I read a story about a Jewish man in Hungary who went to his rabbi and complained, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi answered, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man was incredulous, but the rabbi insisted, “Do as I say and come back in a week.” A week later the man returned looking more distraught than before. “We can’t stand it,” he told the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.” The rabbi said, “Go home and let the goat out, and come back in a week.” A week later the man returned, radiant, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat--only the nine of us.”[1]
Read moreHow to Plan to Preach a Series of Sermons
It is important to start early in your planning. Six months in advance will give you time to start reading through the book and even having your devotions from the book from which you will be eventually preaching. This is the method of Jim Rose. Haddon W. Robinson features twelve preachers in Biblical Sermons. Robinson provides a sermon by each speaker. Next, Robinson gives his commentary on the sermon. Finally, Robinson interviews each speaker. The first question in the interview with Rose was: How long does it usually take you to prepare a message? Rose answered:
Read moreWhat if God wrote your Obituary?
Scot McKnight wrote “I have always been intrigued by obituaries. One man’s, who passed away in 2016, says this, ‘he died to avoid having to make a decision in the pending presidential election (click to open).’” Obituaries are like eulogies at funerals. Steven Cole in a sermon “If God Wrote Your Obituary (click to open)” referred to a funeral in which three daughters “got up and read a eulogy about ‘we remember dad.’ They recalled, ‘We remember dad going to the bar and buying a round of drinks for all his buddies. He loved going to the bar! We remember dad going to the market and flirting with all the cute young checkers.’ Basically, they fondly remembered dad as a dirty-minded old drunk!”
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