direction for the message. The Lord will guide and direct your path for the direction you take in choosing topics for the sermons.  Once you have spent time in prayer and have a better idea for your message, you can begin writing the Christmas sermons you’ll preach for the advent season.

Outlines are great because they can give you ideas for stories and topics you’ll share as part of your advent season services.   Here are some ways that outlines can help you on Sunday morning.

They help get your mind engaged.

Writing a sermon is difficult if you don’t know where to begin.  Outlines are great because they can get your mind pointed along a specific path or direction.  You don’t want to copy a specific outline word for word, but you can rewrite sermons in your own words with your own experiences and stories in a format your congregation will understand.  Once you have read many outlines of sermons, you will have a much better idea of how you want to preach your sermon.

Outlines help the pastor come up with stories to tell.

People love stories.  Many Christmas sermon outlines begin with a story, and you can use these stories in your own sermons.  If the pastor tells a famous story from history, you can use outlines to find these stories.  There will undoubtedly be more information online about famous historical stories where you can learn more about the stories you want to share in your sermons.  Connecting with your audience is one of the key ways to make a meaningful impact on the hearts of the people in your church.  Many Christmas sermon outlines begin with a great story!

They help you connect with famous preachers of yesterday and today. 

As you are reviewing Christmas sermon outlines, you may find that there are a few sermons from preachers you really like.  Many famous preachers have listed hundreds of their other sermons online for you to review at your own leisure.  Some of the most famous preachers in recent history include Adrian Rogers, Jerry Vines, Dr. James Merritt, and Edwin Young.

If you are a young preacher, reviewing the outlines and wisdom of famous preachers will help you recognize the heart of the church during the Christmas season.  Young pastors can learn a lot from the famous leaders of yesterday and today.

Christmas sermon outlines are great when you are trying to come up with the words to preach for your next sermon.  Seek the Lord first in your sermon outline, and ask him to give you the Word for today!

Christmas sermons are both the easiest and the hardest sermons to preach.  They are easy to preach because there are so many topics you could write about, but they are hard to preach because it is hard to know which topics to choose!   If you are planning your next sermon for the Christmas season, you should begin by spending some time in prayer and asking the Lord to show you what your congregation needs to hear.  Allow God to speak to your heart about the most pressing issues within the church body today.

If you are having trouble coming up with topics for your sermon, here are a few ideas for messages this year.

Don’t Forget About Christmas

People have been forgetting about Christmas for 2,000 years!  When Jesus was born in the manger, many people missed the big event because they were too busy with all of the tasks of the day.  As much as times have changed over the last 2,000 years, many things are still the same!  The tasks that consume our time may be different, but we are still busy buying presents for everyone else to remember the real reason for Christmas.

During this holiday season, take some time with your family recognizing the miracle of the birth of Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us so that we could have eternal life.  Christmas sermons should always emphasize the miracle of Jesus birth.

History of Christmas

Most people don’t understand the meaning behind many of the Christmas traditions we have today.  Preach a sermon that begins with talking about many of the traditions we observe during the holiday season.  Many of these traditions are steeped in Christian roots, but most people don’t understand the historical significance of most of these roots.  People will pay attention to sermons when the topics relate to popular traditions most people can relate to, and you can use this to transition into a meaningful Christmas sermon.

The Grinch That Stole Christmas

There is a real Grinch that is trying to steal Christmas. His name is Satan.  He tries to take away the real meaning of Christmas in sinister ways.  The devil is smart because he gets you distracted without you even realizing what is going on.  We go to Christmas parties, we spend days putting up our decorations, and we spend thousands of dollars on Christmas presents.

These are just a few ideas for topics for your Christmas sermons.  No matter what sermons you decide to preach this year, make sure you are following God’s will and direction through regular prayer and fasting!

Christmas media at churches is a great way to communicate the true meaning of Christmas during the advent season.  Some parents and adults get stressed out during Christmas because the holiday season is so busy.  While many people get excited about the holidays, there are others who are depressed and unhappy about life.  Pastors know that church attendance increases during the holidays, so it is really important to reach out to the lost people in the congregation during this time.

Christmas media is awesome because it can reach out to unbelievers who may have preconceived ideas about church.  A powerful video might impact an unbeliever more than any sermon.  People may not remember words, but they often remember stories.  Here are some great media resources that are great for church this year.

It is Christmas Remix

This video is designed to be shown as an intro to a sermon.  It starts with holiday music and words that talk about how Christmas is many things to many people.  For some people, it is all about Santa, reindeer, and Santa’s elves.  For other people it is all about gift giving and spending time with your weird family members!  Some people say that this time of year is more about us than it is about God.  The short mini movie talks about Christmas being a time of reflection and a time to praise God for his blessings.  It is a time to care for people who don’t have a voice.  It is also a time to care for widows and orphans.  Jesus is Christmas, and this mini-movie does an excellent job of communicating this.

The Christmas Story (Luke 2)

During a Christmas celebration service or Christmas Eve service, you want to make sure you share the Christmas story.  It is a good idea to share the Christmas story multiple times during the advent season.  This video shares the complete story of Christmas as told in Luke 2 in two minutes.  Christmas media should always include the Christmas story.

Christmas In A Nutshell

This is a very popular mini-movie that has been viewed in many churches across America.  It starts by talking about how we have all given good gifts and bad gifts, and we have all received good and bad gifts too.  God gave us his Son as the greatest Christmas gift the world has ever seen.  He does not care about our material gifts.  He doesn’t want to give us more stuff.  He wants to give us his presence.  He wants to show up in our neighborhoods, schools, and churches.  The miracle of Christmas is that Jesus showed up as a baby to help save us from our sins.

Christmas Is Jesus

This video also discusses how most everything we do during Christmas really isn’t about the holiday at all.  December 25 is all about Jesus.  This is why we celebrate the season.  This video uses animation throughout the video to bring images to the narrative being discussed within the mini-movie.

Christmas media at churches is a great way to communicate the true meaning of the reason for the season!

It is my opinion that Christmas sermons are some of the most fun sermons that pastors get to preach every year. People are excited about the Christmas season and everything that goes along with the most wonderful time of the year! Church members are busy caroling at nursing homes and buying gifts for those people less fortunate. Parents are out buying gifts for their children, and pastors are busy attending Christmas parties for every single ministry in the church! In the midst of the busy season, it is easy to forget about the true meaning of Christmas. Here are some great ideas for Christmas sermons:
The Story of the Birth of Jesus
This sermon is best for the Sunday before Christmas or for the Christmas Eve service. Many families spend time reading the Christmas story every year, and we need to hear this story several times during the Christmas season. Children and adults can easily forget what all the celebration is about as we run around staying busy in the weeks leading up to the holidays. This is one of the most Christmas sermons you can give.
Stories of other people at Christmas
There are many other Christmas stories you can share in your Christmas sermons. There are many stories of people serving in the armed forces who surprise their family and come home for Christmas. There are other stories of families who are so poor they cannot give their children any gifts for Christmas. Nurses, police officers, and other essential personnel have to work on Christmas morning. There are many stories of people helping the less fortunate around the holidays.
Some of the stories you hear during the Christmas season are emotionally moving. Stories that stir the emotions of people in the congregation can help you introduce a sermon message that people will still remember in future holiday seasons. People love to hear stories during Christmas sermons.
Study of Christmas Traditions
Most people don’t understand all of the origins of the Christmas traditions that occur around the holidays. Many of these traditions have a Christian or Biblical significance. You can tie these traditions into Christmas sermons that your congregation will remember when they are hanging ornaments on the tree or opening presents on Christmas morning.
The Grinch who stole Christmas
Most everyone is familiar with the book and the movie of the Grinch who stole Christmas. The Grinch tried to stop Christmas by stealing all the food and all of the presents from all the homes. In the end, everyone realizes that Christmas is not just about the presents and food, and it is about a lot more than these trivial activities.
The devil is the Grinch of Christmas. You may not recognize him, but he is a part of our daily lives around the Christmas season. The devil is in the excessive busyness that keeps us from spending more time with God. The devil is also in our pocket books when we buy expensive gifts for people we don’t care about when that money could be used on giving to people less fortunate. The real-life Grinch known as Satan is doing everything he can to distract us from the true meaning of Christmas.
These are just some of the ideas for Christmas sermons you could preach this year. If you are stumped about what to preach on Sunday morning, check out sermon outlines where you can get tons of ideas on sermons for Christmas.

Christmas sermon videos are becoming an important part of the Sunday morning services during the advent season.  Pastors are always looking for new ways to share the message of Jesus.  The Christmas season is a great time for evangelism-style messages, as this is the time when many visitors attend church.  While many people know they should spend time in church, other people attend church when it gets close to Christmas.  This is the perfect time for pastors to reach to people they might not be able to reach any other time of year!

Christmas sermon videos are great for those not walking with the Lord.  Many people have a perception that church is boring, or they are just too busy to go to church.  Here are some great Christmas sermon videos you can show at church during the holiday season:

Christmas Spirit the Right Way

This video talks about lots of the Christmas traditions including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, and Christmas cookies.  The video encourages people to have more of the right Christmas spirit.  It encourages people to give more in time and energy to other people.  It discusses how we trust God more because he sent his only Son to live with us here on Earth, and it helps us remember that God is always with us despite all of the struggles we face on a regular basis.

Christmas in a Nutshell

This video jokes about some of the awful gifts people have received over the years.  Sweaters, socks, banana bread, and other re-gifts are popular bad gifts during the Christmas season.  Despite these terrible gifts we have given and received, God gave us the greatest gift anyone could ever receive.  He sent his son to die on the cross for us, and we can have the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  God sent the most unexpected gift to us 2,000 years ago in the form of a baby.  God wants to show up in our neighborhoods, in our workplace, and in our friend’s lives.  He wants to give everyone the gift of eternal life.

Christmas Is Jesus

Christmas is all about Jesus.  Despite everything else that happens during the season, Christmas is ultimately about the Son of God.  It is easy to get mixed up with Christmas lights, Christmas songs, family, community, and everything else that happens during the season.   This video helps reestablish the true meaning of Christmas.

There are many other Christmas sermon videos you can show to the church too.  This is just a small example of everything that is available today.

Many people in the ministry are looking for senior pastor openings in their local area.  While there may be many churches in your area, most churches are only looking for pastors from a specific denomination or belief system.  If you are serious about landing a position as the lead pastor, you need to be flexible about where you will live.  While there are always listings for pastor jobs on church staffing websites, there are not listings in all of the major metropolitan areas of the country.

Most pastors know they should pray and seek the Lord’s will before accepting a position.  There are other questions you should be asking that many people forget to ask ahead of time.  As you are interviewing for senior pastor openings, here are a few questions you should be asking before considering the position:

What is the vision of the church?

Churches have different visions.  Some churches have a vision for healing.  Other churches are strong on evangelism.  Other churches have a major emphasis on feeding the poor, while other churches are raising new missionaries to send out to the rest of the world.  There is nothing wrong with these visions, but you should know the direction of the church when you are searching for senior pastor openings.  If your vision as a pastor is significantly different than the church, it might not be the best match for you.

What are the demographics of the church?

Are there a lot of young families in the congregation, or are there a lot of retired adults?  What is happening in the youth ministry?  Do they have a youth minister?  These are all indications about the status and demographics of the congregation.  Many churches are trying to attract younger families and young people into the congregation, and your ministry may be the key that sparks a youth movement in the congregation.  As you are interviewing for senior pastor openings, you should know the demographics of the church.

How is the music ministry?

Does the church sing hymns or contemporary praise and worship music?  What songs are they singing?  How much does this matter to you?  Do not assume you can change the culture of the church overnight if you don’t like the style of worship in the church.  You will need to gain the respect of the church membership before you start changing the music during Sunday morning services!

How many members and attenders does the congregation have, and how has this changed over the years? 

You will need to know how many people you are serving.  There is a big difference between having a church of 300 people versus a church of 1,000 people.  As the size of the congregation increases, the staff should increase to help serve the needs of the congregation.  If the membership and attendance has declined in recent years, it is reasonable to ask why they believe people have stopped attending.  If the congregation has been without a pastor for an extended period of time, this could be a reason why some people are leaving the church.  When you are interviewing for senior pastor openings, don’t forget to ask about the number of members and regular attenders in the church.

There are many senior pastor openings available if you are willing to relocate to other areas of the country.  Seek the Lord and ask him to give you direction on where you should apply for lead pastor positions.