10/22/2025
You Might Be Thinking It’s All About You If…
In working on Sunday’s sermon I asked my computer’s AI if she/he could come up with a few suggestions in answer to the above: You Might be thinking it’s all about you, if…. Some of them are funny, some of them are insightful, and a few of them might make you flinch with a trace of conviction. Here are the best of the bunch. Enjoy!
- You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if your favorite hymn is “How Great I Am.” - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you bow your head to pray and begin with, “Dear Me…” - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you think the sermon was written
specifically to make you uncomfortable. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you measure the success of Sunday worship by
whether you liked the music. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if your prayers sound more like a grocery list than a conversation. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if “Thy kingdom come” quietly translates in your mind
as “My plans succeed.” - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you think God’s will is just a slightly improved version of your will. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you think humility is a spiritual gift you’ve already mastered. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you treat the church like a restaurant and the pastor like the waiter. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you can quote your favorite influencer/political pundit
more easily than Jesus. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you say, “God is good,” mostly when things are going your way. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you’ve never thanked God for something
that didn’t benefit you directly. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you want a Savior but not a Lord. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you like the idea of grace—as long as other
people don’t get too much of it. - You might be thinking it’s all about you...
if you believe Jesus came to make you comfortable,
not to make you new.
Archived Posts
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.
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.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.
When I Don’t Get To Give My Benediction
Yesterday’s sermon talked about how we are in the thrall of self-centeredness—caught in a system that rewards those who climb to the top, even when you have to climb on the back of others. I talked about a famous sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, ....