02/15/2023
Starting this Sunday, I’m going to add a blog to our church web page each week. Though it’s not a novel idea, it is something that’s been tickling my brain for some time now.
There more than a few Sundays when I sit back and look over the week’s sermon and think, “That’s way too long, I’ve got to cut it back.” And because I’ve prayed through, studied, and word-smithed what’s on the page, it’s a lot harder than it should be to give up a scripture, illustration, or an application of God’s word. If you’ve heard me preach, you know that sometimes those things end up being used in the benediction. (I’ve had a few folks say that I have the longest benedictions that they’ve ever heard.) But even then, there’s bound to be something useful that ends up on the study room floor.
This blog is designed to catch those ‘outtakes’ and transform them into a way to follow up on Sunday’s sermon. You’ve heard me talk the talk, but the more relevant question is whether or not we are going to walk the walk. Another way to say it is: How do I go about applying the teaching or preaching I hear each Sunday to my own life and relationships? James says in the first chapter of his letter, verse 22, “Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” Or as it is traditionally translated, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
I could have named the blog something like, If You Want To Take It One Step Further, or Here’s What You Can Do About it, or Never Forget Pastor Appreciation Sunday, but I settled on One More Thing… In the end, that’s what I’d like to offer my flock—one more idea, one more illustration, one more application that will make it easier for you to live out your faith in a confusing and sometimes hostile world. If it does that, then it will be well worth the effort.
May God bless you now with faith, wrapped in hope, and motivated by love—the kind of love we have been given in Christ Jesus.
Archived Posts
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...
Patience and Trust
Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test. The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.