Sermons targeted toward 20- and 30-somethings
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DON MANLEY/news-press.com Next Level Church advertises on a billboard near U.S. 41 and Six Mile Cypress Parkway in south Fort Myers. When: Series runs Feb. 25 through April 1 and services start at 10 a.m. Where: Services are held at the South Fort Myers High auditorium, located at 14020 Plantation Road |
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Next Level Church is using an eye-catching and provocative method of garnering attention for a relationship-focused series of sermons that begins next month.
Perched above the motorized mayhem of U.S. 41, near Six Mile Cypress Parkway, is a billboard containing simply drawn male and female figures and this text: www.mycrappysexlife.com.
"We're trying to capture the attention of a community out there that's struggling and let them know that there's somebody out there that's willing to sit down and talk straight-forward and common sense to them," explained Next Level's the Rev. Matt Keller, 31.
He said the series is targeted on demonstrating to 20-and 30-somethings how a Christian approach can enrich both sex and relationships and make them more fulfilling.
"The idea is to do a six-week series on relationships and talk about the issue that everybody's talking about, but apparently, not too many people in church are talking about, and see if we can't appeal to that generation, speak their language and let them know that all that the culture's telling them is not all that there is," Keller said.
Popular culture's message regarding sex, he said, preaches quantity without consideration of consequences.
"There's more than one option on the table in how we live our lives in the sexual arena," he said. "There is an amazing, amazing option here that comes from our Creator, that sex is not something that was invented in a dark alley behind a porn shop. Sex is something that was created by God, the God of the universe who loves us and desires a relationship with us. So, if we can look into His word, the Bible, what we begin to discover is there is a whole other opportunity out here for us to discover as individuals, to experience something in the sexual context that will blow people's minds."
The series begins Feb. 25 and includes sermons titled "The Best Sex You'll Ever Have;" "The Single Life;" "The Truth about Men and Women," which Keller and his wife, Sarah, will lead, and "Pornography."
Keller said Next Level, a four-year-old church that meets at South Fort Myers High School, is not the first church to use the attention- grabbing advertising approach.
He said a church in Granger, Ind., originated the concept and used it for a relationship focused series it did last year, but its Web address was mylamesexlife.com.
The approach, which Keller said received the approval of the church's marketing team and congregation, is designed to pique the interest of people who do not normally attend church.
Marketing team member Nicki Caleca of south Fort Myers said the church was initially taken back when Keller suggested the approach, but got on board after after he explained his rationale.
Caleca, 27, said she supports it, "Because I think it's awesome to get the community involved in relationships. It's a shock-and-awe factor. We can put this out in the community and they're going to think, 'what are you guys trying to do' and it's for a good cause and it's a good thing that we're doing."
Next Level also plans to get the word out with invitation cards, bumper stickers and yard signs bearing the Web address printed and also run advertisements in local magazines, he said.
He said the church took the fact some people might be turned off by the advertisements into consideration, but decided to forge ahead.
The advertisement had been up since Jan. 15 and the Web site had received roughly 450 hits at that point, Keller said, Monday.
Only a small amount of negative feedback had been received, thus far, he said.
"Of course, our aim is not to offend anyone, but rather to channel the currents of the culture in such a way that it gives us an opportunity to share with people who wouldn't normally attend church," Keller said. "That if we would be able to have an opportunity for those un-churched or de-churched people who aren't in a relationship with God, to speak to their lives because of a culturally relevant issue like sex, which everybody's talking about and thinking about anyway, then that's worth the criticism to us."
Caleca said she believes the series has universal appeal.
"I honestly think that it's for anyone who is in a relationship of any kind," she said. "I think anyone should come, even if your relationship is good, because it will strengthen your relationship. It will give you ideas. If your relationship is bad, this will give you ideas to strengthen that as well."