Easter Preaching: Desire, Mystery, and Belonging (A Guest Post)
Following my deepest desire, following the path to be my most authentic self as I am created, almost always leads to the mystery of unknown outcomes, of uncertainty, of lack of closure. Belonging, in community, to God, with myself, has supported me through the mystery and returned me to desire over and over again.
Five Steps to Exponential Sermon Messages—Including Holy Week!
Preaching multiple sermons in a short period (like Holy Week) is tough. We have to read multiple texts, research multiple texts, ponder multiple texts, pray over those texts, discern the messages, and then craft the sermons! Ack! But it doesn’t have to be that hard. Here are five simple steps to create an almost endless number of sermons messages, perfect for Holy Week or any sermon series.
Quotations for Preaching and Reflection: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (2022)
I love gathering quotations for preachers’ reflections and preaching. So many of them call me up short, take my breath away, and offer new insights. This collection of quotes for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday does just that, opening my imagination and heart to help me grow as a follower of Jesus and as a preacher, in addition to providing loads of ideas for sermons that touch our listeners. I hope these do the same for you.
Preaching the Renunciation of Evil and the Way of Love
“As I write this I am sick to my stomach from the horror of what is happening to the people of Ukraine. The images and stories of the violence being wrought against her citizens reveal a blatant, outrageous defiance of God’s commandment to love our neighbors. The situation is so astoundingly, stunningly horrific that it is difficult to find words to preach or pray. Whenever I am at a loss for how to respond as a follower of Jesus Christ and the Way of Love, I go back to the beginning: baptism.”
Two Powerful Words + Three Easy Strategies To Write Sermons in a Busy Season
Because sermon crafting by its very nature is a creative endeavor, and because ministry by nature is unpredictable, sermon prep won’t always go according to plan. There is much we can’t control about the process. But there is much more we can! We increase the odds dramatically that sermon prep will go according to plan when we do this one thing: show up. And we can increase our odds of showing up by making it as easy, hospitable, and worthwhile as possible.
Lenten Preaching Themes (& how to discern your own seasonal themes)
Discover how to create a theme for a preaching season. Having done the hardest work of all in finding a message for the season, you’ll narrow your focus from the start. There will be far less decision-making and time spent looking for that germ of an idea. Plus, your exegesis time will be shortened because you’ll head into it with the theme mind, allowing you to focus on just the resources you need, decreasing the time spent on fruitless rabbit trails.
Ash Wednesday & Lent Quotes for Preaching and Reflection
Do we really need Lent this year? Do we need—yet another—season of withdrawal, discipline, and abstention? Haven’t we been living in such a season for the last two years? Since the global pandemic began, we have been deprived of birthday meals, wedding gatherings, and the comfort we receive from expressing our collective grief at funerals. We’ve missed out on meals at restaurants, concerts and plays, hugging our friends, sitting at our favorite coffee shops, and receiving consecrated bread and wine. What does Lent have to teach us that the last two years haven’t?
For God's Sake: A Lenten Sermon Series
Lent is the time when we face our sin unflinchingly because God yearns for us to be re-integrated into our original wholeness, so that we love completely. For your inspiration or adaptation, I’ve crafted a Lenten sermon series that focuses on the ways we dis-integrate ourselves from the body of Christ, and God’s corresponding call to be re-integrated as One. Each sermon offers a focus text, a point of disintegration, and God’s corresponding call to re-integrate us.
Make Space for Preaching: 4 Steps to Move Non-Essentials Off Your Plate
When preachers delegate effectively, they get out from under the tasks others could do, freeing them to focus on their essential task of preaching. Read on for practical suggestions to create more space for preaching in your ministry.
Preach Specifically: Dignity Is in the Details
Language changes and, as a result, so does our culture. If we want to be part of changing the narrative, we can improve the specificity of our language. We can tell better stories with more informed word choice.