Category: Worship
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Sermon Preparation
So, preachers, raise the standard of your preaching! How? My advice is planning and preparation. You may not like MY process. But, you do need a process. Plan as far ahead as you possibly can. Take time – big chunks of time – to study and prepare. Yes, your spiritual…
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How the Birthday Cake Ruined the Church…
I’m not questioning our appetite for excellence. I’m challenging our consumeristic expectations and demands. If you want something to be excellent, then YOU make it excellent. And, just because the world is willing to cater to your demands for convenience and customization, don’t bring that expectation to church.
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Preparing for Easter
If you don’t preach, you might be surprised to learn that writing sermons for Easter and Christmas Eve are very difficult. Why? Everybody already knows the stories. Even if you’ve never walked into a church before, Easter and Christmas are still likely to be stories you have some degree of…
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Do this…
Today is Maundy Thursday – the day we annually remember Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. The word “maundy” simply means command. We “do this in remembrance” of Jesus – sharing bread and juice/wine with each other, representing his body and blood – because he commanded us to. Today is…
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Pre-Easter Pondering
I know it’s not Easter yet. Easter is still a few days away. Before Easter, we still have Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We can’t just skip to Easter, bypassing all that led to Easter. But, Easter is on my mind – probably because it’s the biggest…
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Refreshing
I had the privilege of teaching my church’s confirmation class about the Sacraments this morning. When I teach about Baptism, which is one of our two Sacraments in the United Methodist Church, I often ask, “What is water used for?” I’m looking for three answers, each that help us understand…
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Thin Places
As I was reading this morning, I came across this statement in James K. A. Smith’s, You Are What You Love… “We might say the sacramental power of Christian worship “enchants” our everyday lives, reminding us that the world we inhabit is not flattened “nature” but rather a creation charged with…
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See Me Through
I was recently given an incredible new worship CD, called, “Able”, by Newspring Worship (Thanks Carol!). I highly recommend it! The second song on the CD is “See Me Through.” The lyrics are… When the worries of the world are on me Your Spirit breathes and leave me longing For…
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