We are now in the season of Lent. At our church, I’ve been asked to preach sermon #1 in a series being called “EMBRACING SACRIFICE.” The text assigned is Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
My assignment is to show that we don’t sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice. The underlying purpose is to gain something more important or pressing to us than what we are choosing to give up.
In baseball, a team will give up an out if a sacrifice fly will score a runner from third base. People will diet and carefully watch what they eat if by doing so they will look better or be healthier or be well prepared to play a given part in a movie.
Why did Jesus endure the cross? For the joy that was set before Him. In fact, Christians should see sacrifice as an essential element to walking the Jesus way.
All this is to say that the question “What will you give up for Lent?” is really not well-stated. Because that’s frequently the approach, answers such as “I’ll give up chocolate” tend to be somewhat superficial.
How much better to ask the members of the congregation, “What spiritual aspirations do you have for the upcoming Lenten season?” Only when that question has been answered can people assess, “And what am I willing to sacrifice to attain that?”
“Do I want to experience a greater intimacy with Christ? And am I willing to discipline myself and go to bed an hour and a half earlier so I can get up that much earlier each morning to have meaningful quiet times conversing with the Lord?”
Anyway, my assignment is to help people get in mind what it is they want, spiritually speaking, and then to determine what kind of sacrifice of time, money, effort, etc., will be required to make that their own.
I just got the assignment and am just starting to work on the message, which I will preach in just two Sundays.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
