From Sampler to Sower

“Come Home” a sermon first preached by Pastor Bradley Buhro at Decatur Trinity Church of the Nazarene, Sunday morning, March 12, 2000.

(I used to host this sermon on Geocities.  In light of it’s immenent closure, I’m moving this here.)

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Weekend Teaching Series: Heroes 

Message Title: A Vicious Cycle

Sermon in a Sentence: Don’t let complacency keep you from becoming the Hero God wants you to be.

Text(s): Joshua 23 – Judges 2

Weekend Scale of Difficulty: 1 out of 10, Really, this was an extremely easy night: nothing difficult, a lesson that came together very well, and a great group of students to work with.  I don’t think I’ve ever ranked a Tuesday at 1 out of 10, but I can’t imagine an easier week.

Message Summary:

We’re starting a new series in the Shore, our weekly service for Junior Highers.  It’s been a while since I taught two different series to the two different groups, but different series means I can do a better job at targeting the different age groups.  The new series, Heroes, will be a series of character studies from the book of Judges.  And this week’s lesson was essentially an introduction to the book.

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Mythbusters: Water's Edge

Weekend Teaching Series: Mythbusters: Water’s Edge

Message Title: Myth #5: If you give up on hope, then you’ll be happy.

Sermon in a Sentence: Biblical hope does not disappoint because it is grounded in a God who does not fail.

Text(s): Ecclesiastes 9:3-5, Isaiah 38:18, Romans 5:1-5

Weekend Scale of Difficulty:8 of 10; This week’s lesson incorporated several videos which all had to be cued at the right time, plus shooting the best (and most complicated) of our Mythbusters videos.

Message Summary:

This week we wrap up our Mythbusters series with a sermon on hope. Originally we were going to complete the trilogy of faith, hope and love, but a couple of snow days and the fact that our next series is set to coincide with Lent means we have to cut it short and wrap up this week.

We began by showing a video from eleven72 called Change IS Possible.  It features a guy singing about hope.  Only he realizes as he sings that some people never change, and hoping they will really is meaningless.  The song ends with the line: “There is no hope.  Give up on hope.  If you give up on hope then you’ll be happy. Or whatever.” The video closes with text on the screen encouraging viewers not to give up on hope, but we made sure to stop the video before that.  Our fifth myth was the closing line of the song – “If you give up on hope, then you’ll be happy.”

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Tim Schmoyer at Life in Student Ministry got me thinking recently.  One of his (and my) favorite posts is his article 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write About.  And in that list of ideas for youth ministry bloggers is this nugget at #25: “Sermon presentations versus small group discussion Bible studies.”  That got me thinking about why I do what I do.  Our backbone event is built around the preaching of the Word.  Preaching is central to our youth ministry and the essential core of my calling.

Then again, I don’t know that “versus” is necessarily the right word.  There is a place for both small group discussions and sermon presentations in youth ministry, and both take place as a part of our youth ministry at Water’s Edge.  But they aren’t the same, and – truth be told – if you told me I could only do one or the other, I would choose to preach.

I believe in preaching

Of course such a blanket statement then begs the question “why?”

I’m so glad you asked.

There is a unique and spiritual power that comes with the preaching of God’s Word.  If you don’t believe me, all I need to do is point you to some of the greatest sermons ever preached.  Take for example my favorite sermon of all time, Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” sermon.

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