One More Thing with Pastor Tim Burchill 04.21.2026

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.  It’s one thing to show how unchecked busyness will crowd out the more important things of life, it’s another thing to lead a congregation to take the steps necessary to put more margin in their daily lives.  Preachers often preach for change, but change is almost always hard—even when you know it’s a change that needs to be made.

          A couple of weeks ago, when Pastor Jessica was preaching on the need for sabbath rest, many of us felt convicted to carve out some time from our weekly schedule for rest, recreation, and God.  But I couldn’t help but wonder how many of us would actually follow through and do that.  It’s not something that happens by accident.  It takes intentionality.  It takes pre-planning.  It probably even takes even more than making use of those creative and useful ‘sabbath boxes’ Jessica passed out.

          Here’s an analogy that hit me.  In fact, if I had had more time Sunday, would have worked it into my sermon this last Sunday.  I kept thinking to myself: What would make me take seriously a significant spiritual claim upon my life? What if I knew that my soul would suffer because if I didn’t do something about it?  The point of Sunday’s sermon for instance:  What if I didn’t slow down or quit saying Yes to every good thing in my life?  What if I would lose my joy, ignore the most important things, and cover up the fraying of my soul as a result?

I was wondering what it would take to preach in such a way that those that heard the word would go out and put it in practice.

This is analogy that came to mind:

My doctor told me that at my age I

should be taking a daily vitamin. In fact, she told me which

one I ought to use. And after a few weeks of dithering, I

finally ordered it off Amazon. A few weeks later I got

around to adding it to my daily pill container. Sure, I take it

just about every morning—unless I forget. But imagine if I

had a failing heart and my cardiologist moved heaven and

earth to find a donor who was my match. After a long and

dangerous transplant surgery and weeks and weeks of

recovery, if I was given an anti-rejection medicine and told

that I needed to take one pill twice a day or my body would

likely start to reject my heart and at my age I was not about

to get another one--would I wait to fill my prescription? Do

I fiddle around with getting it in a daily reminder format?

Do I make sure I take them twice a day every day? You

better believe it. If I don’t want my heart might stop

knowing that if it does, I will die.

          It is a rare warning that rises to that kind of radical commitment. At least for me as a preacher. But I firmly believe that trying to live without margins—to live without solid guardrails that protect my time with God and those who matter most to me—has eternal consequences. That is why Jessica and I have put so much energy into this current sermon series, Crazy Busy.  As Jesus was fond of saying, ‘what good does it do to gain the world at the price of your soul?’  I encourage you to go back and watch the first two sermons and stay tuned for what comes next.

          And by the grace of God may we revel in the freedom God has won for us from all that would bind us to anything but himself.