It’s been a grueling past few weeks at Beeson. Our Spring Break happens to coincide with Holy Week this year, and it can’t come quickly enough!
Part of the hard work has been preparing to preach three sermons for class. However, the opportunity to study and preach God’s Word is a joy that outweighs the burdens of preparation!
I have preached twice in the past month on Psalm 32. First, I delivered a sermon (“The Refreshment of Forgiveness”) designed for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C, for Dr. Doug Webster’s Preaching Practicum.
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Then, I preached/presented on the same passage for Dr. Allen Ross’s Exegesis of Psalms (“Psalm 32: Psalm 1 for Screw-Ups”).
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Preparing and preaching these very different sermons on the same passage was a good reminder of the inexhaustible richness of Scripture.
Most recently, I got to compose a “crisis sermon” for Dr. Webster’s Preaching Practicum (“Lamenting into Worship”). One of my classmates preached a post-9/11 sermon. Another, post-Pearl Harbor! These were great sermons, but I chose a different route: preaching to a congregation after the death of a well-known church family’s baby.
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This was a stretching experience, to say the least. I pray I never have to preach this sermon in real life, but it was a good reminder to preach the good news to myself that God hates death more than we do.
You can listen to and/or read “The Refreshment of Forgiveness,” “Psalm 1 for Screw-Ups,” and “Lamenting into Worship,” along with my other sermons at the Sermons Page of this site.
Now, there are much better preachers out there in the world, so if you’re short on time, go listen to them preach! But, if you’ve got the time to give these sermons a listen, I would greatly appreciate your feedback as I try to improve as a preacher and teacher of God’s Word!
~Josh