Jon Bloom is one of my favorite authors. I love the way the Lord gifted him to write and how he shares that gift with us. If you are looking for a Christmas sermon idea, let me encourage you to get his book Not By Sight, turn to chapter 12, and read the chapter “(Un)Planned Detours: Joseph the Carpenter and Guidance.” After creatively walking the reader through the story from Joseph’s perspective, Bloom concludes: One thing Joseph learned very quickly... Read more
Recently, I begin a sermon on Isaiah 9:6 this way: I am guessing that the most frequently asked question over the next 3 weeks is a brief, 4 word question. It’s a 2 word question if you grew up in North Alabama like I did because we just combine syllables. It’s easier that way. Kids will ask it of their friends and siblings and cousins. Parents will ask it of their children. Aunts and uncles and grandparents will come... Read more
Jon Bloom is one of my favorite authors. I love the way the Lord gifted him to write and how he shares that gift with us. If you are looking for a Christmas sermon idea, let me encourage you to get his book Not By Sight, turn to chapter 11, and read the chapter “Stables of Desperation are the Birthplaces of God’s Grace.” Here’s how Bloom starts the chapter: “The first Christmas night was a holy night. But it was... Read more
To introduce the 2017 Advent Season, I preached out of Isaiah 60:1-3. The first words from the first verse state, “Arise, shine!” The purpose of the sermon was to encourage my congregation not to fall into the trap of being deflated by these commands. The intent was/is NOT for us to think we have to “get up and get to work” to show the world what great Christians we are. The point is to free us, by pointing us to... Read more
Jon Bloom is one of my favorite authors. I love the way the Lord gifted him to write and how he shares that gift with us. If you are looking for a Christmas sermon idea, let me encourage you to get his book Not By Sight, turn to chapter 10, and read the chapter “Facing a Painful Decision.” Here’s how Bloom starts the chapter: “Have you ever wondered why God sent the angel to inform Mary that she would conceive... Read more
Here is an opening illustration I used recently to preach a sermon on Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8. The point of the sermon was to help encourage my congregation to engage the lost anywhere and anytime. If you have a dog, preacher, perhaps you can use something similar. You’ve heard me talk about the Pearson family dog Eddie. Eddie is a wonderful dog, but during this first year of residence at the Pearson home he has... Read more
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No doubt. Who doesn’t love Christmas? But let’s be honest, preachers. . . how we do we say what’s already been said (many times, many ways . . . see what I did there?) and what everyone already knows in a compelling way? It’s hard. If you have pastored at a church for more than a couple of years, thinking of ways to say the “old, old story” in a captivating way... Read more
I found this thought from Jared Wilson’s The Imperfect Disciple helpful the next time I preach a sermon on community and/or the purpose of the local church. The community called the church, then, moving according to the rhythms of the kingdom, is like a great big dance. But if you’re like me you hate dances – great big ones, especially. If you’re like me, you approach the dance as one who wants to look like he belongs there without really... Read more
You’ve determined what text to preach. You’ve determined how the passage fits in the context of the Bible book. You’ve determined the specific meaning of the passage. Although this is  hard work (I hate to say this, BUT. . . ), it is not the most difficult part of sermon prep. Resources abound to help you determine the meaning of a text. But NO ONE has written a book on how to preach it to YOUR people. There are tons... Read more
In an attempt to help the congregation understand how we believers can be guilty of not living in the reality of the Whole Gospel, I used two illustrations – both dealing with medicine. First, thanks to Mike Glenn, I asked the congregation how many of them were guilty of being prescribed an antibiotic from the doctor and stopping before the bottle was empty? We all have. We get sick. We go to the doctor. We get an antibiotic. The directions... Read more
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