3 Great Sermons from the Summer of 2013

There are sermons and then there are transformational sermons. Not every sermon is that memorable, just as every meal isn’t all at memorable, but that doesn’t mean you skip a meal.

This summer I heard 3 sermons that stood out as cream of the crop, and what made then outstanding was their transformational essence. People are emotional first, rational second, and these sermons connected both heart and head, spiritual, emotional, and psychological, and that wholistic nature made these particularly universal and obviously relevant to everyone.

1st, “Jesus is More and Before” by Judah Smith (Pastor at The City Church) delivered at Saddleback Church during the Follow Me series .Judah preached this on the Saturday night, and decided to switch it up and preached a different sermon on Sunday. Unfortunately, the church website only has the audio and video from the Sunday morning sermon and not the superior Saturday night one. (if anyone has a way to access the media archive and get it posted online, please do, because we’ve asked repeatedly to no avail.) Rachelle loved the Saturday night one so much that she transcribed it verbatim. This sermon exemplified the far superior importance of Jesus Christ, using two very simple yet profound words to capture that. Judah is a seventh-generation preacher and this sermon showed the fine skills from an inherited heritage. Transcript at slideshare.net/djchuang/judah-smith-follow-me-more-and-before

2nd, “The Unloved Wife/Woman” by Dr. David Anderson at Bridgeway Community Church. Taking a slow simmer to unpack the chiastic structure of this passage from Proverb 30:23, the crescendo of the sermon unloaded the power and volatility of a women’s heart, and how that affects pretty much every human relationship. After all, everyone of us has a mother. Yes, this sermon struck a nerve for women and men alike. Oh how a wounded soul can unconsciously reverberate as an earthquake. And there is a path to healing and wholeness too. The pastor rightly opened up a space afterward for processing the sermon with an extended prayer time. Video at bcctv.org/library/player/services/2012-2013/unknown-characters-of-wisdom/the-unloved-wife-woman-proverbs-30-23- + audio at logalbo.podbean.com/2013/08/11/08112013-sunday-sermon/

3rd, “Getting Through Life’s Losses” by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church. This sermon gently gets at the root of why people get stuck in life, due to the failure of grieving over a loss or losses in life. One’s failure to do that is unhealthy, and the longer it’s unattended, the longer it festers and comes out in destructive ways. If not destructive towards others in relationships, destructive to oneself internally, manifesting in physical ailment and/or instability. Every human being will experience losses in life, and grief is the necessary step everyone must go through, to live life in a healthy manner. A most life-giving sermon. Video at saddleback.com/mc/m/53359/ + audio at saddleback.com/mc/m/53359/audio/ + Life Losses Checklist