Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sermon Input Welcome

I'm starting a new series soon (this Sunday or next, depending on whether or not Brian Hartz can speak on Sunday).

I'm thinking it would be nice to get your input. I'll let you know what I'm looking for and you can provide me with a story, a thought, a video, a song or whatever. I'll take appropriate jokes too!

Now... the upside on this is that my sermons should be more interesting. I think we'd all like that!

The downside is that I can't possibly include everything that everyone suggests. So...my fear is that I'll hurt feelings. So, here's the deal - if you offer an idea, etc. you have to offer it with no expectations of it being used. Sorry! But...the truth is I factor in everything I hear...so even though I may not use what you gave me...I WILL consider it and it will impact my thinking...keep me balanced and all that.

With that said, my next series is on the letter of 2 Peter (Something's Missing...a final word from Peter). I'll be laying out the background to the letter which involves Peter's anger at how false teachers have led the church astray and into immorality. I'd be interested in hearing some stories about how that may have happened in your church history...where a leader misled you or your church and immorality resulted.

Thanks!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Help us with a tagline

At Cedarbrook we are working at repositioning ourselves in the community with a new tagline. Up to now, our tagline has been...Cedarbrook Church...come and be refreshed. That was a good descriptor of what we were trying to achieve in the early days...help people see church as a GOOD place to come...a place that was approachable and accepting vs. a place that crammed religion down your throat and handed you a list of harsh rules.

We still want people to come and be refreshed but we also want to communicate that Cedarbrook is a place where you can experience change...a place to find your purpose...a place that will impact you for good in some way.

So we are looking for a new tagline. At a staff/LEAD retreat recently we considered over 50 taglines and narrowed it down to one or two but I'd love to get more input. If you'd like to contribute some ideas that would be great. Keep these things in mind;

1. The tagline should relate to finding purpose, experiencing life change or connecting with God and others.

2. It should be five words or less (preferred).

3. The audience the tagline is speaking to is primarily people OUTSIDE of Cedarbrook and OUTSIDE of the church. It's targeted at people who might consider Cedarbrook so the tagline should help this person get a glimpse into who Cedarbrook is and how Cedarbrook might impact their life. For example, General Electric's tagline has been...GE...we bring good things to life. But, the tagline will also serve as a reminder to INSIDER's of who we are.

Other popular taglines...
  • Verizon...can you hear me now?
  • Subway...five dollar foot long
  • Las Vegas...what happens here, stays here (good tagline. Bad thought)
  • Redbull...it gives you wings
These taglines illustrate the point well...with one short phrase you GET the essence of who they are and what they offer.

You can post your idea here or email me directly. Thanks. I'm not sure how I'll process them. But I hope to at least share the ones that stand out and get more feedback.