Festival of the Resurrection – Series A
Our churches ring with that familiar call and response this week.
You have a sermon to write and preach. You are dealing with a mystery no one can fully comprehend, you are exhausted and proclaiming to a congregation which is only virtually there. Feeling any pressure yet? If not, just remember that all your old time members are counting on you to preach the sort of sermon that will make some of these folks want to come back next week.
Let’s take a little of that pressure off.
- The world is preaching strong law for you – war, broken politics, a broken society, and much more are doing some of the heavy lifting for you. We need Easter.
- You don’t need to save the world with this sermon. God will work through it, and while you will do your best, his Spirit will make this work. Count on him.
- You don’t need tell them something new. They are not coming for a new story, but to hear a very old and familiar story. That doesn’t mean you can be stale, but nor does it mean you have to wow them with some insight they have never had before.
- You don’t have to be the last word on Easter. There are six more weeks of this and next year rolls around too. Leave something for the rest of the season and leave something for the next time these guys come to church. Focus on one thing and do it well. Don’t get bogged down by the enormity of this project. That is why there are seven weeks of Easter. It takes time and you have it.
Rejoice. Christ is risen! It is simply a day to be happy.
