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Preaching Other Minister's Sermons... When Should You Do It?
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Post Preaching Other Minister's Sermons... When Should You Do It? MartyBaker79
Preaching is undoubtedly the greatest blessing of a Pastor's week. There is nothing like standing under the anointing and sensing that the God of all creation is using your vocal chords to change the hearts of your friends. I love it.

Preaching is the greatest blessing, but the process of preparation can be challenging and "gut wrenching". I've prayed and prayed and then studied and studied and then paced the floor many nights before I was to give a message. It's all been worth it.

Here's the point of this post: Is it right or wrong to preach someone else's sermon?

I was called to preach when I was 13 and preached my first sermon at the Abbeville Church of God while I was in high school. My points were simple. You need to be saved. You need to be sanctified. You need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. The congregation thought it was wonderful ... only because the church was small and I was kin to most of them.

When I attended Lee, I heard Raymond Culpepper preach. WOW. I purposed in my heart that I was going to be another Raymond Culpepper. I bought his tapes; transcribed them and preached them over and over. By the time I was 20, I had preached in 23 states. In most of those churches, I preached Raymond Culpepper sermons. People thought I was a great preacher .... I just had a good source.

After I graduated from Lee, I had a MAJOR CRISIS. I was asked to join the staff of Metropolitan Church of God in Birmingham, Ala. What was the crisis? They already had a Raymond Culpepper in the pulpit and He was the ORIGINAL. I was the copy.

My season in Birmingham was life changing. I learned a lot of things working for Raymond, but the best thing that I learned was that I had to be myself. I could not be Raymond anymore. I had to be Marty.

Was it wrong for me to criss-cross the country preaching Raymond's stuff? No, not at all. It's a part of learning the trade.

As I gained experience, I stopped preaching other people's stuff and I learned how to craft a message by myself. Well, almost. I spent a few days with David Cooper and filled up a few diskettes of sermons off his laptop. I have not preached many of those.... maybe one day.

Through the years, I have developed my own style that flows with my own personality. Most years I have preached 90 - 95% of my own stuff. In my mind I thought that I may become an author and I could write books from my sermons. I don't see that happening any time soon.

In the last three years, I have once again increased my use of other people's sermons. It's been great. You need to understand that it still takes a lot of work. What I like about it is that some of the messages we have used at the Creek are tied to books that have been written. For instance, we did 40 Days of Purpose. We baptized 37 believers during that campaign. Hmmmm. There's something to that. The next year we did 40 Days of Community. We started several outreach endeavors because of that series. Last year we did Bill Hybel's Volunteer Revolution. This series helped our church reach beyond ourselves. Using other people's material has been a great, great blessing to our congregation.

We are presently in a new series on the Song of Solomon. We are using Tommy Nelson's The Book of Romance. You can pick up a copy at the Creek Resource Center this Sunday. Read along as I preach through the book. I believe that this will be one of the greatest series ever presented at Stevens Creek.

When you use other people's stuff, mention it (when appropriate). I'll start this week's message by mentioning Craig Groeshal (Life Church.tv) and Tommy Nelson and I will encourage them to buy the book.

When you use other people's messages, you have to pray through them and make them your own. Put your own illustrations and your own cadence to the presentation.

Have you ever wondered why so many people attend Saddleback or Willow Creek? Could it be that the messages that are presented speak into the hearts of the hearers? Swallow your pride. Get some messages that speak into the culture. The harvest is too important for you to preach boring messages. The resources are too abundant for you to not inspire an audience. There is NO excuse for bad sermons (I've preached my share ... some of them came from SermonCentral.com). Not every published sermon is a good sermon. There are a lot of BAD sermons on some website out there. Use discernment.

Now about giving credit. Give credit when possible. If you go to StevensCreek.net and use any of my sermons, don't worry about giving credit, just preach it like it's your own. In fact, make it better and email it to me so that the next time I preach it, I will have the updated version.

Here's a thought too. If you have you use someone else's series, take the time that you would normally prepare and pray extra and also use that time to develop some props or a drama that would assist in getting your message out.

When you deliver the message, practice it and communicate in a way that people far from God can understand it. In the end, God's name and His influence Will be extended. May God bless your work this week.

Enough for now,

Marty
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Post When they are better than yours? Penni4yourthoughts
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Post notwanghere
Excellent!

Thank-you.

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Post It Doesn't Sound Fresh BV COG
I can honestly say I have never used someone's sermon, I have used pieces or examples before, but never used another sermon for my sermon, just not fresh to me.
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Post Darrell Garrett
Great way of expressing this Marty. I get asked this all the time, and I have never expressed it as well as you. I tell people freely, that not everything I preach is mine. I often tell my people that I listened to a message on the internet and it stirred something in me and so I have re-worked it and am preaching it to them. I do have a problem with guys who just grab a sermon off the shelf and preach it without seeking the Lord and without re-tooling that message for his congregation. That's just called lazy. If someone were to get on my computer, they would probably think I preach all of Jim Bolin's messages, because I have a hundred or so videos of his services. The truth is, I have NEVER preached one of his messages... yet. I'm sure the time will come when I do. But right now, they are for me. I think many pastors don't take advantage of the internet to be fed themselves. I usually try to watch one to three different services a week from somebody else, not to get preaching material, but just to be fed myself. Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology
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Post Memory03
I am like Darrell. I watch and listen to Loran Livingston and Bryan Cutshall regularly. I love going to church websites and watching/listening to other preachers. Well known as well as those I have never heard of. I may listen to your sermon and use one point out of the whole thing, or even just one line. I don't think it is wrong to use other Ministers material as long as you break it down and personalize it. I'm sure that Marty and Raymond could preach the same sermon and it would come across different. It's the "Car Wreck" theory, you know where 4 people could see a wreck and tell the way it happened 4 different ways.
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Post The PH Bullet
Before going into a full time pastorate I used to be a stickler about it. I still like to be fiercely original but my attitude towards borrowing a good idea or preaching a proven series has tempered somewhat.

Marty, I really grappled with preaching your Three I's..Include, Invite, Invest along with the Post It Note idea. But it was so relevant, so perfect, so what God was speaking to me...I prayed over it and it was just the thing to do. I couldn't see trying to reinvent it. So what I did was ask God to give me an original sermon to craft around it...and I dropped in the three I points along with my own outline. It really worked well. Last count we have about 35 names on our list asking God to build a bridge.

Right now, our denom the IPHC has a very good series called Maximize Stewardship. It's more or less a skeleton outline, but it is very good, and complete with PowerPoints and fill in sheets. I had been praying about doing a stewardship series but had been grappling with how to do it. I didn't even know this was available till a meeting the other night and it preaches wonderfully. It's a five parter...Time, Talent, Temple, Treasure and the finale is The People of Praise.

I take the idea, and craft my own sermon around it. I have to say if I preached it just like they put it, it would be lame. But the concepts and the ideas are great...and that's half the battle: putting together a plan. I'm doing the same thing there-inserting the good points from the canned version into my original weave.

So I hope I've found the balance in this. Next, I am going to do Forty Days of Purpose, and I'll probably do the same thing there.

So I guess my take is that borrowing is good, but I can't bring myself to preach one rote, word for word or even outline for outline really. To satisfy myself I have to craft it and make it my own-even while borrowing ideas and segments and crediting them.

interesting post. Incidentally if any of you pastors want to see that Maximize Stewardship series, you can download it off our website. PM me for the URL...it's not on the front page now and you have to dig it. If it's gone I can email it to you. It's good stuff.


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Post Memory03
The PH Bullet wrote:
Before going into a full time pastorate I used to be a stickler about it. I still like to be fiercely original but my attitude towards borrowing a good idea or preaching a proven series has tempered somewhat.

Marty, I really grappled with preaching your Three I's..Include, Invite, Invest along with the Post It Note idea. But it was so relevant, so perfect, so what God was speaking to me...I prayed over it and it was just the thing to do. I couldn't see trying to reinvent it. So what I did was ask God to give me an original sermon to craft around it...and I dropped in the three I points along with my own outline. It really worked well. Last count we have about 35 names on our list asking God to build a bridge.

Right now, our denom the IPHC has a very good series called Maximize Stewardship. It's more or less a skeleton outline, but it is very good, and complete with PowerPoints and fill in sheets. I had been praying about doing a stewardship series but had been grappling with how to do it. I didn't even know this was available till a meeting the other night and it preaches wonderfully. It's a five parter...Time, Talent, Temple, Treasure and the finale is The People of Praise.

I take the idea, and craft my own sermon around it. I have to say if I preached it just like they put it, it would be lame. But the concepts and the ideas are great...and that's half the battle: putting together a plan. I'm doing the same thing there-inserting the good points from the canned version into my original weave.

So I hope I've found the balance in this. Next, I am going to do Forty Days of Purpose, and I'll probably do the same thing there.

So I guess my take is that borrowing is good, but I can't bring myself to preach one rote, word for word or even outline for outline really. To satisfy myself I have to craft it and make it my own-even while borrowing ideas and segments and crediting them.

interesting post. Incidentally if any of you pastors want to see that Maximize Stewardship series, you can download it off our website. PM me for the URL...it's not on the front page now and you have to dig it. If it's gone I can email it to you. It's good stuff.


Bullet




Fellows, if you find some points that you like anywhere, don't be leary of using them. Even Jesus used OT references. Some may say, "I wouldn't use someone elses stuff." Then I guess you don't use the Parables do you? They were made up stories/examples from a preacher. We don't have to re invent the car, just change the wheels.

Bullet I'd love to check out that stewardship series.
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Post Great post Marty Tim Finlayson
When I first left Lee and started preaching Revival meetings. I also did the R. Culpepper thing. "MY sermon today....in question form...is there a Champion in The House." "Your Future is Now."
You don't have to Average, You can be Advantage.
Marty, Can you give us the whole Alphabet of CUlpepperisims?
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Post Re: Great post Marty MartyBaker79
amplified wrote:
When I first left Lee and started preaching Revival meetings. I also did the R. Culpepper thing. "MY sermon today....in question form...is there a Champion in The House." "Your Future is Now."
You don't have to Average, You can be Advantage.
Marty, Can you give us the whole Alphabet of CUlpepperisims?


You've got to be kidding. The sad thing is that I remember them at least most of them. Here they are:
You don't have to be average, you can be advantaged
You don't have to be bewildered, you can be bold,
You don't have to be a coward, you can be courageous
You don't have to be dead, you can be dynamic
Empty .... exciting
Faithless ... faithful
____ ... great
You don't have to go to hell, you can go to Heaven
____ ... invaluable
____ .... joyful
lame .... liberated
mediocre ... magnificent
nobody ... _____
_____ ... overcomer
pitiful .... you can be powerful.
quitter .... you can be a queen or king in God's eyes
_____ .... righteous
sinner, you can be a saint.
terrible, you can be triumphant
_____ .... u_____
You don't have to be vanquished, you can be victorious.
You don't' have to be w______, you can be a winner.
ex____ .... you can be ex_______
You don't have to be y______, you can be yielded.
You don't have to be a zero, you can be zealous for the Lord.

Satan was thrown into the ring with the Apostle Paul and said, "In one round he said, "Paul I'll destroy you." Paul said, "No... for if God is for me then who can be against me"

Round two. Satan said, "Paul, I am going to separate you from the Lord. I am going to kill."

That short little Holy Ghost filled preacher said, "Oh no you won't. Who shall separate me from the love of God? Shall tribulation? NO. Shall hardship? NO. Shall Persecution? NO. Shall famine? No Shall nakedness? NO.

For I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angels nor principalities ..... etc. etc. etc.

--- Raymond Culpepper .. Circa 1979 - 1983

Well, I did not remember as much as I thought. Oh well.

--- Marty
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Post Tim Finlayson
That is still pretty impressive.
When I first started preaching, I gathered up all of my Dad's Forward in Faith Tapes that he received every month. I memorized them I listened to them so much. Carl Richardson, Games People Play is one that comes to mind. Some of the games were Charades, Hide and God seek, Lets Make a Deal. These sermons marked my life.
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Post Marty, what are you preaching these days? Phil Hoover
Inquiring minds would definitely like to know...


Tried out River City by the way.


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Post cdhenderson
Marty, if you preached Raymond Culpepper's stuff... you did good. Anyway, if it was given for the Body, shouldn't it be to the Body. Is there a copyright on the Gospel. If it's good, repeat it. One's own style will make the difference in the delivery. Now if you impersonate someone to the point of cloning the person, we might have a problem. Most of my stuff is my own, but I have used someone elses stuff before.
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Post Re: Marty, what are you preaching these days? MartyBaker79
Check out StevenCreek.net for most manuscripts and videos. Here it is in a nutshell.

In February we focused on the Song of Solomon with God, Love, Sex. One of the most talked about series in the history of the church. One week our attendance exceeded 1100 (People are interested in the topic).

After that I did one Sunday on stewardship. These messages are very important for a congregation like ours. Many of our folks have not been trained in stewardship. Our giving is not nearly as high as it should be when you look at our demographics.

Then, we did four weeks on JESUS WALKS. In this series, we talked about Jesus Walks with God, Jesus Walks with Others (At the conclusion of the service we gave out envelops with $20 in them and told people to be led of the Lord, add money to it and meet a need. We are trying to model generosity to our congregation). Then Jesus Walks to the Cross; and on Easter, Jesus Walks from the Grave (New record attendance: 1521)

We just finished a series called Baggage. I talked about Baggage Check; Addictions; and finished with Emotional Baggage. We anointed people with oil (not a common practice on Sundays, mostly Wednesdays) and prayed for deliverance. It was so effective that we will be doing that more often. We had several people get saved during these three weeks.
Our upcoming baptism service on May 24 should be great.

This week is Mothers Day. I am working on that message now. It's called How to be a Good Enough Mother. The thought behind this message is that too many people have the tendency to try to be perfect parents and no one is perfect but Jesus. Allow grace to fill your home. Your kids will appreciate it. Legalism will drive them away; love will keep them coming back.

Next week is Ground Breaking for our new facility.

Then, the DaVinci Code (May / June), The Fabulous Life of David (June), The Greatest Hits (July), Parental Guidance (August) and so forth.

That's the update.

Oh by the way, the concepts of God, Love, Sex came from Tommy Nelson's "The Book of Romance" and Craig Grochelle. Baggage was directly from Craig Grochelle at LifeChurch.tv. You can download the video commercials (excellent) from LifeChurch.tv. What a blessing.

Enough for now.

Marty
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Post Preaching another's sermon jcs
One of the preachers of yesteryear, (I wish I could remember his name to give him credit) said of a young minister who was preaching another man's sermon.

"I would rather hear him preach another man's good sermon, than preach one of his own sorry sermons"

This may not be an exact quote, but the message is there.
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Post as long as you tactfully acknowledge him .. Rafael D Martinez
.. I don't see why you shouldn't preach another man's sermon, I guess.

However, the scripture says the laborer is worthy of his hire. The bare minimum of ethically correct ministerial etiquette, I think, should compel you to not only admit the sermon was not prepared by you but lead you to publically identify WHO did. I've heard many a preacher do so, admitting this freely and then moving on to deliver a great message well to edify his flock.

The problem still remains: is the sermon focused on the WORD that builds, rebukes, edifies, enlightens and saves? Surely any vast diversity of style and presentation can temper that .. some taking the hellfire and brimstone, some the "seeker sensitive," others the dialogical approach found in many emergent settings. Whatever the context, however, the WORD alone must have the preeminence .. simply because that's the Biblical context it came from.

Personally, I've never preached another man's message and never will. Everything I've ever preached was borne out of the prayer and study that the Spirit bade me to do. Now I have freely admitted when I incorporate a comment or illustration from others by identifying them as appropriate, but I think I can say that in all the preaching I've ever done, they were sermons God gave me in the late night hour, over the week, and in some instances, 20 minutes before a service. I am of the persuasion that if we give the Holy Ghost something to work with in our daily study habits, training and Biblical knowledge, He will breathe on it to become a fire that God uses to illuminate and inspire.

agape

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Post preaching other ministers' sermons...when should we do it ripitman
Jeremiah 23:30-40

Thus saith God's Word
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Post Re: as long as you tactfully acknowledge him .. WeatherfordMan
[quote="Rafael D Martinez"].. I don't see why you shouldn't preach another man's sermon, I guess.

However, the scripture says the laborer is worthy of his hire. The bare minimum of ethically correct ministerial etiquette, I think, should compel you to not only admit the sermon was not prepared by you but lead you to publically identify WHO did. I've heard many a preacher do so, admitting this freely and then moving on to deliver a great message well to edify his flock.

The problem still remains: is the sermon focused on the WORD that builds, rebukes, edifies, enlightens and saves? Surely any vast diversity of style and presentation can temper that .. some taking the hellfire and brimstone, some the "seeker sensitive," others the dialogical approach found in many emergent settings. Whatever the context, however, the WORD alone must have the preeminence .. simply because that's the Biblical context it came from.

Personally, I've never preached another man's message and never will. Everything I've ever preached was borne out of the prayer and study that the Spirit bade me to do. Now I have freely admitted when I incorporate a comment or illustration from others by identifying them as appropriate, but I think I can say that in all the preaching I've ever done, they were sermons God gave me in the late night hour, over the week, and in some instances, 20 minutes before a service. I am of the persuasion that if we give the Holy Ghost something to work with in our daily study habits, training and Biblical knowledge, He will breathe on it to become a fire that God uses to illuminate and inspire.

agape

rafael[/quote]


Would you sit under a pastor that used other men's sermons and did not tell his congregation it was not his own?
What would you do if you later heard the original sermon preached on TV, tape or video and you realized it was not your pastor's and he had preached it almost word per word and took credit as if it were an original God had given him?
Just wondering since I thought that your post was very insightful
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Post preaching other ministers' sermons...when should we do it ripitman
Romans 10:14-18

Focus on verse 17--Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God

If you preach the Bible, according to Ecclesiastes 1:9-11, you're preaching other peoples messages from the Bible. So how could we say we've not preached anyone else's sermons or messages. The Bible is a message. I have been to church nearly all my life. I've probably heard the whole Bible preached. If I tried to preach something I'd never heard, then I probably wouldn't be able to preach at all. If you are called by God to preach, you are called to preach His word. There are 66 books in the Bible we preach from. We may put different titles on the messages we preach, but if you use scripture, every one of them has been preached. So, IN MY OPINION, if you hear a good word preached, and it touched our lives, chances are if we preach that too, it will touch someone else. Jesus comissioned His disciples to go and preach the kingdom. How many of you have ever preached that? You think no one else has ever preached it? Come on!
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Post No such thing Worker4Christ
There is no sermon ever preached that someone else has not preached. Some preachers would like to think so highly of themselves to think they have tapped into some revelation that no one else on earth has but that is just arrogance on their part.
My pastor is great and preaches the word, studies and prepares himself and God speaks to him. He's a humble man and admits he heard someone say something and God spoke to him to preach on that subject.

Your outlook or delivery of a message is an original and a reflection of your personality but God has not told you anything he hasn't been speaking to men for thousands of years.
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