This week, we're diving into the idea of making our church communications a joy to receive. We take a close look at how Jesus was heard with delight and enjoyment, and we challenge ourselves to reflect that same joy in our messages. It’s essential to remember that our communications should be good news, crafted in a way that resonates with our audience, whether that’s through vibrant visuals or simply clear, easy-to-read formats. We explore various approaches tailored to different groups, from middle school students to busy parents, emphasizing the importance of meeting their needs with our communications. As we brainstorm and create, let’s keep a light heart, inviting joy into our work and ensuring our messages are received gladly.
Takeaways:
This episode encourages us to infuse joy into our church communications, making them enjoyable for all.
Listening to Jesus was a delight for the crowd, which challenges us to communicate with similar joy.
Creating effective communications means understanding your audience, whether it's kids or business professionals.
We should brainstorm ways to create communications that meet the needs of our diverse audience.
Utilizing modern tools like social media can help us reach younger audiences more effectively.
The host shares a personal initiative to create a new podcast aimed at younger individuals for encouragement.
Good morning, I'm Yvon Prehn and I'd like to welcome you to Monday Devotions for Church Communicators. This podcast will start your week with prayer and a challenge from God's Word.
It's Week #6 for our Devotions for Church Communicators and the topic today is "Make your communications a joy to receive"
" That's what it says in Mark:
And in another version it says, "And the great crowd enjoyed listening to him."
Do you ever think about how much fun it was to listen to Jesus?
We sometimes believe Jesus sounded like some professional radio announcer with a
deep, serious voice and always condemning message. But the Bible presents a different picture as these three translations show. He was someone people heard with delight and enjoyment and gladly.
What a beautiful example and a challenge to our church communications. Our message is the Gospel. Remember, it's good news and our challenge is to communicate it in joyful ways.
Online communication, social media and the web give us great flexibility in our work. We can do things with type, illustration, sound, color and motion that would have been impossible few years ago.
Spend some time brainstorming with your communication partners about what it means to create communications that your audience will hear gladly, either in print or digitally. It doesn't mean we always have to do wild and crazy things with graphics, sound and motion.
But if we're working with middle school students, what some folks consider too much might be just right to get their attention. But wild and crazy isn't for everyone. Communications create joy when they meet needs.
For mothers of preschoolers, it might mean putting together a calendar with events for kids with the times, places and contact names in a large print format that's easy to read, taped on the refrigerator. People still use that as communication central in all homes.
For business people in the church, it might mean putting together an upscale quality online newsletter that highlights some seminars your church offers as an outreach to their peers. For young professionals, it might be social media that send them short Bible devotions to encourage them through crazy days.
Whatever it might be, ask the Lord to give you a light heart as you create your communications so that people might hear gladly the messages you share from them.
I have one kind of unusual thing I want to insert here, and that is I'm taking my own advice on how we need to communicate differently to different audiences. With my other ministry that I have, Bible805, I'm starting a new podcast.
It's entitled Road Advice for Hobo Souls and it's short messages that will encourage some of the younger people in my life. And by younger I mean like late 30s, early 40s, 50s, whatever. They're a lot younger than me.
But anyway, I want to encourage them and I know that they listen to their phones, text on their phones, and listen to podcasts more than anything else. So that's one of the ways that I'm applying this. I just wanted to put that in for you as an idea of how I'm applying working to communicate in a way people will hear gladly.
And now let me pray for you as we go into the week.
Oh, by the way, you can find that at www. Bible805. That's my Bible teaching channel and or well channel website, You can find the links to the new podcast there as well as links to many resources that will help you know, trust, apply, and teach the Bible.
Now let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for all of the people who are struggling to create communications that people will hear joyfully.
Lord, let us really be in love with you and in love with your word so that we can hear your voice speaking in our ear, that we will hear the true you that wants to give us joy and peace, and an upbeat spirit, because we know that nothing in death or life or anything else can separate us from your love. Fill us with that, Lord, and help that to spill over into a world that just needs you so desperately with every communication piece that we do.
In Jesus name, amen.
For links to lots more materials to encourage you and help you be a better church communicator, go to the website www.effectivechurchcom.com.
The book that the devotions are from is available on Amazon and it is entitled Devotions for Church Communicators. Hopefully that's kind of easy to remember.
And I would encourage you to keep listening each week for more encouragement and prayers for you as you do your incredibly important work.
