Lenten Preaching: Why Change is So Hard
Spirituality, Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman Spirituality, Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman

Lenten Preaching: Why Change is So Hard

We preachers often wonder whether our words have any effect. The people we preach to and the world around us pretty much look the same week after week. It doesn’t often look like the Good News has caught fire in people’s hearts. It doesn’t look like the reign of God is being built. For all our efforts to preach the Good News, how come it looks like nothing much is changing?

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Five Ways to Preach a Countercultural Lent (A Guest Post)
Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman

Five Ways to Preach a Countercultural Lent (A Guest Post)

Let’s be honest: The observation of Lent is often reduced to artificially somber and ritualistic practices of self-denial without an honest, whole-hearted attempt to genuinely experience the flow and meaning of the season. The “practices” undertaken involve simply giving up chocolate or wine. That’s suffering for Jesus, for sure, but what does it accomplish if we’re not focused meaningfully on what we should be? So I’d like to suggest that in our preaching, we shake things up a bit. Let’s preach a countercultural Lent.

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A Lenten Preaching Series on Fasting
Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman

A Lenten Preaching Series on Fasting

Fasting at lent can seem rote or compulsory or just a convenient way to drop a few pounds. But Jesus has bigger plans for our lives than watching the scale drop. In this post, I offer a 6-week lenten sermon series for your use. But before you dive into its structure and content, let’s take a moment to consider Jesus’s why and how for fasting.

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Eight Do's and Don'ts to Write a Better Christmas Sermon
Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman Holiday/Special Sermons Lisa Cressman

Eight Do's and Don'ts to Write a Better Christmas Sermon

Your Christmas Eve sermon is one of the most important of the year, providing an opportunity to share the revolutionary Good News with those who may not frequent our pews the rest of the year. Here are eight things you should do and not do to ensure your Christmas sermon does its intended job: celebrate the birth of Jesus while helping listeners experience the wonder and implications of the Incarnation.

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