Assuming you take two weeks off a year (can I recommend you take even more weeks off from at least the pulpit?), you probably preach fifty sermons a year. Do you have a Sunday evening service as well? Then make that a hundred sermons. Wednesdays too? Now we’re looking at 150 sermons a year!
Whether you’re preaching 50 or 150 times a year, my guess is unless you’re slowly going through all 150 psalms, at some point during your sermon planning you look into your well of ideas . . . and it is bone dry. By no means do we want to minimize the power of the Gospel stories, or Paul’s Holy Spirit–inspired letters, or the miracles of Exodus, or anything else found in God’s message to his people, but sometimes we can’t help but think that we seem to just be repeating ourselves and going back to the same ol’ standbys. Is there anything left to speak on that is new? Anything unique?
I’m glad you asked. Because yes, I can promise you there is ALWAYS something unique you can share with your congregation—you!
Absolutely, God speaks to us mostly through his eternal Word. The Bible never has been and never will be outdated or without something to communicate to us through our Creator. But God also has a history of speaking to his people through a burning bush, through a donkey, through dreams . . . and through his children. Through you.
What has God been doing in your life lately? What has he been showing you through your time in his Word? What ups and downs in your life’s journey have you been experiencing recently? In what ways has God been moving in your life lately that perhaps wasn’t done merely for you, but so that you would make him known further and bring glory to his name by sharing it and being real with others?
Remember, once upon a time, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, and Peter were just . . . well, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, and Peter. Normal, ordinary human beings living the lives God laid before them. And just as we certainly look to God’s work in their lives for inspiration in sermons, we can do the same in our own. In yours.
Here in the twenty-first century where everyone is out to provide the next hashtag trend, the next buzzword, the next idea or method that everyone will be talking about as the next big thing, there is still one extremely uniquely individual idea that no one else has in their wheelhouse to talk about—you!
Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, his most recent being All You Need to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture. He also writes at BibleInPopCulture.com and can be found on Twitter under the name @PopCultureKevin.