Challenging the Stories We Tell About Ourselves (A Guest Post)
There is freedom to be found on the other side of our assumptions. They’re called “limiting beliefs” for a reason—they hold us back, keep us stuck, prevent us from achieving the work set before us by God. What happens when we take action in a way that challenges those assumptions? Is there a new, truer narrative to be written?
3 Strategies to Keep Sermon Prep on Track When the Rest of Life Isn't
We know stuff happens to other people all the time, which means they might call on us all the time when they need help. And yet, we’re still surprised when our carefully constructed expectation for how the day or week is going to go evaporates in an instant because of an emergency someone else is having.
Other people’s surprises can have big impacts on our sermon prep. Rather than get paralyzed (and often resentful) in the face of the unexpected, here are three strategies to stay on track.
Preaching + Advertising? (A Guest Post)
“Both preaching and advertising struggle to get a message across in a world cluttered with noise that makes it hard for anyone with ears to hear. Because of this common struggle, the two communicative disciplines share a lot of the same concerns and methods. This means that a lot of what I learned was less of a radical re-thinking of preaching and more a confirmation of some standard elements of homiletical methodology to which advertising methodology offered some new nuance.”
“When have you been hurt by racism?”
Sometimes our bodies have a chronic problem that requires chronic physical therapy. Racism is a chronic problem of our hearts that also requires chronic treatment. I call this treatment “chronic spiritual therapy” that we engage together as the Body of Christ.
Because the whole Body has been hurt.
A Stewardship Sermon Series on Psalm 50:14 (Part 2 of 2)
This is the second of a two-part blog series , “A Four-Week Stewardship Sermon Series on Ps. 50:14..” The sermon series is titled “To Know God Is to Thank God.”
Psalm 50:14: “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and make good your vows to the Most High.”
Week One: Offer to God
Week Two: A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
Week Three: Make Good Your Vows
Week Four: To the Most High
A Four-Week Stewardship Sermon Series on Ps. 50:14
This four-week sermon series on stewardship brings an oft-referenced verse to life by closely examining its meaning. Read on for ideas to preach this stewardship season.
Prepare Yourself for Stewardship Season
Just as we were settling back into in-person worship, with or without also offering a digital version, the Delta variant of COVID is surging faster than the original version, especially among the unvaccinated. Just when the future was starting to feel a bit more predictable and certain, it’s even harder to put the emotional genies back in the bottle again. Who knows what all of this will mean for parish attendance, involvement, or financial giving? And how do we even begin to ask people to be generous with their time, talent, or treasure in a way that doesn’t sound insensitive to the very real uncertainties for the months ahead?
Preaching Hope (A Guest Blog)
From Dr. Rob O’Lynn’s guest post: “Full confession: I am a sucker for hope. I think St. Paul got it wrong. At the end of his famous meditation on love, he writes this: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13, NRSV). I do not dispute the importance that the apostle gives to these three virtues, virtues which serve as the core of Christianity’s ethical expression. I disagree with him on which one he thinks is most important. Hope can outlast love.”
The #1 Thing You Gotta Know About Good Sermons (you can't get there if you don't know where you're headed)
"That was a good sermon."
"Wow! That sermon hit home!"
"I'm going to think about this one."
"That was your best sermon ever."
You've probably heard all of these comments.
But can you articulate what made the sermon good?
Stop and Smell the Ink: How Creative Play Makes You a Better Preacher
If you've only ever started your sermon prep with gritted teeth, we have an invitation for you. It's time to try a new way: begin with play.
How? We'll get to that.
But first, let's convince your logical left brain why letting your right brain have a turn at the wheel might get you to your destination more effectively.