Preaching Easter

Every preacher I know gets a little stressed preaching special holidays like Easter. I used to be be kind of overwhelmed by that stress and have recently developed a few rules that have helped me focus…

1. Tell the story. Never be so cute or creative that you forget to share the actual story of the resurrection.

2. Be funny. Humor has a history in the church when it comes to Easter, it is God having the ultimate last laugh. So, in my opinion, a few frivolous jokes are okay.

3. Prepare and preach to a different audience. There will be a lot of guests and so prepare like you do when you guest preach. For me this means the sermon has more illustration in it.

4. Relax. You aren’t going to whiff on Easter. You might not be thrilled with the sermon but no one else will feel that way. Preachers tend to be our worst critics.

5. Peddle hope and new life. This is the sweet spot of Easter.

6. Trust the Holy Spirit. Preaching shouldn’t work in our culture but it does because of the Spirit. Pray lots, prepare well, and watch what the Holy Spirit does with the message.

I still don’t sleep well on Easter eve but I’m not as overwhelmed. My hope and prayer is that all over the world the resurrection story was told today and people received joy, hope, peace, and salvation.