Back to the Beginning

What a Wonderful World


Yesterday was Trinity Sunday and Father's Day.  What to preach?  What to preach?  I am not convinced people are dying to hear another sermon on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  Are you?  I do my best to include references to the Trinity often.  Those references might not be specific or direct, but illustrate God's work through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  I am not even excited about preaching a specific sermon on the Trinity.

Also, I am not a big holiday preacher.  I cannot remember the last time I preached a Mother's Day or Father's Day sermon.  When I used to go to church and hear other preachers' sermons, it always bothered me when I knew what they were going to say beforehand.  That is to say, for example, a typically Father's Day sermon will include a sappy story and tell me a good father reminds me of our Heavenly Father.  Snooze.

Now, please do not get me wrong.  That is something worth saying.  Father's Day is like the hanging curve ball the preacher drools about, waiting to knock it out of the park.  Tell me in November, though.  Surely Father's Day is not the only time we should be reminded of God's great care for us, and that we should be imitators of God's love.  Surprise me, then, preacher!  Also, we are trying to learn to be more like Christ.  It seems like the words and deeds of Christ would be able to cover Father's Day or any other secular holiday.  So, I do not need to perform a Father's Day sermon that reminds me of Jesus.  Instead, I would rather offer a sermon that faithfully presents Jesus' life and ministry and allows for a Father's Day reference here or there.

All that said, yesterday's sermon did not sound like either a Holy Trinity sermon or a Father's Day sermon.  We recalled the Creation story of Genesis 1, and read from Psalm 8.  The point of the sermon is that our life stories often differ greatly from God's Creation story, the story of God's life for us.  So, sometimes it is good for us to go back to the beginning and remind ourselves of what God intended for us.

++If you are reading by email, click here to listen to the sermon entitled Back to the Beginning.++




Now, you be like God, and do some creating. What comments would you create?  And just in case you thought I forgot or do not care, I hope you dads out there had a Happy Father's Day!  Now, go be like our Heavenly Father.