My last post talked about getting to that one thing in a passage of Scripture that is practically begging to be preached.Once I settle on that, it's time to bring it to life.That's what happens on the sheet of paper to the right.I get the main idea and then do a solo...
So let's say I've got a series. I've even got a title or a starting point for a particular message.Where do I go from there?The bible passage itself. In general I use one passage rather than collecting several unrelated verses and making a sermon out of them. It's...
People often ask me where ideas for messages -- and even the messages themselves -- come from.I even get asked if the Methodist Church gives its pastors the topics to address each week (the answer to that is a most definite "no.")So where do sermons come from?For some...
It's the first series we've ever done that has its own website. And based on the traffic there, a lot of you are eager to deal with secrets in healthy, hopeful ways. That's what we'll do, starting with the First Secret EVER. Sunday. 8:30. 10:00. 11:30.
As 2008 winds down, I find myself especially proud to have come from this family on the left.The photo was taken at my nephew's wedding in Highlands, NC back in August.Pictured are the seven Davis children with our remarkable mother in the middle. Betty Davis is 93,...
We had post-it notes all over the Worship Center on Christmas Eve.The theme had to do with "remembering" -- marking the interventions of God in your life.As a response, we invited the people to write down God's interventions on post-it notes (we put three in every...
Christmas Eve growing up . . .With such a large family we drew names. In the early years (before I was born), the name drawing gift would be the only one people would give and receive. In the later years, the name drawing gift became the best gift you'd give or...
In the middle of Christmas, please pray for 13-year-old Connor McKemey.On Sunday he was severely burned in an accident you can read about here.Both Connor and his mother Karin are receiving treatment at a burn unit facility in Augusta, Georgia.The McKemeys have been...
As many of you know by now, President-elect Obama has chosen Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and The Purpose-Driven Life fame to deliver the invocation at the January 20 inauguration. As you also know, the reaction from some groups has not been positive. I'd direct...
The last phrase of Luke 2:7 is one of the most familiar -- and misunderstood -- sections of Scripture: "for there was no room in the inn."This Sunday, we'll remove some of the sentimentality from those words. We'll see them for what they really say -- in all their...