For Young Pastors Preparing to Preach This Easter

Oh, my goodness, Easter Sunday is almost here…this is SUPERBOWL Sunday for the church! It doesn’t get more exciting than this. I can remember 28 years ago as a young, new pastor feeling a lack of confidence that my sermon would measure up to the “Superbowl” occasion of the resurrection or that our music, nursery, greeters, etc. would make a good impression. Here are 4 words of reassurance my younger self needed to hear. Maybe they will be reassuring to you too.

Awe – Resurrection Sunday feels way bigger than your sermon preparation because it IS bigger, lots bigger. Just accept that; and stand in awe. Don’t worry about your sermon not going viral as the greatest Easter message ever. None of our preaching deserves that. Instead, it is the fact that Jesus ROSE FROM THE DEAD that is worthy of all attention! So do your best to prepare well and preach your heart out. But more than all that, stand in awe of our Lord who is alive and conquered death! Stand in awe like Mary and Mary, who “came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (Matt. 28:9).

Exult – If you’re worrying about the big day: will we have a big crowd, will all our volunteers show up, will the music go right, will our guests come back again? Put those details aside and put your thoughts on the greatness of Christ’s power shown in the resurrection. Rejoice, find your joy in that; lift up the praises of your lips to Him. Sing to Him with your whole heart before Sunday gets here and when you’re gathered with your church on Easter. The details will work out. Exult in Christ like the two on the road to Emmaus said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us?” (Luke 24:32)

Humility – Worry often exposes fear in our hearts that things won’t go well for us. Surprisingly, there is a powerful antidote to worry: humility. All the attention on the preparations leading up to Easter Sunday can produce a prideful hope that everyone will be impressed. That is a terrible trap. Instead, surrender all that and embrace the fact that nothing compares to the greatness of Jesus in His triumph over the devil and the demons. Everything pales completely before Him, so humble yourself before Christ like John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Confidence – But you are going to preach that sermon. Is it wrong to want your sermon to be powerful, to move people? No, it’s not. But how can you have confidence that it will be all it needs to be? The key to true, God-honoring, humble confidence is to look away from yourself for it. Look to God, Himself, and the power found in His powerful word. Instead of focusing on “your” sermon being solid, focus on the never-changing, darkness-piercing, heart-converting power that is always present in the preaching of God’s word no matter who the preacher is. Preach with the confidence that Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18) and He speaks with that authority when you speak His word!

May God be exalted in His church through the singing of His saints, the prayers of trusting souls, and the preaching of His humble pastors proclaiming His eternal truths. God bless you, my brothers!