Sermons and Such

Swallowed - Jonah's Tale

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:03:25 -0500

This sermon is a take on Jonah delivered in Tullahoma, TN. It is a thematically built text, but one that has, I think, a strong connection with its text, Jonah 4:1-4. It also starts with a bit of historical context. Such things can really weigh down a sermon, but I think here it is efficient enough to generally avoid that side, and perhaps could have used just a bit more.

This sermon was part of our interview weekend, and I’m sure that colors the sermon somewhat. It’s a new version of a sermon concept that I worked on last summer. In the end, I think I’m pleased with it.

Red-Handed Refuge

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:24:54 -0500

This sermon from Joshua 20 was part of Project 4:4’s sermons on text throughout the Bible as the church read through the scriptures over the course of 2010.

It is a fairly straightforward sermon, interpreting the cities of refuge in the Old Testament as a sort of type of the church. I don’t often use typological interpretation, but it can be a playful and useful way of saying something true.

One thing I really like about this sermon is that it uses a very concrete way of concluding the sermon and provoking thoughts about specific individuals in the lives of the folks who received the sermon. I think people found that concrete reflection helpful.

I also like that the sermon is fairly quick-paced, but it could have been more efficient, and at times perhaps more energetic. I think the lower tone helped communicate the grace of the sermon though, so I’d want to be careful about changing that too much. Sometimes I am too loud and forceful, and I think it was helpful that this one shifts into a lower, deeper tone. There’s always a way to improve!

Project 4:4

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:07:09 -0600

This is a little bit of a different sermon, as it was a launch point for Project 4:4, a year-long Bible study initiative. Thus, a good part of the purpose of the sermon is somewhat programmatic.

Programmatic sermons don’t easily make for great worship encounters, though. Sometimes they feel like long, drawn-out announcements. To counter that feeling, I built the sermon around a pair of texts, namely Ephesians 5 and Matthew 4. I think it works, and was a creative way to preach a programmatic sermon.

That said, it is interesting to compare this sermon with “Changed”, a sermon just a few weeks earlier, which was at least partially intended to set the stage for the project launched in this sermon. “Changed” probably reflects my style of preaching more accurately, and is probably the better sermon, but this one provides a clearer action for congregational response to the sermon. I think that there is a place for both of these in the church, and I hope in my own preaching.

(Note: This audio file actually contains both the early and late service recordings for some reason. The sermon isn’t 54 minutes long! Both versions are very similar, but I left them both on because I think that the first service version is more effective in the Ephesians section, while the second service version has more energy in the Matthew 4 section. I hate the way the first service recording starts though...it left off some of the intro, and feels like it starts out of nowhere! Oh well, it happens!)

Changed

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:41:57 -0500

This sermon grows out of a reflection on the transfiguration narrative in Mark 9. It is heavily textual in focus, narrative in style.

While I am still developing my preaching voice and love to experiment in different styles, this is perhaps the most natural for me, the style of preaching I feel most at home in.

Good and Evil

Sun, 10 May 2009 19:47:19 -0500

The sermon arises from the narrative of Genesis 2-3, one of the richest and most beautiful narratives in the Bible, I think. Stylistically, this sermon has a controlled delivery, but I think does a good job at moving through the story to a place of moral challenge.

No Substitute

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 21:43:27 -0500

This sermon grows out of Exodus 19-20, and really centers on the command, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Also, I’ve noticed lately that the intermittent nature of my preaching has led me to preach more topically than textually, and this sermon begins what I hope to be a new trend of more textually driven sermons. This is where I feel more at home as a preacher, more in line with what God has gifted me to do and be.

It was preached at Pleasant Valley church of Christ, in Little Rock, AR.

Sacrificial Solidarity

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:03:54 -0500

This sermon from Hebrews 4 is of the textual/theological variety. It follows a three-point form, wrapped around the purpose of encouraging the confident reception of God’s grace. I think that there is much gospel in this sermon. It is amazing how God uses ordinary people like myself to proclaim Jesus!

I should note that there are several moments of laughter which seem random in the audio recording, but are the result of some images in the slides. The “snuggie” and a high-heeled shoe were chosen for that purpose. I think that sometimes using pictures but not referencing them at all is a good technique.

Nothing Better

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:05:31 -0600

Cameras, Choices, The Book of Hebrews, and what I really think about Twilight.

This is perhaps a more topical sort of sermon, structurally speaking, than I normally preach. The introduction is too long, but the whole is still, I think, effective.

Seek, Find, Tell, Praise

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:19:01 -0600

This is part four of a four part series dealing with exclusivity in the church through the stories surrounding Jesus’ birth.

This one focuses on the shepherds’ story, and their progression as a model of our own response to Jesus.

No Vacancy

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:14:52 -0600

This is part three of a four part series dealing with exclusivity in the Church by way of the narratives generally associated with the Christmas season, those of Jesus’ birth.