Sermon Talkback
This sermon talkback occurred after the sermon: Gathering
the Pieces: Inviting the Outcast.
It can be done with any sermon.
The main purpose, as with any sermon talkback, is to get people talking,
reacting, and thinking deeper about the message’s application to individual
lives.
I.
Introduction, Welcome
1. Everyone: Names
a. Name
b. Why are you
here?
c. What do you want
to get out of this conversation?
2. Greg:
a. Not here to
develop a program
b. Not here to set
a agenda or 5-year strategic plan
i.
…if you want to do that, go for it, just not yet…
c. We are here to
listen to people, to reflect on and to tell stories.
II.
Questions – Open Floor
III.
Small Groups
1. No more than 3
people per group.
2. Greg:
a. Feel free to
answer questions from your own experience or based on your responses
to/thoughts on the sermon.
3. Questions
1. What is your first memory of being a member
(or not a member) of a church community?
2. How and when did you feel you were an “adult”
in your congregation? (If you do not yet
feel as an “adult” imagine what do you think that transition will be like?)
3. How has your faith changed, as you have grown
older? Before high school, after high
school, after college, at 25, 30, 40, 50…
What experiences were particularly formative?
4. How has your faith change you, as you’ve
grown older? Again, what experiences
were particularly formative?
5. What are some of the basic lessons you
learned from the church growing up? From
parents? Teachers? Peers? What were the
differences?
6. How have your race/culture/ethnicity/gender/
sexuality and your class location as a child shaped your memories?
7. How would you characterize your faith
now? What is your faith?
8. What is the best thing about
church/worship? What is the most
difficult thing about church/worship?
9. How do you understand your relationship with
God?
10. List 5
characteristics of God. List 5
characteristics of yourself.
IV.
Large Groups
1. Were there any
themes among your small groups? Anything
that all 3 of you held in common?
2. Are there any
common themes in the entire group?
V.
Conclusion
1. Listening – It’s
free, but it’s not always easy. This conversation is the first step.
2. Some things to
add into the mix of the future conversations that you have:
a. Diversity. Young adults see a much different populace on
TV and in schools than they do in the pews.
b. Churches have a
history of being places of judgment, rules and condemnation. We have to critically engage our history and
redefine ourselves explicitly.
c. Resources and
support. I’ve talked a lot about church
as a resource. It’s good to get away
from the idea that people have to come to church, and get to a place
where people want to come to church because they are fed spiritually,
emotionally and physically.
i.
The #1 drawing factor for churches is not God; it’s
community!