Here is a simple three point sermon for you.
The resurrection is good news . . .
1. For Jesus–after all, he was the one who was dead!
2. For creation–it will be transformed into a new heavens and a new earth.
3. For sinners like us–God is making all things new, including you and me.

I preached one of my worst sermons on Easter Sunday seven years ago. On paper, it looked like a masterpiece. It preached like a wounded duck. Here’s what happened.
Ever noticed how many people in the gospels run in response to the news of the resurrection? You’ve got people running to the tomb, from the tomb, […]

Every year my Easter sermon is the hardest one to put together. Any other preachers out there have the same problem?
Right now I’m supposed to be working on my sermon but I’m putting it off.
If I can get some work done on my sermon I’ll come back and tell you about how one of the […]

Here’s the text of the message from this morning. I usually don’t prepare a manuscript, but this one was a little different. Scroll down to the end of the post for the audio version.
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I got an email from an old friend late last week. He tells a great story. I thought I’d share it with […]

 Waiting in the Dark: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Listen up preacher geeks. I’ve got a book recommendation for you.
Check out Chris Erdman’s Countdown to Sunday.
I usually read about one book on preaching a year and this is my book for 2007.
It’s really a collection of essays on preaching that are loosely related. There is some practical text to sermon stuff and there’s some […]

We’re getting ready to head back to Tulsa from Abilene. We’ve been here for the Lectureship. Last night I spoke from Micah 4:1-5. I’m terrible at knowing how what I said landed with my audience, so the best I can say about how things went last night is that I said what I believe […]

To the anonymous person who sent me a copy of Cat Quotations: A Collection of Lovable Cat Pictures and the Best Cat Quotes after I launched a particularly funny “I don’t like cats” joke in last week’s sermon, I say, “Thank you.”
It is always good to know that someone out there is engaged by the […]

We had a great vacation. We spent a few days in Gulf Shores, Alabama and then a few in Panama City Beach, Florida. You can check out pics and vacation stories here, here, and here.  Yes, my wife now has a blog.  Worlds are colliding!
While away I preached at the Palo Alto Church in Panama […]

Sticky ideas are understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thoughts and behavior.
The Curse of Knowledge keeps our ideas from being sticky.
The Heath brothers give us six qualities of sticky ideas. They’ve given us a cute little acronym to help them (ahem) stick:  SUCCESs
Simple–the core message that is compact and profound. It functions more like a […]

I’ve been spending some time with what I think is a pretty important book. It’s important if you teach or preach or do fund raising or blog or do anything else that depends on the communication of a message.
The book is Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath […]