Sermon – Designer Genes Part 2
June 18, 2010
Last week, I preached about the wonder of our physical birth from Psalm 139. This week, I concluded the two-part series by looking to Ephesians 2, which teaches that our spiritual rebirth is no less miraculous. In fact, God calls it His masterpiece on display for all to see.
Sermon – Designer Genes
June 13, 2010
Last week, I had the privilege of filling the pulpit at Wade. I took on Psalm 139 and discovered that humans have worth and value because God personally created them, knitting together each and every inch of their DNA. The psalmist teaches us that we are wonders of the world because of the fingerprint of God that is upon each of our lives.
Spring Is Here!
April 7, 2010
Scenes like this are popping up all around us. I love spring (mostly because I hate winter). It reminds me that no matter how harsh the deep freeze of winter has been, summer always comes. And no matter how dark the night has seemed, the dawn always comes. Thank God that the same can be said of our emotional and spiritual lives.
Sermon – Spring Is Coming from Bill Whitt on Vimeo.
Sermon – Renovate Your Mind
December 30, 2009
It was my privilege to fill the pulpit at the Wade Center this week. As usual, preaching to myself as much as anyone else, my sermon could be summarized in these words (adapted from Rom. 12:2):
Life Transformation Follows
Thought Renovation
You can watch the sermon online here:
My chief criticisms:
- Not dynamic and passionate as I’d like to be (think: John Piper, Louie Giglio, etc.).
- Too reliant on notes.
- Way too distracted by self-defeating thoughts. (Should have listened to my own sermon about the importance of renovating our thoughts!!!)
Some positives:
- Good job at generating interest and clearly defining the topic.
- Good job exegeting the text. From a broad view of the entire book of Romans to a macro closeup of what the word “renew” means, I think I dug down deep. For academics in our crowd, the word-by-word analysis of the verse (conformed, transformed, renewing, etc.) felt more like a traditional sermon for them… which is a good thing around here, even though it feel less focused than it should be.
- Good job at making the message memorable through use of visuals and repetition of the thesis.
- Good job at stating application – making sure the audience left knowing exactly how to apply the message.
So, even though it wasn’t my best, I’m pleased with how it came out. If I can generate interest, faithfully exegete the Scripture, and send people out knowing exactly how to apply it.. what more can you ask? Life change is what it’s all about.
As usual, I consider myself a hybrid speaker. My sermons combine Andy Stanley’s ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE structure with Louie Giglio’s love of visuals and Mark Driscoll’s detailed exegesis. During the delivery, I was very hard on myself mentally. At the time, I graded myself a “C-” at best. But, after watching the tape and evaluating myself, I upgraded my performance to a “B+.”
Why did it feel so bad during delivery? First, I was busy right up until the service started fixing video cameras and trying to get Pro Tools recording. Second, the sermon bump rolled late. Third, my mic was clipped (not unmuted fast enough). Fourth, the live Webcast echoed loudly in the background. Fifth, the Scripture on the screen earlier than expected. All that happened within the first 2-3 minutes of the sermon. I believe that’s the most critical time to get momentum going and connect with the listeners. So it took extra work on my part to get the ball rolling after those distractions (more distracting to me than the crowd, hopefully). Also, every time I would stumble over a word or tell a joke that wasn’t as funny as our usual speaker’s jokes, I would tell myself that I have no business being on stage. (That type of harsh self-talk is a good example of the type of thoughts I was preaching about correcting!)
Why did it come out OK in the end? I can only attribute it to practice, practice, practice (and the Holy Spirit). It turns out that, even when I’m horribly distracted and “not feeling it,” my “auto-pilot” mode keeps my voice sounding decently passionate and my message moving along nicely. Pitch, pacing, dynamics, memorization, improvisation — all these things used to require a lot of manual effort on my part. Now, they’re almost automatic. (I still do better in all these areas when I’m not distracted and when I’ve had time to properly internalize a message.)
I’m already planning my next sermon, scheduled for April 25 at the Wade Center. Based on 1 Cor. 6:19-20, it is called “Under New Management” and will explore the implications of the truth that we do not belong to ourselves but have been bought with a price.
If you have any thoughts on my upcoming topic or my current sermon, I’d love to hear them!
Something for Nothing
June 18, 2009
I just finished a sermon called “Something for Nothing.” In it, I examined Paul’s advice on how to run a good race. Basically, he gave the church this reminder: You have to train to run well. It makes a lot of sense. The question is, how do we train to run the Christian race?
As usual, I attempted to have one point instead of three or six or sixteen. (People only remember one thing, so why not carefully select what you want them to remember and apply and then preach on that, rather than scatter a bunch of loosely related ideas out there that no one will remember?) After I selected my one point (training is about self-control), I hit it over and over and over again from different angles, using Andy Stanley’s preaching model:
- ME – I introduced myself to the crowd by sharing about my run in the recent 5K race at Wade, where I found out the hard way that when you don’t train for a race, you don’t run well. You don’t get something for nothing.
- WE – I’m sure you can relate. We’ve all had those experiences. In your heart of hearts, you know you don’t get something for nothing in life. You don’t lose weight without diet and exercise. You don’t learn to play an instrument without practice. You don’t improve your golf swing without hitting on the driving range. It takes investment! Why is it we never think of the Christian life in the same terms?
- GOD – God has a lot to say about training for the race of life. In our key passage, I key in on the word, “self-control,” which is the focus of our sermon. Self-control is controlling yourself — delaying immediate gratification (the fleeting pleasures of sin) for behaviors that help us run a good race in the end.
- YOU – How do you apply Paul’s teaching? You give your sin nature a black eye as you remind it that you’re the master and will make the best choices. You must exhibit self-control to train for the race!
- WE – The motivational factor is that we all really have been given something for nothing — namely everything glorious in exchange for our filthy rags. Although none of us can run a perfect race, Christ did. And He awards us the crown of righteousness as we cross the finish line. This great gift should inspire us all to run a great race.
That’s the way I should have preached it, at least. There were some extra points thrown in here and there (too many applications, for example). And the lines between some sections were blurred and out of order (the ME and WE sections, for example). So I’m not as thrilled with it as I usually am with my sermons. But it was still valuable information, and people told me it was good — my best ever, in fact. While that’s not true (I hope!), it’s still encouraging to hear.
If people can remember and apply it, it’s a win for me. And I think I passed that test!
Sermon – Whatever!
January 8, 2009
Here’s a link to the sermon I just delivered this weekend:
I always evaluate myself based on the typical organization of my sermon (using Andy Stanley’s model):
- ME – Did I connect with the crowd? B
- WE – Did I setup a problem we all face and spark curiosity for the answer? A-
- GOD – Did I explain God’s answer to the problem, giving adequate context and explanation? A
- YOU – Did I explain how to apply the teaching clearly so that people leave knowing exactly what to do? A
- WE – Did I cast a vision for the benefit if we all would apply the teaching? B-
Overall, I give myself a B+. No one was falling out of their seat in boredom. No one was jumping up and down with enthusiasm either. A base hit, as my boss would say. And we can’t hit home runs every week!
My teaching was faithful to Scripture, my visual was memorable and everyone seemed to get the message. That’s what counts. A hallmark of success to me is when I ask someone what I preached about and their answer matches what I actually preached about. I passed that test this time!
When I used to preach 3-point sermons, people would always just remember one of the points, and it usually wasn’t the one I wanted them to focus on. That’s part of the reason why I just preach on one thing at a time these days. I pick what I want people to remember (and apply). Then I hit it from so many different angles that it’s hard to forget.
Worship Confessions – 11.09.08
November 14, 2008
I was filling in for Brian this Sunday, as he was in L.A. I always enjoy opportunities to preach. This week, I delivered a message called “Happiness 2.0.”
The idea is that we can all upgrade our happiness. I get happy about iPhones, clothes, job success, etc. But that happiness is short lived when the phone breaks, the clothes go out of style and you’re passed over for a promotion at work. Isn’t there a better source of happiness?
The big idea of the sermon is that when you tie your happiness to something that changes, your happiness changes. But when you tie your happiness to the only thing that never changes (your salvation in an all-powerful God), your joy never fades away.
This was a controversial sermon because some people believe that God doesn’t care if your happy. “He doesn’t exist to make me happy,” say some people. But then why does the Psalmist command us to delight in the Lord, and why does the Apostle Paul command us twice to “Rejoice in the Lord always“?
Watch below, and decide for yourself:
Sermon – Happiness 2.0 from Bill Whitt on Vimeo.
http://www.vimeo.com/2243133
I felt pretty bad about my performance after the sermon was over. But people told me it was my second best (second to “Fear”). I didn’t believe them until I listened back. It was actually pretty good. Would I organize it differently and tweak a few things if I did it again? Sure. But it wasn’t bad. I’ve learned that even when I’m a bit disorganized, I have the speaking skills to tie things together in meaningful ways while speaking. That’s no excuse for not preparing well enough, but it does prove to a certain extent a natural ability in public speaking.
As for the music, the crowd was pretty dead. There wasn’t a lot of singing along, as happens when the first song doesn’t go so well. The rhythms were all over the place for Charlie Hall’s version of “The Solid Rock.” That song has perplexed our band more than once, and I don’t know why. It’s really actually straight-forward. It’s one of my favorites, and it has a great message, so we’ll take a stab at it again when I’m wearing my vocal leader hat again.
Other songs rushed because the band didn’t use a click track this week. If there’s one thing that mentally disturbs me, it’s rushing. I’m the worst about it, though… which is why I always play with click tracks.
Still, all in all, a good week!
Worship Confessions – 09.28.08
October 1, 2008
Brian was away this weekend, so I was scheduled to preach. I had been working on a sermon called “Consonants and Vowels” for two months, and I think it came together very nicely. You can watch in here:
It was one of those sermons that comes together just in time. I had been juggling the individual parts around in my mind for several months, and they came together in a pretty cohesive way right at the end. I love it when that happens because it feels more authentic. It’s like when you’re delivering the sermon, you’re not just reading something you wrote… you’re experiencing something with the crowd.
As usual, I used Andy Stanley’s “me/we/God/you/we” format as a rough outline. No three points. Just a solid introduction that creates interest, a peek into God’s Word to resolve that tension, and then an application. I also did better than usual at hammering home the sermon title and topic time after time to give it a cohesive feel and make sure everyone would remember what I wanted them to remember.
As for the rest of the morning, the band did a phenomenal job. Listening back to the recording, some parts seemed a little shaky, but live in the auditorium, you couldn’t tell it at all. We had the usual technical glitches:
- My e6 mic was routed wrong for the opening announcements.
- Our Pro Tools HD crashed literally minutes before the service.
- I almost locked myself out of the building trying to get backstage to start my sermon.
Despite all of that, it was a super morning. The take-a-way I have to deal with now is: “How do I prevent these technical glitches that have haunted us for several weeks now?” Most are actually my fault. I need more help and to spread my responsibility out more. I simply can’t be the preacher, lighting director, video director, sound designer, band leader, etc. Balls are going to get dropped. More on that later!
Worship Confessions – 09.05.08
September 10, 2008
This week was “Vision Sunday” — the one Sunday we set aside each year to mark the anniversary of starting a worship service in this building. We use this Sunday to share our vision and get people excited about where we’re headed.
This year, we used two quotes to serve as our theme:
To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing. -Craig Groeschel
Become preoccupied with those you haven’t reached as opposed to the ones you are trying to keep. -Andy Stanley
Brian and I both spoke during the service as we shared our vision. Here was my part (I covered the first two pillars that hold up our vision – worship and service — and how they tied in to our key quotes.)
PART 1 – WORSHIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUZvWoIpLDs
PART 2 – SERVICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59hAnyINuI
The worship time concluded with “God Of This City.” The band played along with a click-track while video on our three screens illustrated our vision for transforming our city. This was the first time I edited a multi-screen presentation spanning all our screens, and it wasn’t as hard as I had imagined. And the effect — WOW! It was really powerful. It was truly a wonderful week in so many ways!
One criticism — we have to keep the stage cleaner. The chairs have to go. The guitar cases — outta here. The music stands, well, their days are numbered.
FEAR: The Senselessness and Sinfulness of Worry
July 28, 2008
I’ve been told by many people my sermon about overcoming fear was one of my most powerful. A few months after I delivered this message, I had to go through surgery, and I know that looking back on what God had shown me in the process of preparing this sermon helped me a lot. I hope it can be of benefit to you too! Have a look below, and let me know what you think!
PART 1:
FEAR sermon, part 1 of 2 from Bill Whitt on Vimeo.
PART 2:
FEAR sermon, part 2 of 2 from Bill Whitt on Vimeo.
