September begins a new season of preaching at Forsythe Church of Christ. For several years I have followed along with the Narrative Lectionary. I started preaching weekly around 1983. I was a student at Magnolia Bible College and drove out into the country of Attala County, Mississippi to preach for the Oak Ridge Church of Christ. I have been preaching and/or teaching every Sunday since. One of the biggest struggles I had from the beginning was deciding what to preach. I was committed to preaching a message from the Bible, but beyond that sermon planning was a chore. It took me a long time to learn about the function of lectionaries and how they could be a great help for me.
I spent four or five years preaching through the Revised Common Lectionary. I enjoyed that because there was a choice of four texts per week. There is an enormous selection of online resources. It also recognized the church calendar, which in my church tradition does not exist (I’m almost kidding). Aside from Christmas and Easter (and even those are not mentioned in some churches of Christ), I did not know there were other scriptural recognitions on the calendar. I also enjoyed the fact that on any given Sunday there were several churches in town who were looking at the same text. I desired a little more structure, though, that wasn’t built around the church calendar.
That’s when I discovered the Narrative Lectionary. For the past several years I have preached along with the NL. I say “along with” because I’m not enslaved to it. If I need to depart from it and discuss something more relevant to the current needs of the church, I feel no regret to do so. To me, what makes the Narrative Lectionary superior is the emphasis on telling the story of the Bible each year. So it’s September and I know we are going back to Genesis. I’ll be preaching from Genesis this month. Exodus, Deuteronomy, Ruth, 2 Samuel, and 1 Kings in October. And on through the Old Testament until Christmas, where we will transition to a gospel. This year’s gospel is Mark. So I will preach through Mark from January through Easter. Each of the four-year cycle focuses on different Bible stories, but always uses the story of the Bible as a guide. I really appreciate that flow of study.
So, preaching along with the Narrative Lectionary accomplishes my main goals as a minister:
Each message is Bible-based. I don’t preach from news events or (God help us) politics or cultural mood swings.
Each message moves us through the story of the Bible, culminating with a Gospel.
The story of the life of Jesus is a primary focus each year.
I do not spend hours in agony trying to ‘come up with’ a sermon each week.
I am able to group texts together to form some short series of messages.
Often I am called upon to preach from a text I would not have chosen. This keeps me from just hovering over the familiar and draws me into more intensive study.
I am confident that when I am preaching THE WORD the HOLY SPIRIT is at work. It is my conviction that if I am preaching the scriptures, then I am preaching something pertinent and convicting to someone - even if I do not know to whom this particular text may apply. This way it is not about me, but always about him.
Finally, preaching a lectionary (list) really does take the focus off of me and puts it onto the Scriptures. Often I expand the suggested text, sometimes focusing on one verse or another.
In September our theme is going to be RECOVERY.
September 3 - Recover Your Way, Genesis 2:1-25.
September 10 - Recover Your Faith, Rick and Beverly Ross guests for the weekend. There won’t be any sermon notes for this day.
September 17 - Recover Your Hope, Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7.
September 24 - Recover Your Determination, Genesis 32:1-30.
In October our theme will be CALL ON GOD TODAY. Maybe I’ll do a little preview when my favorite month gets closer. I print out a weekly task sheet and at the bottom of it is a prayer ascribed to Tozer. I cannot find it anywhere, so I am uncertain it is his, but it is a great prayer I pray often and especially in regard to my preaching.
Take our little fish and bread, and break it and divide it. O Lord, we are only a child handing Thee a little wicker basket with a few pieces of food, not enough for all. O Lord break it and multiply it. Amen. - A. W. Tozer
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Thanks for giving us a little insight into the resources you use and the planning and the preparation you go through each week. Your lessons always point us to Jesus!
Thanks for giving us a little insight into the resources you use and the planning and the preparation you go through each week. Your lessons always seem so well thought out, with lots of Scripture references and interesting quotes by other scholars. And they are always aimed at pointing us to Jesus. That’s the best part!