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| This dedication of the compost tumbler took place at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, ELCA. |
I always hear from members and friends after a sermon, and that is not required or expected. They express appreciation for the sermon, in various ways and at different times.
Nothing is quite as motivating as having people respond that way. I look ahead at the next set of readings and read the Luther sermon and Lenski.
One listener took the Greek class, so I often post a verse in Greek, with some explanations. I hear back, "Thanks for the Greek today."
Yale Divinity hosts the famous Lyman Beecher lectures on sermons, so we attended one. I noticed that recent titles have more to do with Mother Earth than the Gospel. A new YDS building is - wait for it - as environmentally positive as it can be. I hope they dedicate the compost tumbler at the chapel. LSTC did, and I was moved to tears - tears of laughter.
Alas, today the soi-disant* conservative Lutherans continue to run their success plans, as if I ordered them to face their failures by humiliating themselves in public. The ELS-WELS-LCMS troops remind me of the funeral where no one wanted to admit what really happened. Now emails are headed in various directions, "Who told? Did you? I sure didn't."
There are only two parts to the sermon:
- Describing what is actually revealed in the text;
- Explaining how this relates to faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The sermon should be written out in advance, but not read to the audience. Nothing is quite so soporific as hearing a sermon read word for word. The Scriptural text alone is enough to serve as the outline when the sermon is being preached.
Borrowed sermons from another person (and even a different denomination!) are lifeless. So are recycled sermons.
Pastor Mike - who makes Mark and Avoid Jeske look modest - says, "I am just going to talk about Jesus." Behind the fake modesty is a fear of dealing with Scriptural doctrine. His answer to the creative forms of marriage today is - "Seize the middle!"
If ministers cannot teach the Word of God, they should become full-time life coaches.
* The word means so-called. One of my classmates likes to kid me about my extensive knowledge of French.
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| Foul errors have followed, like stampedes of vermin. "Today we will introduce some of our new Calvinist hymns that we are renting on an annual basis." |
