A Sermon Through A Child’s Ears

hippoLast Sunday morning, our sermon at church focused on the story of Peter joining Jesus in walking on the water. In the midst of that section, I shared a passing story about my daughters and a cartoon hippopotamus. It turns out that these two portions were heard by my five-year-old nephew, who was uninterested in attending kids’ classes and was instead sitting in the back of the auditorium with an aunt.

After service, they recounted to me a conversation they had unfolded during my lesson:

Nephew: “I don’t think uncle Jason knows what he’s talking about.”

Auntie: “Well, I’m pretty sure he probably does.”

Nephew: “No, he definitely doesn’t.”

Brief Pause

Nephew: “Hippos do not walk on water.”

Is it fair to say that I’m hoping most in the room heard the message slightly differently than that?!

Tuesday Trick: Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

 

In a change-up that would cause envy in any MLB pitcher, today’s Tuesday Trick detours a million miles from the typical tidbits about productivity or technology, all the way to the realm of biblical preaching.

From the Gospel Coalition comes this brief (maybe 10 minutes) interview with Owen Strachan, professor of theology and church history at Boyce College, on the challenge but importance of preaching Jesus Christ from the Old Testament.  How does one do it, while being faithful to the context and message unique to the Old Testament period and writings, while allowing Jesus to be the interpretive lens, the Logos, for God’s entire Story?

To the pastors out there, if you’ve ever wondered how to faithfully preach Christ from the three-quarters of Scripture that aren’t blatantly zoomed in on him, then THIS may be helpful.

 

Poets, Prophets, Preachers

That’s the name of a conference I’m headed to this weekend.

Sunday morning will be a chance to worship with the Mars Hill community, and then the conference will run until Tuesday.

Quite honestly, I’d kind of like to stay home because home feels pretty good right now.  But I’m not complaining about opportunities to take advantage of either, so I’m going and I’m intent on absorbing all that I can.

More later…