When John Irving writes a novel, he begins with the final sentence. 

Here's how Irving himself words it:

"For 12 novels the last sentence has come first, and not even the punctuation has changed. From that last sentence I make my way in reverse through the plot, because there always is a plot—I love plot—to where I think the story should begin."

It's evidently a successful format, as The World According To Garp, A Prayer For Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules are some of the signature novels of our time.

But beginning at the end is a good strategy for more than writing novels.  Whether it's preparing a sermon, designing a church ministry, or investing in personal discipleship, it's wise to ask, "what outcome would most honor God in this?"

What do I want people to feel/think/do as a result of the sermon they encounter?

What do we want people to learn and what habits do we want them to adopt as a result of the church ministry in which they take part?

What discipleship practices do I want this person I am counseling to embrace?

We get a lot of this wrong at Good Shepherd, as we often jump into a sermon, program, or ministry without a clear destination in mind.

So to help ourselves stay aligned with the mission of inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, we've tried to spell out in broad brush what that "living relationship" looks like. 

That way, if we know what we hope to grow in people -- in other words, what our spiritual goal is -- then we can better design ways to help people get there.

Here, then, are the marks of a living relationship with Jesus Christ:

Saved By Grace.
People in a living relationship with Christ embrace the Gospel truth that they are saved by grace. For some, this will happen in a decisive encounter while for others it will be a gradual realization. For all, it results in gratitude for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Filled With The Spirit.
And then they will be filled with him again. And again. Through fervent prayer and passionate worship, people encounter the supernatural power of the Spirit who sends them into ministry.

Maturing In Faith.
People with a living relationship with Christ continually mature in their discipleship. For many, but not all, Life Groups will be a primary venue for spiritual maturity.

Serving In Love.
People with a living relationship with Christ develop a servant life-style by joining in Serve Teams which help both church and community.

Consistent In Relationships.
People with a living relationship with Christ live their faith in their homes first of all. The people of Good Shepherd preserve marriages, honor parents, and encourage children.

Generous With Resources
People with a living relationship with Christ recognize that all they have comes from God and so are glad to give generously to his work.

Sharing The Gospel.
People with a living relationship with Christ acknowledge eternal realities and share the Gospel and its life-giving power with people far from Christ wherever they live. The invited become inviters.

Covering a song in rock & roll is a delicate task.  The artist must honor the original while adding a new element, energy, or style that makes the new version stand on its own.

Some artists cover well.  Others get covered.  Some, like Bruce Springsteen, do a pretty fair job of both.

Here are my five favorites:

5.  Time After Time, performed by Cyndi Lauper & originally sung by a Philadelphia band called The Hooters.  Nothing says 1984 quite like Cyndi Lauper, does it?  Still a terrific song.



4.  Walk This Way, performed by Run DMC & originally sung by Aerosmith.  Who woulda thunk that a hip hop act would be the catalyst to resurrect Aerosmith's career?  But it sure worked . . . helped by one of the most entertaining videos ever.  When Steven Tyler stops singing midway through to watch Run DMC's sample and then improve on his own song, it's merely a foreshadow of how hip hop would ultimately surpass rock in popularity.



3.  All Along The Watchtower, performed by Jimi Hendrix & originally sung by Bob Dylan.  Hendrix's version is so anthemic that many folks don't even know Dylan has an original.



2.  Chimes Of Freedom, performed by Bruce Springsteen & originally sung by Bob Dylan.  An overlooked yet essential piece Springsteen's catalog.  And Dylan's.



1.  Come Together, performed by Aerosmith & originally sung by The Beatles.  This is rock heresy, I know, but I don't like The Beatles' version of the song at all.  And the Aerosmith cover comes from the soundtrack of the Sgt. Pepper's movie, one of the most ridiculed films of all time.  Yet Steven Tyler's raw vocals that give this cover an earthy intensity that the original lacked.

We preachers spend a lot of time and energy trying to bring life to our sermons through what have historically been called illustrations.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, longtime pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, compiled the most famous collection of such sermon helps in a book titled, appropriately enough, Let Me Illustrate. 

Illustrations

I have found it helpful to divide illustrations into two separate categories:  examples of and analagies to.

By an example of . . .  I mean a story, anecdote, or statistic that reinforces the point you are trying to make.  For example, many people around here remember how my father would make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when he'd pick me up from middle school to take me to practice tennis.  It was a small gesture with a large impact, and I've told that before in making points about parenting in general and fatherhood in particular.  For sermon purposes, stories you actually experience are usually better than those you pick up somewhere else.  (And nothing is more deadly to good preaching than a commonly-known story that dozens of preachers have told before you!)

By analogies to . . . I mean an object or fact that answers the question what's it like?  It's not so much a story as a reality from daily life that the preacher then places into the sermon.  Tony Evans is the undisputed Master Of Analogy and I end up "borrowing" many of his ideas.  Including the one where a common kitchen product is made of oil and water -- which don't get along -- yet are brought together by an emusifier: eggs.  The product?  Mayonnaise.  Well, in the same way, different races, cultures, and people groups who otherwise might not get along are brought together by Christ -- the divine emusifier in a full color church.  That's what it's like.

Animation

Over the last several years, I've discovered a second way to drive something home in a message:  animation. 

What's that?  It's not drawing a cartoon while preaching even though I have to admit that would be pretty cool if I could do it.

No, animation is doing something physically instead of merely talking about it verbally.  For example, a couple of years ago while giving a talk on what it's like when you are "over your head" or "out of your league," I pulled out a guitar and played -- painfully, pitifully -- the opening riff to Aerosmith's Walk This Way.  One of our real guitarists was standing behind me in the shadows of the stage and once my half-baked attempt was finished, he did the real thing.  Point made.

Another time I took a hammer to a tube of toothpaste as a way of showing once something comes out of your mouth, you can't put it back in. 

Anyway, I give you this background because yesterday's message called The Kings Of Compromise (which I realized on Saturday night should have been named The However Kings) concluded with a moment of animation. 

I wanted to show how God's desire for the kings we looked at was for them to demolish the high places of pagan worship in Israel, not to tolerate them.  (The message's hook was What you tolerate today will dominate you tomorrow.) 

So I wanted to demolish something on stage.  Three times.  I thought of breaking some wooden boards -- but I don't know karate or judo. 

I thought of tennis rackets -- something I have no little bit of experience demolishing in anger -- but tearing three of them up would get expensive.  (But back in the day, when I was really mad and the rackets were free, it was delicious!).

So I settled on plates.  I bought three, put a brick in the bottom of a tub that was next to where I was preaching and at the end of the message said that what God had wanted Joash, Jotham, Amaziah and the rest to do was not tolerate evil in their lives but demolish it.  Then I threw the plate down and just so you know, when plate hits brick with force, plate gets demolished.

And, I pray, larger point animated for the people of Good Shepherd.

If you go to http://www.gsumc.org/ and click on "Watch," you can see the whole worship experience.  The Kings Of Compromise will be available after 12 noon Eastern Time on Monday.