Holiday/Special Sermons

Ash Wednesday & Lent Quotes for Preaching and Reflection

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

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.

The Season of Epiphany: Sermon Ideas and Series (RCL and NL)

The Season of Epiphany: Sermon Ideas and Series (RCL and NL)

What a glorious way to begin each new year by immersing ourselves in the unfolding revelation of Jesus as God-in-the-Flesh! Preparing those sermons will be a lot easier when you’re not starting from scratch but fit each into a narrative arc that carries through. To help, I’ve created two themes for the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), Year C, and two for Narrative Lectionary (NL), Year 4. They can be used as sermon series or as inspiration for stand-alone sermons. Whether you preach every Sunday this Epiphany or less often, these ideas will give your preaching a big jump start, saving you time, effort, and energy.

At-Home Christmas Retreat for Preachers (2021)

At-Home Christmas Retreat for Preachers (2021)

Thank you for bearing witness in your life to the perpetual presence of God-with-Us. With our gratitude, you are invited to download your free, at-home Christmas retreat to help refresh your spirit. Crafted to be flexible, you can choose to engage the retreat for 90 minutes, three hours, or six. I pray it cultivates your awareness of and gratitude for Joy-with-Us, this Christmastide and always.

Christmas Quotes for Preaching and Reflection

Christmas Quotes for Preaching and Reflection

You've heard the wisdom "When the student is ready, the teacher appears?" When our hearts and minds are noticing, seeking, yearning, and paying attention, the Spirit sees all that openness and provides just what we need to know, see, or understand. It's a moment that presents like serendipity, but there's too much grace behind it. The right word, insightful phrase, or vivid image leads to a face-palm moment of recognition: "There it is! That's the sermon!”

To that end, I’ve compiled for you a collection of quotes about Christmas in hopes that the teachings of others might spark an epiphany of your own. Request your free copy here.

,

Advent-Christmas Sermons: 5 Steps to Preach the Sermons Your Listeners Need

,
Advent-Christmas Sermons: 5 Steps to Preach the Sermons Your Listeners Need

Whether you’re preaching once or at every service the rest of December, exegeting your congregation and determining the preaching “voice” that will best serve them can make your sermon prep more efficient and relevant. Consider this 5-step process to craft Advent-Christmas sermons that bring good news to your listeners’ contexts.

Inspiration for Advent Preaching

Inspiration for Advent Preaching

As we anticipate, wait, and hope for Advent, I offer a selection of quotations for your preaching and personal reflections. You'll find wise, witty, and wonderful quotes from a variety of voices, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Ann Weems and Miles David to George Bernard Shaw, loosely organized into three themes:

  1. Anticipation is the Music of Advent

  2. Waiting is the Experience of Advent

  3. Hope is the Fruit of Advent

I hope these bring as much joy to your spirit as they do to your preaching.

,

A Stewardship Sermon Series on Psalm 50:14 (Part 2 of 2)

,
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

WHY NOT JOIN OUR PREACHING NEWSLETTER?

Every Tuesday, I share preaching tips and inspiration to make life easier—in and out of the pulpit.