Episode 160 - Why Your Sermons Should Be Much Longer!

2/9/2016

This episode is all about increasing the impact of your weekend message. While it may be only 30 minutes on a Sunday, or a Saturday night, we believe that your message should be much, much longer!

In this episode the guys talk about an approach they are embarking on this coming weekend. An approach that involves the use of technology to create conversations around the weekend message.

This is not rocket science. It is an approach that you can join them in.

They talk about a way to prepare their people more for the message on Sunday, then help them reflect and act on it during the coming week.

This is an approach to increasing the impact of our sermons way beyond what they have been.

You'll just have to listen... And below are links to the resources they talk about...

BufferApp

HootSuite

YouVersion (how to)

5 Comments

Scott Dalen

2/10/2016 07:18:32 am

I LOVE this topic. There are so many ways to utilize social media to engage on both ends of worship.

I have two suggestions of things that I use. First off is a video blog/podcast that I record and upload on YouTube that is based on my sermon preparation. I call it Sermon Braindump (find it here https://www.youtube.com/user/sanchodaleone ). It grew out of a discussion that I used to hold with my adult forum before worship on Sundays, discussing the gospel lesson. When the forum broke for summer, I started recording the video just to allow the individuals to get some of the background on the lesson. While that is still the intention for the videos, I have also found it very helpful in my own sermon prep just to focus in my brain on the sermon itself. 2-fold win. While I don't get a ton of views, I never know where I might hear from...my longest has been a viewer in Mongolia.

The second suggestion is simply recording/posting the audio (or video) from your sermon. I started doing this right away. I use an app on my iPhone called iRig to record, then email the sound file to myself. I upload the sermon at Soundcloud.com I use the free version which does have limited space so I cycle my sermons through in terms of availability, but you can also pay to have greater storage. From there I link the audio file on our church website as well as posting into my personal blog along with the text of the sermon...finally linking the blog on Facebook and Twitter.

A thought...there are times when I wonder if its doing any good...because I look at the stats and admittedly, my viewership isn't huge by any means...but on occasion I will hear a comment from someone in the community or nearby or from a member that has heard from someone else, that they watched a video or listened to a sermon and found it helpful. We never know what impact this can/will have.

Jeff Keady link

2/15/2016 08:21:21 pm

Scottmeister! Great input! Jonny and I have watched some of your braindumps. So creative. And yes, stats are relative. I know a podcaster who has thousands of downloads per episode and others with a couple dozen. You never know who you will reach. I love the idea of recording with your iPhone. Thanks for those ideas. Good to hear from you! I hope we get another Omaha visit soon!

Chad Langdon

2/12/2016 09:42:32 am

One thing we tried with pretty good success was like a photo essay. For Lent last year, we gave everyone in the congregation a different word each week related to the upcoming scripture (i.e. Light, Sacrifice, New Life, etc), and asked them to find pictures or images and post those using a common hashtag. It got people looking for and noticing those themes throughout the week. On Saturday, I would then print all the images using a color copier, one per page, and hang them around the sanctuary. Some folks really loved it. Some of our older folks without Facebook or Twitter brought in pics from magazines to add to the collection.

This was a great podcast! Thank-you so much for all you guys do. I love listening each week.

Jeff Keady link

2/15/2016 08:18:44 pm

Chadster! Great input man! I can't believe Jonny and I did not think about hashtags in that episode. We've talked about them before, but hashtags are a fantastic way to get involvement. Thank you!

And printing the pics, esp for those who don't do digital, is perfect. These are really good suggestions.

John Bryant link

4/11/2016 11:25:41 am

How are you adding small group study questions in the Youversion Events system? A text block at the end or something different?

Episode 160 - Why Your Sermons Should Be Much Longer!

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