02/24/2026
Good Stuff that Didn’t Make the Cut
I liked what I’d put together below, but ran out of time to share in Sunday’s sermon. Remember we were talking about the Old Adam and the New Adam, Jesus. It was in the context of how Jesus’ death brings us closer—at one—with God.
The apostle John never says, “God required this to balance the scales.” Instead, he frames the cross as glorification. “When I am lifted up,” Jesus says, “I will draw all people to myself.” The lifting up is both crucifixion and revelation.
So what is God saying?
· This is what my love looks like.
· This is how I deal with enemies.
· This is how far I will go to remain faithful to you.
· This is what power looks like when it is truly divine.
If the New Adam theme is in play, then the cross becomes:
God showing us what true humanity looks like when it trusts completely. Adam grasps. Jesus yields.
God is saying: “This is the human life I intended from the beginning.”
Archived Posts
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.