04/14/2026
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it. I joke with Jessica that I’ll write something like, ‘what Jessica would have mentioned if she’d had more time to think it through.’ Which of course is ridiculous since Jessica is an accomplished pulpiteer and has no need for my commentary to shine light on the gospel.
But Sunday morning before worship I came across an article in the New York Times entitled, Parents, Consider Underachieving. It’s an opinion piece but it is worth your time if you can get the below link to work (I don’t know what requires a subscription and what doesn’t.)
LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/opinion/parenting-kids-burn-out.html
The reason I bring it up—other than recommending something that touches on our current sermon series—Crazy Busy—is because they talk about Maycember (the crazy April/May season in which we try to get everything done before the end of the school year). They suggest a particular video on Youtube that I’d like to also recommend to you. I don’t know the Holderness family but many families follow them on Social Media. This parody of the Earth, Wind, and Fire song, September, is a wonderful illustration of just what Jessica was talking about in her message.
Take a look at:
Archived Posts
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.
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