Make Space for Preaching: 4 Steps to Move Non-Essentials Off Your Plate
When preachers delegate effectively, they get out from under the tasks others could do, freeing them to focus on their essential task of preaching. Read on for practical suggestions to create more space for preaching in your ministry.
Preach Specifically: Dignity Is in the Details
Language changes and, as a result, so does our culture. If we want to be part of changing the narrative, we can improve the specificity of our language. We can tell better stories with more informed word choice.
The Season of Epiphany: Sermon Ideas and Series (RCL and NL)
What a glorious way to begin each new year by immersing ourselves in the unfolding revelation of Jesus as God-in-the-Flesh! Preparing those sermons will be a lot easier when you’re not starting from scratch but fit each into a narrative arc that carries through. To help, I’ve created two themes for the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), Year C, and two for Narrative Lectionary (NL), Year 4. They can be used as sermon series or as inspiration for stand-alone sermons. Whether you preach every Sunday this Epiphany or less often, these ideas will give your preaching a big jump start, saving you time, effort, and energy.
At-Home Christmas Retreat for Preachers (2021)
Thank you for bearing witness in your life to the perpetual presence of God-with-Us. With our gratitude, you are invited to download your free, at-home Christmas retreat to help refresh your spirit. Crafted to be flexible, you can choose to engage the retreat for 90 minutes, three hours, or six. I pray it cultivates your awareness of and gratitude for Joy-with-Us, this Christmastide and always.
A Sermon Message for Christmas and 2022
If you’re feeling at a loss about how to preach into this weary world, perhaps you can simply help listeners feel the problems we face together. Without denying any part of their pain and complexity. While also holding up the grace of God.
Christmas Quotes for Preaching and Reflection
You've heard the wisdom "When the student is ready, the teacher appears?" When our hearts and minds are noticing, seeking, yearning, and paying attention, the Spirit sees all that openness and provides just what we need to know, see, or understand. It's a moment that presents like serendipity, but there's too much grace behind it. The right word, insightful phrase, or vivid image leads to a face-palm moment of recognition: "There it is! That's the sermon!”
To that end, I’ve compiled for you a collection of quotes about Christmas in hopes that the teachings of others might spark an epiphany of your own. Request your free copy here.
Advent-Christmas Sermons: 5 Steps to Preach the Sermons Your Listeners Need
Whether you’re preaching once or at every service the rest of December, exegeting your congregation and determining the preaching “voice” that will best serve them can make your sermon prep more efficient and relevant. Consider this 5-step process to craft Advent-Christmas sermons that bring good news to your listeners’ contexts.
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.
Inspiration for Advent Preaching
As we anticipate, wait, and hope for Advent, I offer a selection of quotations for your preaching and personal reflections. You'll find wise, witty, and wonderful quotes from a variety of voices, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Ann Weems and Miles David to George Bernard Shaw, loosely organized into three themes:
Anticipation is the Music of Advent
Waiting is the Experience of Advent
Hope is the Fruit of Advent
I hope these bring as much joy to your spirit as they do to your preaching.
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.
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Get an early start on your sermon prep by joining us live on Facebook (Mondays at noon Central) as we prayerfully discuss the coming week's gospel passage (RCL & NL).
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.
—Donna G.
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The Gospel People Don't Want to Hear: Preaching Challenging Messages was written to aid preacher’s in understanding what’s at stake for their listeners so they can craft sermons their audience can receive, even if they challenge cherished beliefs.
I just have to say WOW. I'm so grateful that I made the investment and joined The Collective. These Thursday [workshops] are a game-changer for me.
—Andrea M.