The Church Lobby

• Ep 114: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon, with Austin Carty

  If you’re a preaching pastor, you know what it means to feel the burden and the joy of preparing and preaching a sermon every Sunday. No matter how many years we’ve done it, we can always use a little more help to do it better.Karl Vaters talks with Austin Carty about the craft of writing and delivering a weekly sermon, based on Austin’s latest book, Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon. Austin is the pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church, a small congregation in Anderson, SC.Karl and Austin talk about several of the aspects that go into sermon prep, including:The weekly call to biblical self-reflectionHow to decide what passage to preach fromHow to hook the listeners into the essence of the messageSetting enough time to seriously prayerfully read, study and ponder the textPreaching from a posture of humble conviction rather than blind certaintyAnd more Links:Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a SermonThe Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for MinistryWhy Reading Matters for Ministry, with Austin Carty (Ep 61)Vanderbilt Revised Common LectionaryBONUS EPISODE (Subscribers Only)Five Questions to Help You Preach a Well-balanced Sermon, with Austin CartyOne of the most important aspects in sermon prep and presentation today is making sure you know and acknowledge that there are points of view that are different from yours. But how do we recognize these points of view, while preaching the truth from God’s Word?Austin Carty helps us negotiate this potential minefield in a short conversation with Karl Vaters, based on Austin’s new book, Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon, by helping us ask these five questions:Have I made sweeping generalizations?Have I overargued my point?Have I taken into account my own biases?Have I considered other viable points of view?Have I sufficiently justified my claims? Links:Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon

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• Ep 113: What I Found on the Other Side of Church Growth, with Paul Dazet

  What happens when all the church growth principles that were working in your church, suddenly stop working when you need them the most?Karl Vaters interviews Paul Dazet about what happened to him, as the pastor of a fast-growing church shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer. Over 100 members left, saying things like “I just can’t handle being sad at church,” and “It used to be so energetic. Your illness changed the whole vibe.” Paul’s illness and the shaved head that went with it were seen as a show of weakness, need, and vulnerability that many people were uncomfortable seeing on a church platform.But it’s not all bad news. Paul also walks us through the positive changes he has made in his approach to pastoring, including allowing space for lament, and how he now defines ministry success.Links:Paul’s article on SubstackFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/pastorpauldazet/Instagram - @pauldazetTwitter / X - @pauldazetBluesky - @pastorpaul.bsky.social‬LibbyHoopla Bonus video The Five False Jesus’ of the “Successful” Church, with Paul DazetPaul Dazet found out that a numerically-growing church isn’t necessarily a healthy church. In this Bonus content, Karl Vaters talks with Paul about the 5 ways churches can be tempted to see Jesus that are not what Jesus intended for his church. They are:“Jesus wants you rich” (Prosperity Jesus)“Jesus votes red, white, and blue” (Nationalistic Jesus)“Jesus is disappointed in you” (Judgmental Jesus)“Jesus only loves people who look and believe like us” (Exclusive Jesus)“Jesus is here to meet your every need” (Consumeristic Jesus) Links:Paul’s article on SubstackFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/pastorpauldazet/Instagram - @pauldazetTwitter / X - @pauldazetBluesky - @pastorpaul.bsky.social‬To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the

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• Ep 112: Making Room for Loss and Grief In Life and Ministry, with Leanne Friesen

  Karl Vaters interviews Leanne Friesen about grief. Specifically, how pastors, family members, and other caring people can help give people the room to process their grief when they go through a profound loss. Karl and Leanne also talk about how to process those feelings ourselves.Leanne is a former pastor and is the author of Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things after Death and Loss. She talks with wisdom and compassion about the difficult, but important principles she learned as she went through the death of her sister more than a decade ago.Links:Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things after Death and LossInstagram: @Grieving.Room and @leanne_friesenLeanneFriesen.comFacebook: A Little Bit of Grieving Room Bonus videoHow to Give People Room When They’re Not “Getting Over” Their Grief, with Leanne FriesenKarl Vaters interviews Leanne Friesen about one of the hardest aspects of grief – what happens when you can’t seem to “get over it” the way people seem to think you should?As Leanne explains, when a loved one dies, the ones who have lost them need room for grief to be a part of their lives for the rest of their life. By recognizing this, they can deal with it in a much healthier way.Links:Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things after Death and LossTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

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• Ep 111: Using AI To Find Great Sermon Illustrations, with Darrell Stetler

  Karl Vaters talks with Darrell Stetler about a new AI program Darrell has created, called Sermon Illustrator.After a short introduction to what AI is, and some of the advantages and dangers of using it, they narrow in on this tool that helps pastors with a very specific task – finding illustrations (stories, metaphors, historical events, and so on) that can give your well-prepared sermon a story, a photo, a video, or another illustration that will help your content connect in a memorable way.Podcast Links:Sermon IllustratorGet the AI Training Course ($27 offer for podcast listeners!)Ep 038: A Discipleship Strategy Small Churches Can Actually FollowEp 084: Second was Trunk-or-Treat, with Darrell Stetler Also from Darrell Stetler:NewStart Discipleship curriculumFree New believer Bible reading plan (1 Page PDF)Free audiobook on discipling your childrenFree NewStart Discipleship Journal: A 54-page discipleship Bible study for new Christians.Free one-hour discipleship training workshopFree 23 Page Planning Guide with Trunk or Treat Ideas for ChurchesThe Gospel Trunk or Treat Planning SystemSocial media:facebook.com/darrellstetler2facebook.com/newstartdiscipleshipyoutube.com/@newstartdiscipleshiptwitter.com/newstartdiscBonus ContentSome Strengths and Dangers of Using AI for Sermon Prep, with Darrell StetlerKarl Vaters interviews Darrell Stetler about what AI is good for, and some of the dangers AI poses, specifically when it comes to prepping Sunday sermons. To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

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• Ep 110: Healthy Goal-setting and Helping The Big Church Feel Small, with Luke Simmons

  Karl Vaters talks with Luke Simmons, the pastor of Ironwood Church in Mesa, AZ. Recently, Luke and his church elders decided to pursue a very ambitious goal with the aim of helping their large, growing congregation feel smaller and more connected.As a big-church pastor, Luke is not a typical Church Lobby guest, but he and Karl follow each other on X (formerly Twitter) and when Luke posted about this plan it inspired a lot of questions and curiosity. The plan is for the members of their elder team to have one-on-one meetings with 1,000 church members over coffee or a meal this coming year.If those numbers make you feel like this isn’t for you, give it a chance. Luke has a heart for people, and he’s interested in how to set numerical goals that help us reach non-numerical objectives of discipleship, fellowship, and service.Links:Luke’s original X post about elder meeting goalsLuke’s original X post about doing one-on-one meetingsFaithful and FruitfulTim Keller on Leadership and Church Size DynamicsDarrell Stetler’s Sermon IllustratorFollow Luke on XIronwood ChurchBonus videoHow To Conduct An Annual Leadership Meeting, with Luke SimmonsKarl Vaters talks with Luke Simmons about some of the steps he follows to gain as much as possible from an annual leadership meeting with his church elders. Points include:Get it on the calendar as soon as possibleMake it an overnighterBudget for itSlow down in a relaxed environmentSet the tone with idea prompts in writingWrite a summary afterwardAnd moreLinks:How to Grow Your Small Business: A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off (Donald Miller)Luke’s original X post about elder meeting goalsLuke’s original X post about doing one-on-one meetingshttps://faithfulandfruitful.com/elders-meeting/To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

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