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All denominations have distinct beliefs and common themes that set them apart, which are re-emphasized in weekly sermons and worship services. Assuming the average Christian minister must write and deliver at least one sermon per week, that requires 52 different ways of addressing basic Biblical themes for believers and nonbelievers alike. But how does a minister find inspiration for sermons without repeating himself? Depending on the denomination involved, a staggering variety of resources are available for adherents of what is arguably the world's largest religion--and, in some cases, only limited by the degree of computer or library access needed to find them.
Pamphlets have long been a popular staple of Christian evangelism, with the fundamentalist-oriented Jack T. Chick producing some of the most colorful present examples. Chick has earned a widespread non-Christian following for his tracts, which hit at everything from the Catholic Church to homosexuality to modern rock and the occult, to name a few. On a lighter note, the Veggie Tales cartoon and DVD series has brought Christianity's core values down to children's level, and is another source for ministers to explore in sermonizing. Television has become a major partner in this particular cause, as exemplified by former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron's street-preaching program, The Way of the Master, to non-Christian believers, where he asks them to define their beliefs by asking some pointed questions, which he then compares against his own Christian fundamentalist ideology.
Music has traditionally offered a bountiful resource for ministers, since many of the most popular and best-loved hymns--such as I Know That My Redeemer Lives, for instance, or The Old Rugged Cross, were essentially sermons in a Gospel musical format. This mode of expression changed during the 1960s and 1970s, as the counterculture grew stronger--leading to a more informal Christianity that incorporated folk, blues and even rock into youth groups and services. The Hymns for Now books, published in 1969, became one of the most popular examples of this movement, which sought to break down the Bible into plain language for nonbelievers. Originally labeled Jesus music, this small subculture--spearheaded by artists like Barlow Girl, Amy Grant and Jars of Clay--had grown into the multibillion-dollar contemporary Christian music industry by the 1980s. Churches responded by revamping their youth ministries and incorporating many of the artists' lyrical themes into their own sermons.
