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For hundreds of years pastors have preached from behind pulpits and on platforms. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but is it the only way to preach? Is it the best way? Jesus preached in the synagogue but he spent even more time preaching in other venues: beaches, mountainsides, boats.

At National Community Church we are constantly trying to re-imagine everything we do. One thing we have experimented with is "offsite preaching." Offsite preaching involves shooting the entire weekend message at a different location. We then edit and produce the message and present it like a short film on the weekends. Because our church meets in movie theaters, presenting a sermon in the form of a short film is especially fitting for our audience.

We have done many variations of "on location" preaching. At times, we will shoot only a five- to ten-minute illustration at a location that supports the main point of the sermon. We can then weave that video into the message during the service. Other times we have done a full 25- to 30-minute message, which basically stands by itself and serves as the entire message for that weekend. Doing either of these versions—a short or long video—helps people capture and remember the message.

Our most recent on-location message was actually filmed in Wittenberg, Germany. On October 31, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther took a stand against some unbiblical practices of the Catholic Church by posting his 95 theses on the doors of the Castle Church. So we filmed a video in Wittenberg that related to our message about "The History of the Church." Our goal was to remind the congregation where we have come from as a church and to teach them the history behind our beliefs. Taking our weekend services to the birthplace of the Protestant Church was powerful for the congregation.

We did another on-location message this past year called, "How to Manage Your Money." Messages on money are rarely the pastor's, or the congregation's, favorites. But we know that everyone needs godly instruction on how to be a good steward. We thought that a great way to share this message would be by going out and providing practical illustrations for the principles being shared.

One of my favorite video illustrations that we have created relates to forgiveness. The principle we wanted to emphasize came from Psalms 103:12, where David talks about how far God has removed our sins from us. We actually shot and produced the video while we were at a church retreat. During one night of the retreat we had a prayer time where we placed a chest around an altar area, which acted as a type of confessional box. On that night, people had the opportunity to write down their confessions to God and place them in the box. The next day to cap off the retreat we showed this video where Mark Batterson, our lead pastor, went out on a boat and shared a message out of Psalms. At the end he cast the confessional chest out of the boat and into the water. We used an underwater camera housing to capture video of the box as it sank and eventually sat on the bottom of the lake. It was a powerful visual for those who attended the retreat.

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