Is There Good News in Your Sermon?

Pastors look long and hard for something to celebrate. Try this approach.

In my sermon consulting work, sometimes individuals indicate difficulty finding something to "celebrate." As you know, celebration is the time in the sermon where we intellectually experience the truth of the message. However, sometimes individuals look long and hard for something to celebrate and can't find it either in the text or in their sermons.

Is There Good News?

First, look for the good news. If you have no good news then I am sure you will not have any celebratory components. Certainly, there are times when celebration is not warranted, but in most cases, our sermons should have good news. So what do you celebrate? The truth of the good news in your text. I would definitely encourage you to check out Frank Thomas' book They Like to Never Quit Praisin' God for a method that centers around finding that Good News in the text.

Ultimately, if you have difficulty finding a celebration, then I would encourage you to attempt to find the Good News first. Then, more than likely, the celebration will jump out at you.

Where Is God's Activity?

Second, look for God's activity rather than ours. A sermon full of prescriptions will make it difficult to find something to celebrate. Certainly, there are times when a "celebrative challenge" might be helpful, but sometimes we find it difficult to find the close in our sermon because we overemphasize our responsibility or activity over God's activity for humanity. 

Some of these sermons end up having the pastor either castigate the people for not doing "this or that," or they end up being prescriptions for the people to do "this or that." This is not a conservative versus liberal thing. Liberals have their "this or that" moments just as conservatives. So sometimes, we castigate the people for not being loving or making the newcomer more welcome. Sometimes, we castigate the people for not following the commands of God. Sometimes, we castigate the people for looking at the wrong television programs or wearing their "pants too low or skirts too high." Sometimes, we castigate the people for sexual promiscuity and other areas of sexuality. 

Certainly, there is a place for correction, but if that is all your sermon all the time, then it will be difficult to find the celebration. I would encourage you to think about and preach about what God does for humanity in addition to the ethical demands of living in line with God. Then you will find it easier to get that close.

Who Empowers the People?

Finally, if you must emphasize our activity, emphasize God's making our activity possible. Ok, there are times when we need to do a challenge. There are times when you must emphasize human activity. I would encourage you to spend a little time discussing how God makes that activity possible. God empowers our living. God makes godly living possible. God enlightens our mind to what we should do. So even though the brunt of your sermon may be about human activity, that does not mean that you don't make room for God. 

In short, if God is not in your sermon, then it is not a sermon, it is a "suggestion." Whether you have a celebrative close or not, I would encourage you to make sure that the "Good News" is clear in the sermon. In addition, who God is and what God does for and in humanity should be just as prominent as your prescriptions for Christian living.

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Find Rest, O My Soul

After I recored Mindful Worship Meditation #1 – A Tree and Its Fruit and distributed it to my Sunday School class, one of the ladies in my class told me that she had shared it with some of her co-workers. One day, one of them was incredibly stressed, so she gave shared it with them as an opportunity to relax and de-stress.

It’s nice to sometimes take a short break in the middle of my workday just to rest, share some time with my Savior, and meditate on His promises of peace and rest. Afterwards, I can then re-engage with my work day with a renewed energy and confidence. I wrote this meditation, Find Rest, O My Soul, to help you do that as well.

I originally wanted to keep it to around ten-minutes long, but I had to make it a little longer to get everything in there that I felt should be there, and not be too rushed, which would have defeated the purpose. I hope you enjoy this guided meditation. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Scriptures in this meditation: Matthew 28:20, Matthew 11:28-30, Exodus 33:14

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We are All Called to be Leaders

Followers of Jesus Christ are all called to be leaders. If a ship didn’t have a captain, the ship would run ashore. If a team didn’t have a coach, they would never win. If a high school class didn’t have a teacher, no one would ever learn.

The one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:8

So what does a leader do?

A leader plans, and has goals for themselves and the ones around them to complete the task at hand.

A leader has great vision of what is possible. A successful football coach believes that their team can win the Super Bowl before the season even starts.

A leader shares their belief with others. If you are leading a study group in one of your classes, sharing your insights and belief that everyone will do well on the test will empower the rest of the group.

A leader gets down to business. A leader actually does what they say they are going to do.

A leader is proud of what they have done. When you are happy with your own actions, and the actions of those you are helping, share what you have accomplished. By sharing you will inspire others to take action themselves, and may even create more leaders.

Being a leader can be a big responsibility, but also a rewarding way to show your love and caring for God and the people around you.

Who do you look to for leadership in your life?

What quality could you share that would help others?

What group of people do you know that need a good leader in their lives?

How could you help these people?

Here is a handout outlining everything above to share with your youth group!

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