Sermon Series

So, I put the idea out there:  Suggestions for Summer Sermons.  I am thinking, give the people what they want.  For a few weeks this summer, I will preach on topics of your      choosing.  Anything you ever wanted to know about God, Jesus, church or faith, and I am    going to show up for you.
              I think I mentioned that I tried this one summer when we were in Macon, Georgia . . . crashed and burned.  One fellow wanted to hear a Disciple minister preach about hell, and another guy requested a sermon about some obscure biblical character (like one verse in Hebrew scripture) whose name had been foisted on his father.  So, it has taken me some three decades to work up the courage to try this again.
So, let’s see what we got this time around from the dozen or so folks who turned in a card.
Job was blameless, what about us? – you are not.  Maybe this will be easier than I thought.
A couple of requests to preach on forgiveness – okay, I can see that.
Ezekiel 25:17 – what, I have to look up something?  You people think I have every chapter and verse memorized?
I want to learn more about women in the Bible – knock it off, Linda.
Is there an afterlife? – any volunteers to find out and check back with us before the end of August?
Tell us about the theology in popular hymns – now this seems like it might have an ulterior motive, like a way to kill those new-fangled praise hymns.  (I will assign Casey to preach this one.)
Similarly, someone wants to know why we do the things we do in worship – so do I.
The Trinity, what does it mean – this has to be one of the clergy in the congregation       because no one has been asking about the Trinity since the Council of Nicea in the fourth century.
There was a smattering of other requests, but I think there is enough here to get us close to Labor Day.
So, I have come up with a plan.  Well, not exactly a plan in the sense of something that has been well thought-out and carefully crafted, but I have come up with a plan in the sense that I am going to start on the second Sunday in July and keep going until I get distracted or the Elders intervene.  I think we are going to start with that request to explore the theology of some of our popular hymns.  I am getting Casey to help.  We haven’t come up with an exact format, but I am thinking about having her play a verse of a hymn, popular or otherwise, and I will tell you how wrong she was to play it.  Or some variation of that approach.  As I said, we don’t have an exact strategy yet.
So, come on in and worship with me this summer and we will see what happens.  I think we could have some fun and maybe even learn something.  If not, well, you have only yourselves to blame.
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Blessings and Peace
Gary