The Preacher's Ears (A Guest Post)
“Since Jesus spent his ministry with those on the margins, it seems to me we preachers have nothing much to say until we’ve spent some time in those margins and with the people who dwell there. The closer to the center of power and privilege you are positioned, the more deeply you are in need of the miracle of ears.”
Pentecost Quotations for Preaching and Reflection
I don't think I'm alone in struggling to find words to preach about the elusive yet ever-present Holy Spirit. The Spirit receives a fraction of the mentions in Scripture that “God” and “Jesus/Christ” receive. With Christians' most revered day about the Spirit coming up on the Feast of Pentecost, I thought it would help to add a few more mentions about the Spirit to our personal preaching libraries. I collected quotes from theologians, poets, and preachers to give us more words to work from. Their wise and insightful ideas will spark your imagination, help you see the Spirit in a new light, and offer new directions for your sermons.
Preaching and the Enneagram: Understanding the gifts and shadows of your Enneagram type
The Enneagram is just one tool that helps us articulate what is helpful about who we are, and what is as yet unknown to us. Because our Enneagram perspectives are so deeply entrenched and devilishly clever in finding their way into the nooks and crannies of our preaching, we often can’t recognize their influence by ourselves. Read on for a brief introduction to the gifts and shadows of each Enneagram type in preaching.
At-Home Easter Retreat for Preachers (2022, Free!)
With help from Joan Chittister, this year's (free!) Easter Retreat for Preachers is intended to help unpack your over-stuffed spirit by entering the Easter story through an event that affected you. Designed to be done at home over ninety minutes, three hours or six, by the end you'll not only have encountered the risen Christ in a new way, you'll be able to enter this retreat as many times as you need until you find your way back to yourself.
Easter Preaching: Desire, Mystery, and Belonging (A Guest Post)
Following my deepest desire, following the path to be my most authentic self as I am created, almost always leads to the mystery of unknown outcomes, of uncertainty, of lack of closure. Belonging, in community, to God, with myself, has supported me through the mystery and returned me to desire over and over again.
How to Preach Transformation in Holy Week—and Every Week
Adaptive theology is uncomfortable because it doesn’t come with a blueprint, rule book, or even stick-figure assembly directions. Instead it offers a snapshot of cleared ground where the reign of God waits to be built; a rendering of the renovated halls of justice where peace keepers hold dialogues instead of guns; a silhouette of all the peoples gathered to save the planet.
BsP's Christmas Gift Guide for Preachers (2021 edition)
This year’s gift guide is intended to nudge the preacher’s creativity back to life—because creativity heals heart, mind, and soul.
Preach about Real Saints: Human and Holy
Why do we ignore the saints’ flaws or apologize for them as something shameful, faults to be hidden and tucked away? Preaching the truth of their humanity frees us from examining the messenger to embrace their message: love God, and forgive and love self and neighbor. Saints are the embodiment of that invitation to transformation. They show us what is possible when we accept and dwell in the love of God—in the fullness of our messy humanity. I am persuaded that by allowing saints to be holy and perfectly human, we can be transformed to be more like Christ.
“When have you been hurt by racism?”
Sometimes our bodies have a chronic problem that requires chronic physical therapy. Racism is a chronic problem of our hearts that also requires chronic treatment. I call this treatment “chronic spiritual therapy” that we engage together as the Body of Christ.
Because the whole Body has been hurt.
Prepare Yourself for Stewardship Season
Just as we were settling back into in-person worship, with or without also offering a digital version, the Delta variant of COVID is surging faster than the original version, especially among the unvaccinated. Just when the future was starting to feel a bit more predictable and certain, it’s even harder to put the emotional genies back in the bottle again. Who knows what all of this will mean for parish attendance, involvement, or financial giving? And how do we even begin to ask people to be generous with their time, talent, or treasure in a way that doesn’t sound insensitive to the very real uncertainties for the months ahead?
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I participated in the Lectio study today with a complicated and double-speak Gospel (John 17:6-19) and WOW! I received so much great insight and am headed in a direction I feel really good about. Thank you to all my colleagues! If you are wondering if this is worth it, wonder no more. It is.
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