Sermons "In the Barrel"

In the old days preachers talked about having a sermon "in the barrel." That usually meant that after many years of preaching, he or she had written so many sermons they could always pull one out they had preached before, dust it off, update a few illustrations, and use it again. This was especially the case in the days when preachers moved to a new church every three or four years. They could pull out a whole bunch of "old" sermons and preach them again at their new church.

Personally, I've never had much luck recycling my sermons. I've tried, but either what I had to say the first time was not very good, or else what I said really just doesn't seem as applicable now as it did back then; so preaching from the barrel just doesn't work for me. To me, preaching is a moment in time where the text and the preacher and the congregation and the Holy Spirit all come together and something great happens (hopefully!).

I have begun to experience some interesting side effects of preaching for seventeen years however. When I decide on a text and start studying it, trying to discern what I believe God is saying in that particular text to our particular congregation, I often search on the Internet for ideas and illustrations to augment my own study. These searches are usually specific once I get an idea to preach on, for instance I'm preaching this Easter from 1 Peter 1:3-9 where Peter describes the basis of our hope as believers is Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead. The main idea of my message is how we need hope more than ever today and the hope we need is available to us through Jesus' resurrection and that hope is applied to our life when we place our faith in Him and become part of God's family. My search terms this week were something like, "sermon, 1 Peter 1:3, hope, resurrection." When I searched using those words I came across a link that looked very promising - whoever wrote the blurb my google search uncovered was really thinking like me. It was only when I got to the website where the quote came from that I realized the "guy" was me from a previous sermon I'd written. Ha ha... that guy isn't so smart after all.

Like I say, this is happening to me more and more. I suppose it's only normal too. I have hundreds of sermons online now and since we all have lenses through which we interpret Scripture, if you stick to a text long enough, and really pray through it, it only makes sense that what you find there would be similar to what you have previously discovered when studying that text.

So why not just preach the old sermon that's in the barrel to begin with? Well, like I said, the impressions God gives are often similar, but they are also usually different enough that you are really expressing a totally different thought or making a totally different point of application when preaching on the passage this time. Scripture is like that; it is so full of meaning and application.

The good news this Wednesday afternoon is that I have all three of my messages for this Easter weekend done! I'm preaching about the cross on Good Friday, specifically about one of Jesus' sayings from the cross: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). At our Easter Sunrise service I'm preaching about the women going to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body and the disciples' odd reaction to the news from the women that "He is risen!" (Luke 24:6). And finally, I'm preaching the text I mentioned above from 1 Peter for the "main event," our 10:30am Easter worship celebration. The theme of that message is the hope Jesus' resurrection brings; it changes everything!

It is going to be a great Easter. My daughter Amy will be home from L.A., my church and I are going to invite a horde of unbelievers to worship this week, the weather is going to cooperate - and, most importantly, I am convinced God is going to show up in a big way. I can hardly wait!

I trust that each of you reading this are also looking forward to a joyous celebration of our Savior's resurrection this Sunday. May God grant you a meaningful Easter where His hope comes alive in you in new and powerful ways.