How could the same crowd say “Hosanna” on Sunday and “Crucify” on Friday? According to Luke, it wasn’t the same crowd.
Sermon Preached March 25, 2018
Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, AL
James Jackson, Lead Pastor
Text: Luke 19:28-44
The Coffee Shop That Changed a Church: Discovering the Net Effect by Steve R. Parr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
First off, full disclosure: Steve Parr is a friend. I’ve heard him speak on his “Why They Stay” research several times, and brought him to my church so they could hear it too. I’ve led conferences with him, used his material to train my leaders, and so forth. So you could for sure write off this review as biased.
That being said, this is a wonderful book. The trope of using a narrative story to teach practices and principles is either time worn and effective (see Andy Stanley’s “Communicating for a Change” or John Kotter’s “Our Iceberg is Melting”) or time worn and hokey (see Art Rainer’s “The Money Challenge.”) Steve’s narrative, about a struggling pastor who begins to meet with an older pastor and learns how to be a more intentionally evangelistic church, is actually a really good story. The only place it got hokey was when said older pastor recommends a book from “a friend of his” and it turns out to be ONE OF STEVE PARR’S BOOKS. Come on, man!
I would recommend this book to any pastor who is interested in leading his church to be more evangelistic. And knowing the results Steve himself has had, I can tell you that it really works. Which, by the way, is half of the title of the real book, written by Steve, that the fictional pastor recommends: Sunday School That Really Works.
Shameless, I know.
I wrote this poem several years ago, but updated it and used it in a sermon I preached this past weekend. A few folks have asked for it, so here it is. It is based on the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed in Luke 17:11-19.
Ten lepers walked the city streets,
and stopped to hear the preacher preach
So close to death, all pride was stripped,
Nothing to lose; so those with lips
Called, “Jesus, help us out a bit?”
“Go, show yourselves unto the. priests,”
He said, they scattered, west to east
Their skin, with cleansing fire burned
Ten lepers left, but one returned.
Once, the question came to mind, “What happened to the other nine?”
And though I claim no revelation—this is nothing more than speculation
I offer you this testament
To where the other lepers went.
First, there’s Leper Number One
Who took off in an all out run.
Her feet, now free from open sores
Ran like they’d never run before.
Poor old leper number Two
Had no idea what he should do.
So, scarred from years of being shunned
Went home, locked up, and saw no one.
Then there’s leper Number Three
For whom sickness became security
For years, defined by leprosy
Till it became identity
Healed, became a bitter man
And wished he could get sick again.
That accounts for three who were healed that day
Nine lepers left, one leper stayed.
Leper four, his skin free of spots
Left and immediately forgot
He’d ever been a leper.
Five and six found love along the way.
Ran off, got married that same day.
So that makes six accounted for
One leper stayed, that leaves three more.
And of those three, there were the two
That wrote “Life from a Leper’s Point of View.”
They gained great fame in lecture halls,
Signed copies of their books in malls.
And on the Oprah Winfrey Show,
Oprah said, “We want to know,
To what do you attribute health?”
“From within,” they said. “We healed ourselves.”
Number Nine believed his leprosy
Was to be replaced with prosperity
Convinced it’s what he deserves, somehow.
He’s out there living his best life now.
So, ten lepers went their separate ways
Nine lepers left, one leper stayed.
He stayed to fall at Jesus’ feet,
Stayed to feel His touch so sweet;
To thank Him for the gift he gave,
Ten lepers cured, one leper saved.
James Jackson
Common grace and saving grace: how God uses one to lead us to the other.
Part 3 of the “On the Way to Jerusalem” seres. Preached March 11, 2018
Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, Alabama
James Jackson, Lead Pastor
Click here for PowerPoint: WTJ 3. Grace Given
Click here for manuscript: WTJ 3. Grace Given
Jesus said it’s a narrow door to Heaven. Do you know what the two keys are to that door?
Sermon Preached March 4, 2018, Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, AL
James Jackson, Lead Pastor
Text: Luke 13:1-5, 22-30
Click here for PowerPoint: WTJ 2. Ultimate Urgency
Click here for Manuscript: WTJ 2. Ultimate Urgency