Well, with Easter Sunday approaching, preaching is on the minds of a lot of us, well, preachers. And through my years in seminary and then full time ministry, a number of books have shaped my understanding of what it means to preach. Namely: what is the purpose of a...
This message required a bit of biblical dexterity. Because when Jesus says in John 19:30 "It is finished," what is completed has its origins in Leviticus 16 (see in sermon below). HOWEVER, during the 10:00 worship service on Sunday, I had neglected to place my marker...
Each morning during Finished Business, the people of Good Shepherd have opened their email inboxes and discovered a daily Scripture, Reflection, and Prayer delivered to them. The written material comes from the our Finished Business Devotion Guides, still available...
It is quite possible to preach a sermon that appears to be from the bible … but is not at all biblical. How do you do that? By taking interesting, provocative, preachable verses, yanking them out of their immediate surroundings in the text, and preaching them as if...
. . . I decided to doodle my Top 10 -- or 15 -- male tennis players of all time. How'd I do?
Last week (Monday, March 27 - Sunday, April 2) had an interesting "full circle" arc to it. Here's what I mean: Monday -- I began the week making a Monday morning visit to a young adult in the behavioral unit of an area hospital. Towards the end of a conversation in...
The message used ... a video montage of Nick Saban & Bill Belichick; a still photo & quote from Hugh Jackman; a demonstration involving Chris Macedo playing Eric Clapton; and an exploration into the strategy and psychology behind Pontius Pilate's question...
In these weeks leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we are exploring that which Jesus finishes. What he is done with. What he is so over. We've seen how he is so over celebrity and talked about how he is done with pirate playing. This Sunday, it will be all...
Below you will find the transcript of Chris Thayer's sermon from this past Sunday, March 26. We diverted from our usual Sunday program in which Zoar Road gets my sermon on hologram (hi def, life-size video). Instead, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the...
For 2017, we have added Staff Seminary to our repertoire of how our staff gathers. What is Staff Seminary? It's a monthly workshop in which our staff receives interactive training in the skills of ministry. We have scheduled ten such gatherings in 2017, and I am...