Misc

50 Innovative and Usable phrases for Responding during the Sermon

Whatever your background, most communicators, whether a pastor, preacher, leadership speaker, motivational guru, youth leader, or vision caster, enjoy having people in the audience provide feedback. And not just telling someone after they're done "good job," but actual real time feedback. Verbal call and response feedback. Responding in the moment. Some of you are used to this. Some of you don't know anything different. And others of you have never experienced it. And probably some of you that are immediately thinking if anyone spoke up during our Sunday services that they would be immediately removed by the "bouncers," otherwise known as the "ushers" and offering coordinators....!!

So I'm doing a bit more speaking these days, and I can verify that having people in the crowd agreeing with me and cheering me on and making some noise in response is a beautiful thing. It provides energy, inspiration, and definitely creates a connection with the audience/crowd. 

Now in the church I group up in, there were only a few folks who had "permission" to respond to the sermon on a Sunday morning, and they usually went with the traditional  "Amen" or "Hallelujah." Which still work. Nothing against the traditional phrases. I'm a fan of the traditional phrases. 

Whatever your style, I want to suggest a NEW list of phrases that can be implemented into your church culture. Your leadership conference. Your youth gathering. Your Sunday morning experience.

A little more current, a little more edgy, and a little more innovative than the classics.

So here you go, 50 Innovative Phrases for Responding During the Sermon: 

1. Run that back

2. Hello!

3. Retweet

4. Hashtag it

5. Let em know

6. Jackpot

7. I know you didn't (said like "I know you diiiiinnntttt")

8. More of that

9. Go ahead

10. Bring it strong

11. Come on/Come on sir (or ma'am)

12. Bet you won't

13. Double down

14.There it is

15. Take it

16. Buckets (or Bottoms)

17. Turn it up

18. Boom

19. Yahtzee

20. That's Butter

21. Bingo

22. Hook. Line. Sinker.

23. So great/So good/That's great/That's good

24. Getchya some!

25. Bring it

26. Go ahead

27. Right on

28. That's good pastor (or "great" inserted for "good")

29. Hit em with it

30. Money

31. Double tap 

32. Burning/On Fire/Fire Alert/Coming in hot

33. Land that plane

34. Feed me/I'm Hungry

35. Worth a clap

36. Preach

37. Truth

38. Onions

39. Here we go

40. On point

41. Game over

42. You meddlin

43. Swish/Buckets

44. Right swipe that

45. Ride that bus

46. That dog will hunt

47. Put that on a plate and split it

48. Woooooo00

49. Whistle (literally just whistling!)

50. Uh huh or Uh oh 0r ah ha

** and a bonus- "Crickets"

 

How about you? What phrases would you add to the list? 

7 Keys to Celebrate your Rivals and Partner with your Competition

Winning. Competition. Rivalry. For all of us who are Type A Leaders, jealousy in the form of competition is always a struggle. You may call it something else (competitive spirit, goal-oriented, fast pace), but at the end of the day, we all struggle with being jealous or envious of others successes, especially when it is in the same industry, or same town, or same circle, or same customer base. In these cases, it feels like competition, and again for us Type A's, when there is a competition, we ALWAYS want to win.

How do you view those you are "competing" against? Whether competing for attendees, or resources, or prestige, or members, or customers, understanding the proper posture towards your rivals is crucial to being a Collaborative Leader. Most leaders I know never get this right.

And in the faith community- whether a non profit ministry leader, pastor, church leader or, or parachurch organization director, this sense of competition and envy is rampant. Instead of jealousy and envy, collaboration and partnership should be the norm in the Church and faith-based community. We should be celebrating the pastor or leader across town, instead of finding ways to make them look bad or talking bad about them to others but making it look like we are bringing it up so as to "pray" for them.

Competition for customers, resources, time and money will always be a reality, but the question is how YOU deal with this. Jealousy is natural, but how you respond to it will prove your maturity as a leader. And as a follower of Christ, jealousy or envy is definitely not one of the fruits of the Spirit!

So, the best solution I've found to combating jealousy/envy and competition is Celebration. When you find yourself tempted to speak ill about a rival or you are secretly wrestling with envy/jealousy over someone else you are competing with, flip that emotion on its head.

1. Celebrate your competition. Your rivals. Whether the leader or the organization overall.

2. Speak positively about them. In public. and in private.

3. Encourage the leader or leaders of that "rival" organization. Send them cards or notes, call them, and even visit.

4. Look for the good in what they are doing and celebrate that.

5. Pray for them, both in public and in private.

6. Lean into them, and seek opportunities to partner together in your community or industry.

7. The question you should be asking is, "how can I help this person win?" Church leaders- we're all on the same team. We're fighting the same fight. Let's act like it.