MARCH, 2007

Dear Mt. Olive family and friends,

You only have five seconds to say it. You don’t have the luxury of unlimited minutes. You don’t have an opportunity to carefully craft your multi-page message or formulate a lengthy response. Just 5 seconds, and that’s stretching it. You’d love to have more time, but you don’t. How do you say it in 5 short seconds?

A growing number of churches have discovered that a very practical and clever way of delivering a 5-second sermon is to use their outdoor sign. It’s certainly not a new concept, but it is an intelligent one. Way back in the early 70s, an attractive, picturesque little church, stately perched on a beautiful rural hilltop about five miles from my first congregation, boldly proclaimed on its sign: “Preaching a changeless message for a changing countryside.” I drove past that sign literally hundreds of times, and each time I reflected upon that pithy statement. Tragically, over the years, the church body of which that congregation was a member has radically changed its “changeless message.”

Today, people seem to have a shorter attention span. Posting the same snappy 5-second sermon, no matter how catchy or meaningful, will quickly lose its appeal. Modern, high-tech, media-savvy, bells-and-whistles folks require a new message at regular intervals. (You’ll appreciate the article “Sermons On A Signboard” in the March newsletter.)

So, if I wanted to share with you some snappy sermon sentences, simple statements that you could, in turn, share with someone else, what would I say? Here are a few of my favorites. Ponder them! Memorize them! Share them!

· Some things have to be believed to be seen.

· A brook would lose its song if God removed the rocks.

· Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die.

· Jesus built a bridge with two boards and three nails.

· Love someone not because they are Christian but because you are.

· Man’s way leads to a hopeless end. God’s way leads to an endless hope.

· Easter is more than something to dye for.

· If you like our sign, come hear our sermons.

· There are two things I’ve learned: There is a God. And I’m not Him.

· Christians are like coals of fire - together they glow, apart they grow cold.

· Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

· Don’t condone what God condemns.

· Friends don’t let friends go to hell.

· Many books can inform, but only the Bible can transform.

· You don’t become a missionary by crossing the sea but by seeing the cross.

· Jesus - don’t leave earth without Him!

· Our congregation is like fudge. Mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

Thanks to Ryan Jacobs and Trisha Wright, our church sign is now a 5-second sermon board. They are to be commended, not only for posting thought-provoking axioms and adages, but for doing so with only one set of letters (yes, a 5 can pass for an S) and without any punctuation marks! We could make their job a whole lot easier with a “deluxe” letter set!

If you only have 5 seconds to say it, say it in a meaningful, memorable way. You may just save a soul!

Pastor Carl Henkel