My Sermon Video: How to Respond to Disaster
This is a short sermon I prepared and delivered during my seminary education. It addresses the spiritual foundation we need in times of disaster to hold our life securely and the benefits of having the correct foundation. It draws from the themes and overall message of the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, as well as from Jeremiah 17.
I counsel victims of disaster and crime as a part of Victim Relief Ministries, and this sermon is based on my experience as a chaplain as well as the counsel of the Scripture. I exhort anyone in the counseling role to avoid providing answers for those in crisis, and rather to exercise a ministry of love by being present and caring for the person.
Sermon: How to Respond to Disaster
Herein lies one of the life messages that God has written on my heart over the course of the past year. When I chose this topic for my second sermon for Preaching III, I wanted to allow God to speak more fully into my life after having experienced a lot of significant events in 2010 and 2011:
Last spring, I lost my cousin in a motorcycle wreck.
Since the beginning of the year, I‘ve watched and prayed from afar as one of my fellow DTS graduates cancelled Ph.D plans to fight cancer.
This summer Stacy and I spent five days counseling victims of the tornado in Hackleburg, Alabama.
This fall I’ve been on a number of deployments as a Chaplain for crime events in the city of Dallas, including a homicide at a local bank.
Needless to say, seminary deals with the tough questions of life, but I wanted more than complex theological answers about sin—I wanted to formulate a message that I felt Scripture itself compellingly communicates to us when we experience tragedy. So many sermons I hear on this topic tend to shock us by delving into the messy details of the story, say a few things about God, and then end with a fluffy, feel-good ending of someone who experienced the tragedy and came out better. That can inspire us, but it usually does not ground us God’s words to us. It just leaves us feeling good for the person whose story we’ve heard.
God has a better message for us than that. God has a message that applies to all of us—not just those of us that come out of the tragedy blessed. A message that leaves the Words of the Bible ringing in our ears, so that we can hear God when the storm hits our lives.
Brace yourself…this is not a feel good message…it’s a challenge.
Don’t argue with me…argue with the Bible…that’s the source of the message.
Don’t just listen to me…my message is just part 1 of what God says to us in disaster, the essential part. There’s a lot more that needs to be said, and should be considered. If you need more answers, consider reading C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain or another relevant book.
And finally…send me feedback. Your responses will make me a better preacher!
Sermon Exegetical & Theological Outlines (What the Bible says)
Sermon Homiletical Outline (How I present what God is saying)
Sermon Typed Transcript and Audio (My Presentation)
Preaching Genesis 25–Isaac and Rebekah
My final sermon of the semester was on the text of Genesis – the birth narrative of Jacob and Esau. It’s a simple passage, but one that created a lot of controversy in my class. It’s a text with many meanings…
The birth of Jacob and Esau is preceded by the prophesy that the “older shall serve the younger”. In the immediate text, this response is given to Rebekah after she inquires of the Lord regarding the pain that she is enduring in pregnancy. The prophecy in this respect is comforting: God assures Rebekah that her pregnancy is going properly—she will certainly bear children.
However, in the larger context of Genesis and in the mind of the Israelite audience, this prophecy also indicates that God is going to work through the younger son—Jacob/Israel, instead of the older son. AND, in the larger context of the Bible through the prophet Malachi and the letter to the Romans, this prophecy emphasizes God’s sovereignty in being able to direct circumstances as He desires: having control over and a knowledge of the future.
I had a hard time preaching the second meaning of the text in my sermon this semester—I didn’t feel that it represented the meaning of my specific passage: Genesis 25:19-26. I wanted my audience to walk away from the sermon thinking: Genesis 25 teaches Isaac and Rebekah’s faith and God’s comfort. I felt that if they walked away thinking: Genesis 25 teaches God’s sovereignty, they weren’t really getting the main point of the text—they were instead getting the main point of the whole Bible’s treatment of the text, or the main point of another text. I just could not see God’s main point in Genesis as God wishing to declare, “I’m in control”—I think we hear that message in the book that long before chapter 25.
Don’t get me wrong: you can use Genesis 25 to preach God’s sovereignty, but I think the audience should really walk away thinking that your main text was something other than Genesis 25—they should hear your main text as Malachi 1’s prophecy, “I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau” or Romans 9’s quotation of the text as it says, “…there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER ." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED , BUT ESAU I HATED."”
Anyway—you’ve heard this rant before…perhaps my sermon will convince you. I hope you like the fruits of my labors, shared below…
My Sermon Preparation Documents: (Click to Download)
The specific way I chose to illustrate the passage – My Homeletical Sermon Outline
The final result: My sermon audio – Version 1 – Version 2
My sermon script – click below to read…
Preaching the Gospel of Mark
Preaching is one of those classes where I am challenged to put all the things I have learned together in order to teach in a way that reflects my knowledge of the original text, my understanding of the story of the entire Bible, my heart for the audience, and my skills as a communicator.
The key questions I must ask are:
(1) “What is the original author trying to communicate to his audience?”
(2) “What is the universal principle in the author’s message?”
(3) “How can I challenge my contemporary audience to apply this in a specific area of their life?”
Studying the gospel of Mark for this particular assignment, I was astounded at the level of irony that he writes into the stories early in his gospel. It appears to me that much like modern commercials, Mark used the “shock factor” to get his audience’s attention on a critically important issue: a person’s willingness to consider Jesus’ claims to be God is necessary for them to understand the gospel.
I hope you like the fruits of my labors, shared below…
My Sermon Preparation Documents: (Click to Download)
The breakdown of the passage – My Exegetical Outline (page 1)
& the general principle we can apply to all situations – My Theological Outline (page 2)
The specific way I chose to illustrate the passage – My Homeletical Sermon Outline
The final result: My sermon audio
My sermon script – click below to read…
Understanding the book of Proverbs
One of my biggest reasons for surfing the blogosphere is to find help in understanding and communicating the truth of Scripture. For that reason, I am forced to sift through the confusing, the poorly written, and the 'attempting to sound like an expert' posts of others on a daily basis. In all my searching, I occasionally run across the authentic, the deeply-thoughtful, and the extremely helpful. Today I need to share one such treasure of posts with you.
I spent the last semester preaching passages from the book of Proverbs for class. I found the process of study and communication deeply challenging, and deeply humbling. I realized just how ignorant I really am regarding the book of Proverbs, along with many other books of the Old Testament. So when Soveriegn Grace Ministries posted a guide on understanding Proverbs based on their summer sermon series on the book, I was ecstatic. Links to books, charts, and sermons on the subject are priceless treasures for me.
I hope you will join me in appreciating the fruit of their labors, even if you just take time to download and listen to the first sermon. Resources are here. the first sermon is here.
Thanks Sovereign Grace!!!
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