Lately, I’ve been feeling God nudging me to slow down. And that’s when I stumbled on a beautiful and short documentary called Godspeed. This documentary follows Matt Canlis–a young pastor who wanted to achieve great things for the Kindom of God. But as he was preparing to graduate seminary, his mentor, Eugene Peterson, gave him some wise words that put him on a different path in life and in ministry.

Eugene Peterson told him, “Go somewhere where God might do something, but you won’t get any credit for it.”

So, he and his wife moved to Scotland and began to slow down. They began moving at God’s speed.

The documentary is 30 minutes, and while that might sound like a big chunk of time from your day, if you’re in ministry, it’ll be worth it.

The post Slowing Down appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

“If you can learn to do this one thing, I guarantee you’ll get more responses from your sermons.”

When one of my mentors said this to me over coffee about a year ago, I listened intently. It sounded like he was about to tell me a closely guarded secret that people, including my seminary professors, had been keeping from me.

“Learn to preach without notes. It won’t necessarily lead to you preaching better content, but it will lead to a deeper connection.”

I thought about his words, admitted my fears, and committed to making it happen. After a year of preaching without notes, I’ve discovered he was right.

My sermons now connect with my congregation in a way they never did when I had my rehearsed manuscript. I receive more positive feedback than ever before. People often tell me what they’ve been thinking about the sermon weeks after I’ve preached it. And stories about people being “doers of the Word” are becoming more and more frequent.

My mentor didn’t give me a handy ten steps to learn how to preach without notes, but over the last year I’ve learned from many others who’ve made the journey before me. Here are the five most helpful things I’ve put into practice: 

1. Let connection take priority over precision

Most preachers are trained in seminary settings that prize precise language, perfect grammar, and phrases that read beautifully. But if you’re going to preach without notes, you have to be willing to sacrifice some precision of language for the sake of connection—unless you can memorize long form content verbatim on a weekly basis.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t do careful exegesis or commit certain phrases and transitions to memory. It does mean that you let eye contact and being fully present with the congregation take precedence over those sentences that took you hours to painstakingly craft in your study.

As Will Willimon recently wrote, “Even when we know our manuscript well, we tend to look at the manuscript rather than look at our listeners. We miss clues that our listeners are sending us when they don’t understand, or when they are losing interest.

2. Understand your sermon

Don’t try to memorize your sermon. It will be extremely difficult and probably leave you frustrated. Instead, simply understand your sermon. It’ll make preaching it without notes much easier.

Carey Nieuwhof puts it this way: “When you understand the structure of your talk, you understand your talk.” And when you understand your talk, you can stand in front of people without worrying that you’ll forget everything.

To help understand and remember the structure of my sermons, I often use structures popularized by others such as Andy Stanley’s Me, We, God, You, We or Paul Scott Wilson’s Four Pages of the Sermon. Other times, I create a structure unique to the text I’m preaching.

In all cases, I make an outline of the talk’s structure with as much detail as I feel I need for every point. When I started, I converted manuscripts to detailed outlines, and then converted those to simple outlines. Now, I start with a detailed outline to save time.

Before I step in front of the congregation, I make sure I can write down the structure of my sermon on a sheet of paper with no hesitancy. Then, even if I forget specific points or phrases, I know I can still convey the big picture.

3. Practice out loud on location

Most performers wouldn’t step on stage without having rehearsed what they’re going to say and do. Most preachers will.

If you want your sermons to stand out, the most effective thing you can do after understanding your sermon in your head is to hear it in your ears. Yes, I know it’s awkward. But it’s less awkward to discover that your sermon is too dense, has too many stories, or is it just plain bad while you’re alone than when you’re surrounded by a crowd of people.

Schedule practice time into your sermon preparation and try to rehearse in the room where you’ll be preaching. This will help you get a feel for the room, platform, lighting, and other elements.

Like Tim Ferriss does when he’s rehearsing public speaking, I’ll write down one-liners and phrases that I like so that I can remember them for later. And I continue going through my message until I nail it once.

You can read the last two points here.

The post Preaching Without Notes: A New Habit to Transform Your Sermons appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

Last year I featured 8 images that I found particularly powerful. I hope these additional illustrations will help you contemplate Christmas, complete a sermon, or come close to the feet of Jesus in worship again this year.

1. His Weakness as Our Virtue

He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have many mansions in the heavens. ‘He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich.’ Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord’s weakness is our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. – Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 2.41-42.

2. Salvation Happens in the Body

Bodies are central to the Christian story. Creation inaugurates bodies that are good, but the consequences of the fall are written on our bodies–our bodies will sweat as we labor in the fields, our bodies will hurt as we bear children, and, most centrally, our bodies will die. If the fall is written on the body, salvation happens in the body too. The kingdom of God is transmitted through Jesus’s body and is sustained in Christ’s Body, the church. Through the bodily suffering of Christ on the cross and the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead, we are saved. Bodies are not just mirrors in which we see the consequence of the fall; they are also, in one theologian’s phrase, “where God has chosen to find us in our fallenness.” – Lauren Winner, Real Sex

3. The True Image of God

When we begin with a vague notion of what God is like we tend to project our own experiences, for better or worse, in formulating this image. … The secret to understanding who God is and consequently who we really are is to start with Jesus. The problem is that there are a lot of versions of Jesus out there. The only trustworthy way to understand Jesus is to study His Word with others in the power of the Holy Spirit. – Carolyn Moore, Encounter Jesus

You can find the rest of the illustrations in my guest post at Seedbed:
14 Christmas Sermon Illustrations

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Each summer I go to camp meeting.

Camp meetings are uniquely American institutions that were developed during the early years of the Second Great Awakening. At the time, they were a new method for evangelism and revival that sprang up all across the country. Camp meetings often provided a place for those who lived in unsettled areas to worship and gather as a community for a short period of time—typically during the late summer. They began with very temporary arrangements such as tents, wagons, and brush arbors to worship under. Over time, these gatherings established more permanent structures and began to draw people from all over the surrounding communities.

Francis Asbury once called camp meetings “a battle ax and weapon of war” that broke down walls of wickedness throughout America. He believed they were a great means of grace. And in 1811, he estimated that these spirit-filled gatherings brought together one-third of the total American population.

More than 200 years later, thousands of people continue to make the pilgrimage each summer to camp meetings that have withstood the test of time.

Here are five reasons why I think we still need them today:

1. They provide an opportunity for true Sabbath rest.

The first thing most people feel when they attend a camp meeting is that they have passed from busyness to tranquility in just a few small steps. Nestled away from billboards and rush hour traffic, part of the beauty of modern camp meetings is that most have literally been set apart from the world and inherited the simplicity of the times in which they were started.

You’ll rarely see a laptop, television, or gaming console. You’ll often see porch swings, laughter, and lounging. Many who attend take the week of camp meeting as vacation from work, and when no one else is worrying about being productive or efficient, you won’t feel the need to either.
The experience of camp meeting is difficult to describe, but Eugene Peterson’s description of Sabbath does a phenomenal job: “uncluttered time and space to distance ourselves from the frenzy of our own activities so we can see what God has been and is doing.”

2. They aid in the slow work of cultivating true community.

Today, the average worker stays in their job less than five years. The average homeowner sells their home in less than ten years. Sure, in five to ten years, great relationships can be built. But like cast iron skillets, the best relationships are formed slowly over time.

This summer will mark my 26th camp meeting. I’ve shared the crying years of infancy, the awkward years of middle school, and the growing years of being a young adult with an intergenerational community that hasn’t gone anywhere. Each year in this community babies are celebrated, deaths are mourned, people with cancer are cared for, and wayward children who once attended are lifted up in prayer.

Although I sleep in a cabin at camp meeting each night that holds three generations of my family, generations of others have helped them raise me and shape who I am. And they’re not all from the same church. As they were in the beginning, camp meetings continue to be a place where Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others truly come together for the gospel.

3. They are a foundation that helps with recalibration.

Questions like “who am I?,” “where am I headed?,” and “what’s the purpose of all of this?” aren’t anything new. Yet in a VUCA world—one that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—these questions are more challenging than ever and it’s easy to lose one’s bearings. Camp meetings are the antithesis of VUCA. Many of them are now 100+ years old and they exude steadiness, embody regular life-shaping rituals, and offer simplicity.

The altar calls, Sabbath time, and community that surround camp meetings provide just the kinds of opportunities through which one can easily explore the deep questions of life and experience the Holy Spirit move in a powerful way. They also come with the advantage that you can count on them every year.

J. Ellsworth Kalas once preached, “As marvelous as grace is when it invades our life, grace needs many continuing opportunities to invade our lives if we are to go on marching.” Camp meetings provide the time and place for this abundant grace to invade.

Click here to read the last two reasons on my guest post at Seedbed.com.

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These “helpers” were lay preachers who were just starting to travel around and preach in various places.

I’m sure they were like many people just starting in ministry—hungry for guidance from those who had gone ahead of them, hoping not to make egregious mistakes with people’s souls, and excited about the mission that they were embarking upon.

Since my friends and I fit this same description two years ago when we were all graduating from seminary and being sent off to places around the country to preach, I decided to give them a list of Wesley’s 12 rules to hang in their offices. Of course, I made a copy for myself and it currently hangs on the “Wesley Wall” of my office.

I read over the rules regularly for basic guidance and to remind myself of the serious work to which I’ve been called. While I don’t take all of them literally (see rule number two:confession–sometimes I joke around), I’ve found them extremely helpful these last two years.

May they guide you today:

Q. 26. What are the rules of a Helper?

1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed a moment. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time; neither spend any more time at any place than is strictly necessary.

2. Be serious. Let your motto be, “Holiness to the Lord.” Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.

3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women; particularly, with young women.

4. Take no step toward marriage, without first consulting with your brethren.

5. Believe evil of no one; unless you see it done, take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction on every- thing. You know the Judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner’s side.

6. Speak evil of no one; else your word especially would eat as doth a canker. Keep your thoughts within your own breast, till you come to the person concerned.

7. Tell every one what you think wrong in him, and that plainly, as soon as may be; else it will fester in your heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.

8. Do not affect the gentleman. You have no more to do with this character than with that of a dancing-master. A Preacher of the gospel is the servant of all.

9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin: Not of fetching wood (if time permit) or drawing water; not of cleaning your own shoes, or your neighbour’s.

10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And in general, do not mend our Rules, but keep them; not for wrath, but for conscience’ sake.

11. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those that want you, but to those that want you most.

Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance, and with all your power to build them up in that holiness without which they cannot see the Lord. And remember! A Methodist Preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist discipline! Therefore you will need all the sense you have, and to have all your wits about you!

12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the Gospel. As such, it is your part to employ your time in the manner which we direct; partly, in preaching and visiting from house to house; partly, in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in our Lord’s vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which we advise, at those times and places which we judge most for his glory.

The copy I gave to my friends was one that I commissioned. My friend Nate Rauh did an amazing job writing the rules out in script and adding John Wesley’s seal to them. I’d like to share this work of art with you in case you’d like to print a copy for yourself.

You can download this beautiful PDF copy of John Wesley’s rules here.

The post John Wesley’s 12 Rules for Preachers appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

The first night of class I was shocked that 27 people–of all ages–signed up for a course on Methodism that had a boring name attached to it. But there they were.

Before we began, I asked them to answer one of two simple questions on a notecard: “What is a Methodist?” or “What makes the Methodist church distinctive from others?”

It’s a simple question that is difficult to answer. People have been trying for centuries, and I haven’t found a concise answer that I love–yet.

I don’t have my own answer worked out either, but I’m working on defining what a Methodist is as I prepare and teach this class each week.

I’d love to read your answer to one of the two questions in the comments below!

Below are the responses I received from the class:

• A Methodist gives of themselves by helping others.
• The only thing I know is that the Methodist cross has like fire, I think, on it. But I don’t know what it means.
• It’s a mission church. It does more for the community and other places than any church I’ve been to. It makes you want to serve and volunteer.
• A Methodist practices social Christian doctrine in each community.
• Spiritual life intersects all areas of life and four factors are important – scripture, experience, reason and tradition.
• The Methodist church follows the teachings of John Wesley.
• It’s a body of believers in Christ that follows a “method” based on what someone’s activities were in college.
• It’s a good mixture of formal (Episcopal) and informal worship.
• I believe Methodism is a somewhat conservative religion (but less so than Baptist).
• A denomination comprised of former Baptists, Catholics, some Jews, Presbyterians and even Methodists–all believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
• It is a Christian church that is open to all, has open communion, and is mission oriented.
• A Methodist will speak to you in a liquor store. We believe God is not waiting to punish but to love.
• Of the beliefs I know, I agree with them. I attended both a Methodist and Catholic church for many years. My life is more meaningful being in a Methodist community.
• The Methodist church believes that grace is given freely by God–does not have to be earned–and it accepts anyone who believes in Jesus.
• We are open to all without prejudice(s).
• It seems to me the Methodists are very accepting and welcoming of all.
• The Methodist church follows principles and practices encouraged by John Wesley and other early leaders of the movement. It is open to anyone, very accepting, and diverse.
• The Methodist churches I have attended seem less “official” than other denominations. They’re more laid back and accepting. They’re also less judgmental.
• The open communion table separates Methodists from some of our Christian brothers.

You may have noticed some themes in these answers: mission oriented, John Wesley, openness to people of all Christian backgrounds, and welcoming.

What would you say?

The post What is a Methodist? appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

– Richard John Neuhaus, Freedom for Ministry

I came across this paragraph a few months back in a book that a friend recommended I read during my first year of ministry–Richard John Neuhaus’ Freedom for Ministry. The line in bold about one’s top income has haunted me ever since.

I’ve thought about the idea of setting a “top income” alot during the last few weeks–the time of the year when United Methodist pastors are up for appointment to different churches. In the itinerant model of ministry that the United Methodist Church (UMC) operates from, pastoral changes are ideally done so that the Church can best live out its mission: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

However, as I’ve talked to friends in my own conference and throughout the country, a common concern is that the salary of a pastor plays too large of a role in the process of determining what church one serves.

Finding a solution to this problem at a denominational level is very complicated, and I’ve yet to hear many compelling ideas. Yet, Neuhaus’ quote reminds me that each pastor has the ability to be a part of the solution now.

What if pastors stopped striving to be at one of the “best” churches that could pay one of the largest salaries in their conference?

What if a pastor determined their “top income” and told their Bishop and District Superintendent that they were willing to go anywhere above this number–even if it meant a drastic pay cut?

What if a pastor was appointed to a church with a larger salary than their “top income” and then gave all the extra money away?

What if we as pastors encouraged everyone in our church to determine their top income as well?

All of these things might just help to reform our denomination, free us from our slavery to money, and enhance our witness to the good news of Jesus in this world.

Have you thought about setting a “top income”?
Do you have any ideas on how to reduce the prominence of salary in appointments?

———

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Last week I had the opportunity for two first sermons: my first Ash Wednesday sermon and my first sermon to the congregation where I received my baptism, Conyers First United Methodist Church (UMC). While Jesus said, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown,” they accepted me and the challenging message of Ash Wednesday with open hearts.

My sermon was from one of the day’s lectionary passages, Psalm 51:1-17. I hope that it will both challenge and edify you. Audio/video of the sermon is available here.

The truth about ourselves

Some of you know that I majored in political science in college and worked on a political campaign just before I headed off to seminary. I’ve always enjoyed keeping up with politics. I love campaigns and elections. And while I rarely watch sports on television, I love following the always-changing nature of the political world through the news, debates, and the fast moving world of twitter. But like many of you, there are times when I get disillusioned and discouraged with the current political landscape. And the times I get most down about things are when I hear a non-apology apology from a politician.

Now I wasn’t aware that there was a proper title for these types of apologies until I began working on this sermon. And while you may not have heard of a non-apology apology before, I think you’ll know one when you hear it.

Here’s one that was offered by Congressman Joe Barton after he made a controversial statement about the government’s dealings with BP in the midst of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a while back. Congressman Barton lamented, “If anything I have said this morning has been misconstrued to the opposite effect, I want to apologize for that misconstrued misconstruction.”

Or there’s this one from the chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, John Sununu, after he was caught violating some White House travel rules. He stated, “Clearly, no one regrets more than I do the appearance of impropriety. Obviously, some mistakes were made.”

But as you probably know, non-apology apologies aren’t just limited to the political realm. When Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunctioned at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show Justin Timberlake’s agent offered this apology, “I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance.”

Scholars have even documented the common features of the non-apology apology and have defined a few characteristics that are common among them. First, they tend to offer a vague and incomplete acknowledgement of the offense. Second, they usually use phrases like, “I’m sorry that you were offended.” Third, they tend to minimize the offense. And finally they tend to question whether a victim has actually been harmed or damaged.

I don’t need to spend all this time explaining this phenomenon, because if you’re like myself, you’ve probably had decent practice forming these types of apologies yourself. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but if I did…” “It’s regrettable that our relationship ended this way…” “I guess I was wrong.”

If you’ve ever received one of these apologies, you know how empty it sounds. Yet, they’re very common in our culture that promotes very little sense of accountability towards those around us and our culture that has very little patience for ideas of guilt or fault.  Some have even labeled our culture a “sinless society” – a society where things are no longer anyone’s fault.

And while this isn’t a huge concern for many around us, we as Christians should be careful. We should be careful because while living in the midst of this culture, there is a temptation to think that we as humans and as a society have progressed so much that things in this world are really pretty good and we’re pretty good as well, especially compared with past eras. We’re tempted to think that if people just understood us better, if we just had an attitude adjustment, if everyone around us just had more realistic expectations then most of our relational and spiritual issues would be solved.

And some churches and some Christians have bought into this lie. And when we buy into this lie, the symptoms start to appear. Language of sin disappears from people’s vocabulary. Prayers of confession disappear from church services or become so vague that they begin to lose meaning. And the first recorded command that Jesus gave throughout his ministry, “Repent and believe the good news” – it’s left behind.

When we’ve done wrong we’re constantly tempted to come before a God who is full of holy love and give a non-apology apology – just like Adam did in the Garden of Eden when God asked him if he had broken his commands and he answered, “The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.”

We often think that we’re not as bad as the other woman down the street, and that while we haven’t always kept God’s commandments, the words “sinful” or “rebellious” are a little strong to describe how we’re currently living. We think, “Perhaps those words are too harsh and represent unrealistic expectations.”

Discovering the Truth

But when we read the Bible, we’re confronted with the truth. We discover that we are the person – that man or woman down the street – that we love to judge and withhold mercy from because of their lifestyle. The Holy Spirit speaking in our hearts and through the words of scripture lets us know that we are people made in the image of a loving God, and yet we’ve been born into a world full of sin, sin that we each participate in, promote, endorse, and enjoy as we willfully rebel against God’s invitations, commands, and desires for our lives and our world.

This is a hard truth to face, yet it’s one that we all must face on our journey with God. And it is the truth about himself that David faces in our scripture lesson this afternoon.

You see, while many of us know King David as a man after God’s own heart, he had his own “problems” “issues” or “dysfunctions,” as people may say today.

David had an affair with a married woman named Bathsheba, he got her pregnant, saw that her husband was killed, had her move in with him, and then lived with their love child in his house. Things weren’t so bad until God sent a prophet named Nathan to confront him about his sin, and while David was resistant to hear his message at first, finally he was convicted about what he had done and he broke down. He broke down and admitted, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Psalm 51 is attributed to him as the prayer that he offered to God after this dramatic situation.

Throughout the Psalms we get the amazing opportunity to “overhear” the prayers that individuals and the nation of Israel have offered to God throughout history. And in David’s prayer, we catch a glimpse of his recognition of God’s character and his sin, his repentance, and his renewed life.

Recognition of God’s Character and His Sin

David begins his prayer by calling for God to have mercy on him according to the steadfast love and abundant mercy that is at the heart of who God is. God is full of love and full of mercy, and this is what gives David the basis for even coming before God with his requests. It’s the foundation of his prayer.

And yet, God’s character is also the basis for David’s recognition of his sin. Because as David faces this God who is full of love, whose laws are written out of love, who placed him in leadership over Israel out of love for the people, he recognizes that what he has done stands in stark contrast to the desired will and commandments of God.

God desires life not death. God desires truth not lies. God desires David to show generosity and pity towards his people, not selfishness and contempt. And in verses 3 and 4 David cries out, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.”

These are not the words of an expected non-apology apology from a politician like David. These are the sincere words of someone who has examined and faced the truth about themselves and arrived at a place of brokenness.

Repentance

But David doesn’t stop with recognition of God’s character and his sin, he moves forward in repentance.

David’s prayer illustrates his deep desire for the Holy Spirit to work in his life to cleanse him from his sin, wash him whiter than snow, and be filled with wisdom in his heart. He prays, as so many of you pray here in worship on a regular basis, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!” Here, David is making a decisive move away from his sin and his past and turning towards God and the renewed life available to him.

Renewed Life

And in the latter half of the psalm we see what kind of renewed life David is anticipating from God.

He is anticipating to be made clean. He is anticipating to be in God’s presence. He is anticipating having the joy of salvation returned to him and to sing praises because of the work God has done in his life. And we read in verse 13 that his recognition of his sin, his repentance, and his renewed life are all catalysts for him being sent out to participate in God’s mission – a mission that is focused on teaching sinners like himself about the God of steadfast love and abundant mercy who has transformed his own life.

Connecting Our Story with God’s Story

David’s journey in this Psalm is the journey God is inviting us on this season of Lent.

We’re beginning this journey with Ash Wednesday – a day in which we confront our sinfulness and the reality that because of sin’s presence in the world, we will all one-day die. But we know how this journey ends. We know that the journey of Lent includes Good Friday and Easter. And as we begin this journey with the end in mind, like David, we’re able to move forward with God’s loving and merciful character at the forefront of our hearts and minds.  Because on the cross, we see God’s love for us as his only Son offers himself as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sin, my sin, and the sin that is present throughout societies and structures in this world. On the cross, we see God’s abundant mercy as Jesus Christ, the judge of all the world, receives the judgment that we deserve.  And these truths are what enable us, like David, to recognize and repent of our sin before God.

As we enter into this season of self-examination, we don’t have to give into the temptation to offer non-specific, evasive, minimalized apologies to God. We can face the truth about ourselves and our relationship with God because we know that God’s grace is free, abundant, and available to all.

The Whole Truth

But even as we face the truth about ourselves that we are more sinful than we’d like to admit, we must never forget a second truth about ourselves – God’s love and mercy are greater than we often imagine.

Sometimes we imagine that God is willing to forgive our neighbor’s sin but not ours. Sometimes we imagine that God doesn’t forgive us the seventh time we come before him confessing the same thing. Sometimes we imagine that all God wants to do is forgive us and help “make our sin more manageable.”

But that’s not what God wants to do. God wants to renew us, deliver us from the power of sin, and truly create in us a clean heart. As John Wesley often reminded people, God’s sanctifying grace working in us enables us to truly love God and our neighbor with all of our heart, mind, and soul. And as we journey through this Lent, we must never lose sight of the empty tomb of Easter where we see the grace of God on full display as death is transformed into life.

It’s an amazing thing to be able to “overhear” this prayer offered to God by David. But perhaps it’s even more amazing that God has given us this prayer in scripture so that we can offer it back to him as a prayer of our own. In a few minutes, we’re going to pray it together.  And I’d like to invite you to continue to pray it throughout Lent as you examine your life facing the truth about who you are and who you can be through Jesus Christ. Because as we recognize God’s character and our sin and as we repent, we’re positioned to live into the renewed life that God has for us, a life that is fully surrendered to participate in God’s mission in the world.

The post Ash Wednesday Sermon on Psalm 51 – The Truth About Ourselves appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

Each year, the youth group at my home church hosted a lock-in on New Year’s Eve. These long nights were filled with lip-singing contests (I won many of these), games that involved us running through a huge dark church, pizza, and a pancake breakfast on New Year’s day. It seems like every year there was also a broken stained glass window discovered the Sunday after.

While vague memories of those fun times have lingered, I’ll never forget being in the sanctuary when the clock struck 12:00 each year.

We didn’t have a fancy service. We would gather in the sanctuary, which was always filled with a little more mystery without the sun-lit stained glass and loud organ present. Typically, we would sing worship songs played off of the latest WOW Worship CD. Our youth minister would give a short message. Then, we would sit in the pews and pray as the New Year arrived.

I don’t remember many specifics of my prayers on those evenings. But I always remember feeling the transcendent presence of God in the darkened space. I also remember asking myself this question each year: “Am I closer to God this year as compared to last year?” Some years this question was very convicting. Other years it led me to celebration.

Little did I nor the youth minister know that our gathering in the sanctuary on New Year’s Eve was a Methodist tradition that began years before.

In 1755, John Wesley began leading Covenant Renewal services. These services were times in which people would remember the covenant made at their baptism–a covenant to serve God with all one’s heart and soul. Wesley found that these services were very encouraging and powerful for everyone involved, and soon they began being held in numerous Methodist societies.

Over time, many British Methodist churches began to hold these services on New Year’s Day or the first Sunday of the year since these were natural times of renewing commitments. These services continue with regularity in British Methodism today. While only a small number of congregations in America hold these services each new year, the order of worship for a Covenant Renewal service can be found on page 288 of the UMC Book of Worship.

One of the most powerful aspects of the service is the “Wesley Covenant Prayer.” While John Wesley admitted that he was not the originator of this prayer, it has served as a powerful tool for spiritual formation in the Methodist church over the last two centuries.

Throughout my first six months of ministry I have prayed this prayer regularly in the mornings in order to help orient my heart for the day. I plan to continue to pray it throughout this new year, and I’d like to invite you to pray this prayer with me as well.

The Wesley Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Click here for a PDF of this prayer that you can easily print. This is a great prayer to have around, so cut it or fold it in half and place it in your bible or somewhere where you will see it regularly.

The post A prayer for the new year: Wesley’s Covenant Prayer appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.

For more Christmas eve sermon material, you can find 14 Christmas Sermon Illustrations on my blog as well.

Light into Darkness

All of us celebrate Christmas in our own special way. For 15 or so years of my life, my whole family traveled from Conyers to Buckhead, unloaded at Phipps Plaza, and then waited in line together so that my brothers and I could tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas. One of my friend’s families goes and eats at the Varsity before heading to church every Christmas eve. This eleven o’clock service, a service that is truly set on a silent night when few cars roam the streets, may be a Christmas tradition for you. And tomorrow is when most of the celebration happens. Some houses have gifts waiting by the chimney from Santa, other houses only have a few gifts but they have lots of laughter and long conversations. Many of you will take naps, I’ll likely go see a movie in the evening, and one member of the church told me that on Christmas night her and her family go to Hooters for fried pickles and wings. We really all do remember the day of Christmas in our own special ways.

And the gospel writers are no different than we are. As they wrote biographies, stories that attempted to showcase the identity and significance of Jesus, they each remembered Christmas – the day that Jesus entered this world – in their own special ways.

Matthew tells us about Joseph who was visited by an angel who informed him about the son his wife was going to give birth to, and he tells us about the Magi who recognized the baby Jesus as King of the Jews once he was born.

Mark’s gospel actually doesn’t mention anything about Jesus’ birth. Instead, he begins his story about Jesus with John the Baptist — Jesus’ cousin who prepared the way for him by preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke gives us the classic Christmas story that I’ve acted out in many pageants, and you’ve likely heard, many times before. Luke tells of angels visiting Mary and her sister Elizabeth letting them know that they’re going to bear children. Then he tells us—you probably know the King James Version of this line — “It came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” And we hear how there was no room for Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem so they gave birth to Jesus and placed him in a manger. And who can forget the shepherds who heard the great news of the Savior’s birth while they were abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

And then there comes John’s gospel which we heard a few minutes ago. He doesn’t mention angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, or wise men. John assumes that we already know those stories. And instead of retelling them from his perspective, he gives us an introduction to his story about Jesus that is full of poetry, images, and metaphors. And all of them help summarize the significance of Jesus’ mission and entrance into the world.

And it’s the apostle John who gives us one of the clearest images of what Christmas is all about. It’s an image that has its roots in Old Testament prophecies. It’s an image that Jesus himself used to describe his mission. It’s an image that we celebrated earlier this evening with the lighting of the Christ candle. And it’s an image of the good news that we will walk out of here remembering and proclaiming tonight.

John reminds us that at Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus is the light of the world who came to extinguish all darkness.

John’s introduction to his gospel helps us understand this image. He starts off with the same words that begin Genesis, “In the beginning….”

But instead of giving us a detailed account of how the world came into being, John tells us this: In the beginning was the Word. Now, the Word may be thought of as “the active agent through whom God created the world.” [Oden, 255] And John continues by telling us that this Word was with God in the beginning, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

Here, in this poetic language John points us to one of the deepest mysteries of the Christian faith: the Trinity—the reality that there is one God made up of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that all of three of these persons have existed for all time. And here in in the opening sentences of his biography of Jesus, John reminds us that Jesus was present at creation, he isn’t merely a man who had a humble birth in a stable. Jesus is God.

And it was at creation that Jesus gave light and life to all people, for even at that time, he was the light of the world. And in the beginning, the world was full of life, it was full of light. God the Father through Jesus created humanity in his image so that we could be in relationship with him. He made us stewards over all of creation. And he created us to be in relationship with other people. Everything was good and full of light.

If the story stopped there, we wouldn’t be here celebrating Jesus’ birth today. We know that everything didn’t remain as God created it. Instead, Adam and Eve broke relationship with God when they disobeyed him. Immediately, they knew that what they had done was not right, so they went and hid in the darkness so that they wouldn’t have to face God. But God sought them out because he didn’t want them to be in the shadows, living in darkness. He told them that he loved him, and ever since then he has been trying to have his children live in the light rather than the darkness. But humans have continued to separate themselves from the light of God. We have exchanged our relationship with God for relationships with idols, we have not been good stewards of creation, and we have not loved those around us. We have chosen to separate ourselves from the light God gave us, and instead live in darkness.

For thousands of years God tried to help his people move back into the light. He gave the people of Israel light through the law and through his covenant promises, but they continued to live in darkness and disobedience. So through the prophets he promised his people a Messiah, a Savior, a liberator who would shine light into the darkness and enable people to walk in light.

And in the fullness of time, God sent his only son Jesus into the world to fulfill these roles. On the very first Christmas day, Jesus was born into a world of darkness so that he could bring an end to darkness. And the darkness was thick. The first Christmas wasn’t as peaceful as Hallmark cards often depict it. Soon after he was born, King Herod murdered all the babies who were two years old and under in the region in hopes that he would kill baby Jesus in the process. Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor during Jesus’ day regularly beat groups of people who opposed his rule into submission. Throughout his ministry, Jesus was ridiculed, questioned, and hated by many of his own Jewish brothers and sisters. But none of this stopped him from completing the mission he came to fulfill.

Jesus was God present as a man in the world. He was a prophet who revealed to humanity how we could live alongside of one another and love each other. He was a friend to the outcasts of society—the women, the prisoners, the hungry, the lepers, and all those who were deemed sinners by others. He was the light of the world shining light into the darkness. But as John tells us, when Jesus was in the world many of his own people who were living in darkness did not accept him. They didn’t want to receive light. So they crucified Jesus on a cross hoping to extinguish the light he radiated once and for all.

But God had other plans. God lovingly used Jesus’ death on the cross as an all-sufficient sacrifice that was owed to him because of humanity’s sin. This provided a way for the darkness of sin to be extinguished from the world. And three days after he died, Jesus conquered the darkness of death by rising from the grave. He ascended into heaven from where he originally came, and now he reigns there over his kingdom.

This is the story of the world that the church believes and teaches, but it isn’t always clear where we fit into this story and how it continues today.

Connecting Our Story to God’s Story

At times we’re tempted to think that everything is now okay in the world, that people are basically good, that things are a lot better along than they have been throughout history, and that perhaps if we all just tried to be a little nicer to each other, then this world would be as good as it can be.

But then someone walks into an elementary school with a gun and murders twenty-six people who were looking forward with excitement to Christmas break. Your spouse tells you that they don’t think they can continue in the marriage anymore. Your father dies. A friend talks about you behind your back. You find out that your child is addicted to drugs. Or maybe you wake up one day and realize that you’re addicted to something. Or you begin to hate yourself because of regrets that lie in your past.

It’s in those moments that we know that everything isn’t okay in the world. We know that darkness is still present. And we’re left wondering how these things happen in the world even after Jesus, the prince of peace, entered it at Christmas.

A Dark Prison Cell

I think a metaphor from Dietrich Bonhoeffer may be helpful here. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who was arrested during World War II because of his resistance to Hitler’s regime. While many church leaders in Germany gave in to Hitler and went along with him, Bonhoeffer stood strong with only a few others.  He was also an amazing theologian who left behind many writings, some of which are his letters from prison written to those on the outside.

In a letter dated November 21, 1943 Bonhoeffer wrote, “Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent: one waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other—things that are really of no consequence—the door is shut, and can only be opened from the outside.” [Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger]

Life in a dark prison cell. I think that this is a great way to think about the situation of humanity. Before Jesus came there was only a sliver of light entering the cell through the bottom of the door. People were living in great darkness without the possibility of escape. But then one day, Christmas day, the door was opened from the outside, Jesus came into the cell. He lived with those inside in the midst of their darkness. He told them about a new world that was outside that they could experience if they would only follow him out the door. He told them that it was infinitely better than anything they’d experienced up until that point.

Some listened and trusted him. But others kicked him out of the cell. They were used to the darkness and were content with it. They had become so used to living in the cell that they couldn’t imagine anything better awaited them elsewhere.

After Jesus was kicked out of the cell some of the people who trusted him followed the path to the way out. These followers of Jesus discovered a new world outside of the darkness of the cell—a world full of light, peace, love, faith, hope, and joy. And so they ran back into the cell to tell others the good news. They told the others inside that they should trust the Jesus guy who came and opened the cell and follow his path out the door into the light. They were witnesses to the light and the amazing new life that came along with it. And while many people did follow them out, many chose to remain in the dark cell – a cell that they had grown used to, a cell that their eyes had adjusted to.

This cell is like the world we continue to live in, and the church is that body of messengers who constantly return to the cell by the power of the Holy Spirit to let others know that they can be free from darkness because of God’s great gift to them.

Our Response

Today we celebrate that God did not leave us in the dark cell but sent his only Son to come identity with us and our situation, and show us the way towards light and new life. And we also look with great expectation to the day in which Jesus will come again in this world and complete his work of extinguishing all darkness, for we know that the darkness will never be able to overcome the light.

John tells us the way out of the cell. John tells us that all who receive Jesus—all who believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, the light of the world sent to save us from our sins—all those who believe will receive the forgiveness of sins, the power to become children of God, and the assurance of life forever with God.

This is the good news of Christmas.

And if you haven’t ever believed in Jesus as the Savior of this world and the Savior of your life, then there is no better time than on this day in which we celebrate his entrance into our world.

And if you have believed in Jesus and followed him to light and new life, then tonight you have the opportunity to ask God to search your heart, reveal to you the darkness that still resides there, and to send his Holy Spirit to fill it with light. And you also have a mission. You’re called to go and tell others about the light of the world and the freedom he brings. You’re called to carry the light of Christ into the world so that others may receive the greatest gift on earth.

The Table

I don’t know if you’ve ever met some of the men from Phillip’s Transitional Center who are on their way out of the prison system. They’re in a transitional program so many of them are allowed to work and attend church, but they must go back and sleep behind bars each night. Since I’ve been here, we’ve had the amazing privilege at our 8:15 service of celebrating with a few of these guys who are set to be released within just a few days. Many of them are filled with a nervous excitement—they’re nervous about what life will be like on the outside and excited about their new freedom. They usually have huge smiles on their faces when we stand up and celebrate them in worship. And one of the first things I know they do when they get home is to go share a meal with their family and friends celebrating their new life.

Well, tonight, we have the opportunity to share a meal around this table with family and friends. We have the opportunity to celebrate with joy the new life we have because the Word decided to take on flesh and set us free from darkness. My prayer for you this Christmas Eve is that Christ would come into each of your lives in a new way as we gather around his table and that you would depart from this place carrying light into a world that so desperately needs it.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may also enjoy: 14 Christmas Sermon Illustrations

The post A Christmas Sermon :: Light into Darkness appeared first on Jonathan Andersen.