First 6 months

I jumped right into a study of one of the shorter NT books - 1 John or James. Practical books with a lot of application.

 

I agree. It quickly shows what genuine Christianity looks like.

 

This past Sunday actually marked my first year at my present church! For the first six months I focused on a series of sermons on "Obtaining a Vision" and then turned to salvation messages on Sunday morning. On Sunday nights I started them off by preaching through 1st and 2nd Timothy. On Wednesday nights I started them off with teaching through the book of Romans, which we will complete this coming Wednesday.

 

I would preach through a book of the Bible.

Yet, I had a wise preacher who said that the only major thing you need to do your first year was to just keep showing them how many ways Jesus is exalted in the pages of Scripture.

 

I did a series on the 10 Commandments - with the final message of the series summarizing all 10 in the command to LOVE. I thought it went well...

 

OH - and about 3 months after I started here, I did an evening series on... drum roll please.... the 5 points of Calvinism!!

But before anyone thinks I lost my mind...

This was basically a response to what I found when I came here - a complete misunderstanding of what Calvinism really teaches. I kept hearing Calvinism portrayed completely out of context and reality - so much so that anyone who didn't have any idea what Calvinism was, would be completely confused and mislead. I did not teach/preach as an advocate of Calvinism - but as much as possible as a survey of what Calvinism is. Each week, I did another part of TULIP. I got mixed comments - though mostly appreciated what I was trying to do. After it was all said and done, some even commended me for the way I handled the subject (and at least one of these from a staunch "anti-Calvinist"... who actually believes at least 3 points of Calvinism...go figure).

 

I typically preach through James or Philippians to get them exposed to book-by-book exposition. I do about 8 weeks on the purpose of the church. I also hit the gospel and assurance of salvation pretty hard in morning services. I have also preached through the Baptist Faith and Message.

Context is critical. Depends on what the church needs. Try to always be expository, preach the gospel as a reminder and common ground, then go from there.