Skye Jethani

Why are people who are committed to Christ leaving the church? Why do they see Christ as giving them life, but the church as taking it from them? And why do so many young people view the church as vampire-like, bleeding life out of them instead of pouring life into them? In this week's featured sermon—"Vampire Christianity"—Skye Jethani tackles those questions head on. Based on Ephesians 4:7-13, Jethani argues that we as preachers and pastors already have a guide for a model of doing church that gives life and health rather than drain blood from people.

Mark Mitchell

In this week's skills article, Mark Mitchell walks us through the process of getting your sermon focused around one big idea. Mark writes, "The best way to unify the sermon is to summarize it in one complete sentence that accurately captures the truth of the entire message." As an example, Mark notes that this is NOT a good big idea: "The incomprehensible omniscience of Yahweh encapsulates every form of ontological reality." In a 5-step process (that takes lots of work, by the way) Mark shows us how to get that clear, simple, and memorable central idea.

Also, check out these new resources:

• Featured Skills Article: "Step 3: How to Get the Big Idea" by Mark Mitchell
• Featured Illustration: L.A.'s Water Infrastructure in Grave Danger
• Featured Video: James 4:8 - A church welcome video based on James 4.
• Featured Sermon: Vampire Christianity by Skye Jethani

In Christ,

Matt Woodley
Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

P.S. Pastor Appreciation Month Freebie! Download our eBook, The Best of John Ortberg, which features 3 sermons and 2 articles by John Ortberg—plus get a special offer for $20 off a subscription to PreachingToday.com!

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.