the church geek

1.) Jenell Paris, a blogger I ran across a while ago and whose voice I’ve come to appreciate, offers a post on faith and grief.

2.) Christine Sine offers a few reflections on a book she is reading about the crucifixion - the question the book raises is “if early Christian art does not focus on the crucifixion, why are we so preoccupied with the cross today?” I’ll reserve comment on the hypothesis until I read the book, but I do like the conclusion that Sine offers.

3.) Rob, a friend from seminary days, is offering the chance for you to work on the world’s first open source sermon. Interesting idea. It will be great to see how it comes together.

4.) Want a simple way to explain the faith? This is a pretty good start. It sure beats the bridge diagram.

5.) Love this picture. For some reason it looks sort of old-timey, like something my grandmother might have had on her wall.

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Countdown to Sunday: A Daily Guide for Those Who Dare to Preach by Chris Erdman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
My all time favorite book on pastoral ministry is the book Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry by William Willimon. Chris Erdman’s work on preaching reads very much like Willimon’s work.

This is the book I needed at this time in my ministry. I’ve done a lot of thinking and struggling over the first three years of my ministry on the place and purpose of preaching. In a world of preaching to meet felt needs, Erdman offers meaningful reminders regarding the centrality of the biblical text and that the essential purpose of the text is to form the people of God.

The book is not a sit down and read through from cover to cover sort of book, but rather an offering of meditations on the purpose and role of preaching within the context of the people of God. Especially helpful are the chapters that offer a glimpse into the way Erdman prepares to preach the text…a helpful and simple structure that any “busy” preacher could easily adapt.

If you are tired of your message preparation usurping the actual intent of the biblical text then this book is for you.


View all my reviews.

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I have written here in the past about how over the first couple years of my ministry I switched from primarily being a lectionary preacher to being a sermon series preacher. I made the switch primarily because I was feeling as if there was more energy and creativity when I preached a sermon series as opposed to preaching from the lectionary.

That was true for quite some time, but now I think that perhaps I am swinging in the other direction.

I’ve been finding that with the sermon series, I don’t stick very close to the text. In fact the text becomes somewhat ancillary to the sermon. With the types of topical sermon series I’ve done as of late, the starting point for the sermon is often “What do I want to say this Sunday?” not “What does the text have to say to us this Sunday?”

Perhaps I’m just hungry for some good scripture study and honest wrestling with the text. I realize that there are lots of other ways I could do that, like a sermon series on a particular book, or preaching on a set of stories based on a particular character in the bible, but for now I think I’ll go back to the lectionary and see how that sits with me for a while.

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This is the fifth sermon in a six part sermon series on discipleship. I preached this on July 20th. The text was Acts 13: 1-5

People always seem a little bit surprised when they get in our car and discover that we have not just one but several Johnny Cash CDs. They are even more surprised when they find out that Johnny is one of my all time favorite musical artists.

Now some of you here might be able to think back to Johnny’s early stuff. Classics like Ring of Fire, I Walk the Line, and Men in Black. While that old stuff is great, where Johnny really excels is in the recordings he made in the last couple of years of his life.

I’m not kidding when I say that these are some of the best albums of any recording artist out there. In his old age, Johnny found a way of connecting to the reality of life, belting out some of the most emotional and spiritual recordings out there.

One of my favorite songs is on Johnny’s album called American III. It’s called Nobody and instead of trying to sing it to and doing a really bad impression of Johnny Cash, I’m gonna play a bit of it here for you: (Click here for the song.)

Lori will tell you that I always break a smile and sing along, every time I hear that one line:

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I had a really hard time with my sermon this last week. I preached on two 1 Peter passages 1 Peter 2:18-25; 3:8-12 and addressed the practices of non-violence and non-retaliation.

The essential core of my sermon came from these verses:

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps…When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

In my sermon I pointed out that as I hear about events that are happening in the news I’m more and more concerned that we are spiraling into a society where violence and retaliation are becoming the norm. In contrast, Peter offers a different model for Christians, one in which these two things are not the norm. Peter clearly expects Christians to live by a different standard than the world around them.

Here’s the basic problem I’ve been dealing with: I offered no caveats in my sermon. Now, I did that for the very specific reason that I didn’t want to water down the message by saying it applies to this and this, but it doesn’t apply to that and that. I didn’t want people trying to figure out the various loopholes that might be available to get out of the difficulty of the message.

But that choice of mine may have come at an expense. It may very well have meant that someone who is suffering in an inappropriate and abusive relationship (though I’m not aware that anyone is in our congregation) or someone who has suffered some form of abuse (which is more likely in my congregation) may very well have heard the message, “Just endure it. It’s your calling as a Christian.”

This raises in my mind an ethical concern in preaching. I don’t remember this sort of issue or concern being raised or addressed in seminary, but I think it happens all the time. At the expense of making one important point, you may very well have to minimize contrasting viewpoints. So how do you go about weighing those things and determining the greater good?

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1.) Carol has some wonderful and moving thoughts on why pastors stay in the ministry in spite of some of the troubles and heartaches.

2.) Minnesota pastor, Greg Boyd, has been doing some thoughtful reflections on God and violence in the Old Testament.

3.) The most recent Christian Century has a great article on the “handshake ritual” following the morning worship service. Read it if you want to know what goes through a pastor’s mind on a Sunday morning following the service.

4.) I believe in the power of story and have been trying more and more to frame my sermons around narrative. This article points to the power of story to win a war.

5.) Here is another photo I’ve been enjoying this week. I’m waiting for some blooming like this to happen around here - though my sinuses aren’t particularly looking forward to it!!

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Yesterday, after watching the great Kansas/Davidson men’s basketball game I did some reflecting on the sermon I preached earlier in the day. As I thought about the game and about my sermon, I decided that my preaching suffers from one problem: It feels as if I seldom put together a complete game.

Sometimes, like Davidson, I can put in a good 33-35 minute effort, but I can’t seem to finish it off. Other times I have a good start and a great finish, but I have a lapse of 5 or 10 minutes in the middle. No matter how it happens, I seem unable to put in a full 40. (Now don’t worry this is a metaphor, my friends, I seldom preach for more than 20 minutes….)

More often than not I have a really good beginning; a story that catches people’s attention or a joke that gets at the heart of my sermon. Sometimes, but not as often, I have a great ending, something that sums things up and hammers home my point. Occasionally, I have a perfect story in the middle that captures the essence of my message.

But it seems like I’m seldom able to get all three phases of the sermon going all at the same time. Often I find the endings of my sermons to be too abrupt, like I just ran out of things to say and I’m not quite sure how to end it and tie it all together. Other times, especially when it feels like I have to do some background work explaining a particular scripture passage, it seems like I get bogged down in the middle.

I’m not really sure how to correct this problem, or maybe it doesn’t need correcting and it’s just a matter of my own perception.

As for yesterday’s sermon, I was away from the office for two days. While I did a lot of reading during the week in preparation, I didn’t actually sit down and start writing until Saturday (definitely not my preferred preparation process…) Sometimes that means I don’t have the time to find a good illustration or two, or I’m desperately trying to tie things together and my thought process is too slow to work under the time pressure. Sometimes it’s just delivery; I haven’t adequately gone over the sermon enough times to pull off a great delivery.

All that reminds me that the best strategy for me is to get started with my reading and my study on Monday…so I’m signing off for now and getting to work.

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I realize it’s Tuesday and this “Meaty Monday” comes about 24 hours too late, we took a day off yesterday to rest up a bit after a busy Holy Week.

I’ve decided to wade in a little bit into the controversy between Barack Obama and his long-time minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright. These are just a few loosely connected thoughts from my perspective:

1.) I can’t remember who it was that said this, but there is a popular saying out there that the preacher’s job is to “comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.” I take that to mean that we shouldn’t always be in a position of agreement with our minister. He or she should be saying things that we may not agree with and that will challenge us.

2.) While I think Rev. Wright used a poor choice of words in saying “God damn America,” the whole of his message, from Sunday to Sunday, is what really needs to be judged not just a sound bite or two taken out of context. Also, it’s not just the preacher’s words that need to be evaluated. The preacher is more than words, the preacher is the sum of his/her character. How do they love their people? How does the message of their life compliment the words from the pulpit? Those are the questions we need to be asking. It’s quite possible to disagree with things said from the pulpit and still respect, love and stand up for your minister because of the integrity of the message and the entire package of the minister’s life.

3.) I had the chance to hear Dr. Wright preach a year or two ago at Dubuque Seminary. I walked away thinking “Wow, that sure was a challenge.” He said some things from the pulpit that I found difficult to hear and I am sure that others found difficult as well, especially considering the fact that he was preaching to a predominantly white, middle class, and male audience. But I also came away thinking that most of what he said was truthful, honest, spot on, and needed to be said.

4.) And speaking of being truthful, I’m going to raise some hackles with this one: Obama’s church is often criticized for being “Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian.” What’s the big deal??? I mean think about most churches in America: Aren’t most of our churches “Unashamedly White?” they just don’t go around advertising it. Really, now, who is being more honest and truthful?

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When I was in seminary (I graduated about three years ago), I was all fired up about preaching from the Lectionary. There were a number of things that appealed to me about the lectionary and preaching from it:

* I liked the idea of having a standard list of texts to preach from carefully chosen by the lectionary committee. In theory that would ensure that I’d preach from texts I might not normally chose to preach from, and that over an extended length of time my congregation would hear from more of the Bible than they otherwise might.

* I liked the idea of having to struggle with a particular text that happened to be placed in front of me for that particular week. It would force me to focus and hone in on that passage and really wrestle with its meaning, struggling to hear a “word from the Lord” for my congregation in that week.

* I liked the regularity of the liturgical year, the various seasons of the church calendar, and the subsequent texts built around themes for those seasons. There is definitely something to establishing a regular rhythm for our common life together.

While I liked those things in theory, in practice, the lectionary just didn’t work out for me. Here’s what I found out:

* Sure, I’d learn from and wrestle with any given text, but when it came down to it, I had a hard time figuring out what the message of the text was for my congregation in that place and time. It almost seemed as if lectionary preaching was out of rhythm with what I was sensing the congregation really needed to hear.

* I also didn’t gain much energy or enthusiasm for preaching. In fact I often found it to be a dull and lifeless exercise. I also had a hard time finding sermon illustrations to fit with the text or creative entry points that would help the congregation enter into the text.

So, now over the last year or so I’ve gone primarily to preaching sermon series. In doing so, I have preached on a number of different themes. Focusing on things like: NT encounters with Jesus, living the spiritual life, Psalms you should know, questions of faith, the Apostle’s Creed.

I love it! I have found more energy and enthusiasm in my preaching. I feel more creative and as if the Spirit is more present in my preparation and in the preaching. I have had to wrestle with issues and doctrines of our faith in order to teach/preach them. I do more reading in preparation for my sermons. I have an easier time with illustrations and preaching paths.

I also think I’ve connected better with my congregation as a result. And more importantly, I think I’ve helped my congregation connect better with God and with others.

So far, this has been the only drawback I have identified: I just don’t end up doing as much in depth study on a particular passage. Unless I’m preaching through a book of the Bible or on a series of passages, my sermons are less tied to and drawn from a particular text. Which means, I don’t do as much exegetical work as I should and that bothers me a great deal!

Have you struggled with lectionary preaching? Have you ventured out beyond it?

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I’ve finally put together my outline for a Lenten Sermon Series. As I questioned what to do for Lent, I found myself intrigued by Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll’s idea for a sermon series called “Ask Anything.”

I opened it up to the congregation to participate by submitting questions. While I didn’t have as many people submit questions as I might have hoped, the questions I did get from folks were excellent. I’m also glad I didn’t get the sorts of questions Driscoll got on his blog!! So, here is my outline for my Lenten sermon series called “Faithful Questions.”

Feb 10 – How do we figure out God’s direction for our life?
God has given each one of us many different abilities and skills. How do we determine God’s direction for our life and how do we know how God wants us to use what we have been given?

Feb 17 – How does prayer work?
If two of us pray to God and we pray for opposite things, which side wins? What about when we bring something to God in prayer: when is it time for us to ‘let go and let God?’

Feb 24 – Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why would a loving God allow challenges to afflict a person who has a tremendous Christian faith? In general why is it that bad things happen to us?

Mar 2 – Is the Bible God’s ‘final’ word?
Does God evolve and/or does our understanding of God evolve? If so, should our Bible, which we call “God’s word,” be updated?

Mar 9 – How much faith is enough?
Can our faith in God grow or lessen? If it lessens are we farther from God? If it grows are we closer? How do we know when we have “enough” faith?

Mar 16 – As Christians, how should we ‘talk’ about sin?
Should we ever confront another Christian who sins? Can we address sin with another Christian without condemning them?

That should keep me busy for the next month and a half…

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As a pastor I need to be feed too, so I’m currently listening to some sermons in a series by Rob Bell called “God is Green.” Wonderful stuff from one of the best communicators of the Word out there. You can access his sermons here.

Also look for a book brief in the next couple of days on his book “Sex God.”

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Hey it’s summer, and I’m looking for an idea for a “fun” summer sermon series. Last summer I did a series on “Psalms Everyone Should Know.” I really loved it!

I’ve been toying with doing one on either the Apostle’s Creed or the Lord’s Prayer. While they are something I should tackle here soon, they just don’t seem like really fun ideas for the summer.

Any thoughts?

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As a result of a recent visit to Solomon’s Porch and recent experience in my own worship context, I posted some thoughts and concerns about making sure all folks are able to engage in efforts to break down the barrier between pulpit and pew and to create a more conversational preaching style. Check it out over at Presbymergent.

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A few months ago, I wrote a post about an article called “Preaching as Practice” which I had read in “Congregations” from the Alban Institute.

Since then, I’ve been slowly working at trying to break down the barrier between the pulpit and the congregation. So to start off a few of my recent sermons, I’ve thrown in a poll asking questions like “Which do you prefer Easter or Christmas?” “Who likes chocolate over vanilla ice cream?” All questions were somehow related to the sermon.

On Sunday, I got brave and planted a music stand outside of the pulpit right on our main floor. With my manuscript I preached from there.

I started my sermon by saying, “Recall a time when you have been a recipient of generosity or hospitality.” I gave them all a few moments to think about it and then asked if anyone would be willing to share a 2-3 sentence story with the congregation.

After a few seconds of fear and trepidation, “Oh no, no one is going to bite!” a brave soul stood up and shared a great story and another followed right after that.

I also asked a few questions during my sermon, and had some great responses. One of the questions was directly related to the text, so I had to take a moment to encourage everyone to have the story (we print the text in the bulletin) in front of them.

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Recently I read an article that intrigued me, called “Preaching as Practice: Techniques to Help Your Whole Congregation Share Their Faith during Your Sermon.” It is in the most recent Congregations journal published by the excellent Alban Institute.

The basic premise of the article is that if we move to a more interactive style of preaching, the congregation will begin to realize that they too have something worthwhile to say about their faith. Such a move would make for a much more dynamic and participatory worship service as well as encourage the congregation to see that the sermon is not exclusively the work or words of the Pastor.

But of course, we all think that developing a more interactive preaching style would require a HUGE leap of faith, both for the preacher as well as for the congregation. But this Alban article says it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a logical progression of four small steps that the pastor and congregation can begin to take together:

1. Take a vote - We all know how to vote; we’re asked to do it all the time. So why shouldn’t the task of preaching also include a vote taking process to get the congregation involved: For example you could ask “Would you rather have Christmas or Easter?” Ask for and encourage a show of hands for each option. Be confident and encouraging especially if the response seems kind of weak.

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