Christmas Eve is rough on preachers; at least for this one. The atmosphere for a truly great sermon is all there: scenery, families, music, lighting, Scripture, attendance, joy, and a holy hope in every heart and on every face. But my Christmas Eve sermons (33 and counting) are never equal to this setting. They always seem weak and…
Reading the Bible with the Caroline Divines: 4 Homiletical Takeaways
In the shadows cast by the early English reformers (such as Cramner and Hooker) on the one side, and the giants of Anglican theology since the 18th century on the other, sits the rich trove of Anglican theologians and devotional writers known collectively as the Caroline Divines. “Caroline” (derived from the Latin version of the…
5 Essential Elements of a Funeral Sermon
It’s been an exhausting week. You spent much of it at the hospital, praying for a dying Christian, giving comfort to a grieving family. You missed time with your own family to be a pastor to the parish. You sat with a beloved parishioner’s children as they argued over how they wanted the funeral and…
Preaching Pentecost: The Person and Work of the Spirit
Pentecost is, for many of us and our congregations, the Sunday (or season) in which we turn our attention to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The reality, however, for many of the people in our pews, is that the Spirit is often conceived of as more like the Force from Star Wars…
Should You Preach a Mother’s Day Sermon? (UPDATED for COVID–19)
For reasons that only the Google gods know, the blog post I wrote last year on preaching a Mother’s Day sermon was a hit. However, it was written before the days of the new “abnormal,” and now needs to be updated. But the question is still valid. “Should you preach a Mother’s Day sermon?” In…
Let John Chrysostom Preach His Nativity Sermon on Christmas Sunday
Several years ago, I served as the Assistant Rector at a large Anglican Church. This meant, of course, that I had the wonderful opportunity of preaching cultural holiday weekends when attendance would be predictably low … i.e. Memorial Day Weekend, Labor Day Weekend, etc. One of the key weekends that I always got to preach…
Pastor, Let the Children Preach: Why You Should Let the Youth Group Invade Your Pulpit
For the last two years, I’ve been teaching Scripture, theology, and ethics at a small Christian high school that shares space with a local church. It took me a year and a half to realize that, on one of my classroom walls, half-hidden behind a filing cabinet and obscured beneath a coat of paint, was…
Should You Preach a Father’s Day Sermon on Father’s Day?
We all know that Mother’s Day has a special place in the American culture. I wrote about whether a pastor should preach a “Mother’s Day Message” and it was a popular post. I am going to address the same subject about Father’s Day…but I do not expect to generate a similar amount of interest! But…
Ten Thoughts for the Mother’s Day Sermon
Motherhood is one of the most fundamental human roles, given by God and knit into our DNA. Hallmark’s calendar doesn’t dictate our preaching, but this particular holiday seems worth some attention. Some Mother’s Day Sermon tips are listed below and can be developed into whole sermons; others are just words of advice. Use this list to…
Learning to Preach from G. Campbell Morgan (Preachers of the Past, pt. 4)
This is part 4 of “Preachers of the Past,” a series where we discuss four distinct preachers from the past, ranging from 347 A.D. to 1945. We’ve included detailed preaching points for study and discussion towards the bottom of this post. Some Background on G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) Campbell Morgan was the son of a…
