Well, I just finished the second draft of my sermon for Sunday. I’ll probably write one more before I print it out and start crossing out words and practicing my delivery (there are sound effects that I need to get just right). I’ll see if the dog and cat mind being my audience.
Part of my experimentation with this sermon is, besides preaching mostly on the Epistle and integrating my current school work into it, is to stretch myself a little bit. Rather than do what I usually do, grounding the lesson in its narrative context and then filtering through that context with contemporary images, I’m framing this sermon mostly as a history lesson. Of course, I like history, and I think any modern interpretation of history is, by its nature, filled with contemporary images. But I’m curious how it will go over with the congregation. I think some will like it but I’m not sure if enough will get the punch. And I wonder how appropriate for Lent it is.
One thing that I hope will help, however, is the Hymn of the Day. Rather than try to do what I usually do and pick a hymn that reinforces the message, I tried to use the sermon hymn as a continuation of my words. In a sense, the hymn isn’t (I hope) going to be merely a rehashing of the sermon but rather an integrated part to it. And with a replacement to the creed we’ve inserted into the bulletin this week, I’m hoping those three parts of the service will flow and reinforce each other. So, if someone took a step back, those sections would appear as a whole rather than just complementary sections. I have no idea if this will actually work, mind you, but I’m gonna give it a shot.
And, as an aside, I can see that I’m copying a certain preacher I know by starting with something funny and then moving on to seriousness. I hope that’s not copyrighted!