A Reader Asks

This letter is from a reader and concerns preaching a series.

What do you think? What’s your advice?

My question is in regards to preaching series vs. church calendar vs. preaching through whole books. We come from [the kind of preaching] background [where] the most well-known of those churches often preach through catchy, well-crafted series. I’m not inclined to preach in that way, but if we do that, I definitely make each sermon come from one text (as opposed to preaching topically with verses form all over).

What are your opinions as to what is best for our churches and our culture as we craft direction of sermons for a year? Do you like the idea of 4-8 week series that may be selected passages from a book or covering a specific topic (such as community) catered specifically to what you think that congregation needs to hear at the moment? Or do you like going through a whole book, which may take a year or so to get through a Gospel which may cater to the congregation’s need to learn how to read the Bible better? Or do you like the church calendar idea which exposes the congregation to the entirety of the narrative and story over and over again year by year? The later two options appeal to me most but I don’t know if that’s what is best for a congregation. Your thoughts?