What do you think of when you hear those words?  What feelings does it make you have?  …Feel Good Sermons.  If you’re a part of any type of church using contemporary or relevant musical styles, creative communication, small groups, use topical preaching or anything else non-traditional, you’ve probably been on the receiving end of someone saying that your church just preaches “feel good sermons”.  That’s code for “not much substance” or “Gospel lite”.  While there are many churches that do effectively and creatively communicate the Gospel, there are also a lot of churches, some of which are incredibly large, where the “feel good only” sermon label apply.  While I think that it is very important for the church to communicate Biblical truths in creative and innovative ways, we cannot do that at the expense of preaching and teaching all of the Bible, even when it causes people to become uncomfortable.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you’re people are leaving church on a Sunday not challenged in an area of their life and uncomfortable about the sin in their life, you’re not preaching Jesus.

I thought Craig Groeschel had a great thought on presenting the Gospel in our messages.  Here’s that post below:

Chances are good you’ll want to preach occasional messages on managing your money or improving your marriage. Those are unquestionably important topics (among many others) that touch people’s lives. Scripture talks directly to these important subjects and so should we.

But no matter what your text or topic, present the Gospel.

Jesus didn’t come to give us a better life, make us happy, or make us rich. He came to deliver us from our sins and introduce us to His father.

• Don’t get distracted by preaching to draw a crowd.
• Don’t believe everyone attending your church is saved.
• Don’t get so creative you fail to communicate biblical content.
• Don’t ever forget the One who died so we can live.

No matter what the topic, text, or package, you CAN present the Gospel. I challenge you to do it every time you preach.

So, be creative AND preach Jesus, straight up!