New sermon series! Show your church how to live without fear.
New Sermon Series Now Available
Everything you need for your next series
AI Sermon Generator
Generate sermon ideas with a safe, secure tool for solid preaching.
Biblical Sermon Calendar
Customizable sermon manuscripts for verse-by-verse preaching
Sermon Research Assistant
Free custom sermon in 5-10 minutes!
Topical Sermon Calendar
Preach with creativity and impact throughout the year
I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice
Experiencing the mercy of God in our lives
Ready & Faithful
Looking to Jesus for help now and hope in the future
Why Suffering?
Help your church understand God's plan in pain
Quite frankly, I do not believe in luck in any degree. Once in a while, I will say it, but I don't believe it. Luck has no place in my wallet. Sometimes things happen that you can't plan for, which turns out to be rather good. Luck has nothing to do with it. This past week my ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 17:6
Tags: Humor, Luck, Choice
Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance
Every week comes and goes, and some go faster than others. Such was last week. It started pretty well, but then everything went downhill. I had my semiannual doctor's visit. After all, he has kids that need to go to college. After his complete examination of me, he said, "You're ...read more
Scripture: Isaiah 41:10
Tags: Police, Thrift Store
As a writer, I always have a small notebook in my shirt pocket to take notes when I have an idea. I don’t have too many ideas, so I want to write down any I get so I don’t forget them. That has helped me out on many occasions. There is one exception. When The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6
Tags: Trust, Writer
As my Uncle Fred used to say, one of the great benefits of getting old is that you know everything. If you had ever met Uncle Fred, you would easily conclude that he certainly wasn’t getting old. Of course, there are things I have learned during my aging career that has been of great use to me. ...read more
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:10
Tags: Temptation, Tongue, Brain
As a young person, I was fascinated with clowns. My first encounter was at a circus I attended with my family. The main character in the circus was the clown. When I first saw those clowns, I was scared almost to death. I've never seen anything as scary as those circus clowns. That began my ...read more
Scripture: James 1:19-20
Tags: Humor, Clowns, Circus
For more years than I care to remember, I have been on a diligent pursuit, and I won’t stop until I reach my goal. My quest is to find a cookie I don’t like. Throughout the years, I have eaten every cookie I could find and loved them all. My biggest obstacle in this pursuit is The Gracious ...read more
Scripture: Mark 14:38
Tags: Temptation, Humor
I will be the first to confess that I love my coffee, especially in the morning. When anybody asks how much coffee is enough, I usually say, “Just one more cup.” My day cannot get started until I’ve had a sufficient amount of coffee. If I don’t have enough coffee when I meet somebody, they will ...read more
Scripture: Psalm 34:8
Tags: Coffee, Serial
Dr. James L. Snyder Having been married as long as The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and myself, there are very few things we disagree. I run by the idea, “Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be right?” That has guided me through many a storm these past years. Almost every day, I ...read more
Scripture: Amos 3:3
Tags: Unity, Agree
One thing about getting older is that you begin to understand the old saying that you don’t know what you don’t know. It has been so true for me. When I think I know everything, something comes up that I never even thought about. Sometimes The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage brings up something ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 15:4
Tags: Blessing, Tongue, Curse
Living in the country, our family did not have a television in our home. Unfortunately, most people in our neighborhood did not have a television. That just was normal. Somehow we managed to entertain ourselves without TV, and of course, we did not have the Internet then. So how we got along ...read more
Tags: Jfk, Tv Remote Control, Batteries, Tricking
Contrary to the idea that the older you get, the more you forget, it has never been my experience. I have forgotten things for as long as I can remember. I even forget things that never actually happened. It runs in our family, though it came to me legitimately down through the generations. A nut ...read more
Scripture: Hebrews 8:12
Tags: Blessing, Forgetting
A few months ago, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage bought a harp and began teaching herself how to play it. She can play the piano, organ, flute, and sometimes me. Now she has graduated to the harp. So I guess she’s preparing for heaven, where she’ll play a heavenly harp. She was quite quick ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 20:12
Tags: Music, Hearing
I must confess I am too poor to pay attention at this time in my life. I hope one day I will win the lottery and be able to afford to pay attention. But, of course, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage says that you can’t win a lottery unless you play the lottery. Well, I don’t play the lottery. ...read more
Tags: Attention, Listening
Whenever things go better than you can imagine, it is always a red flag to pay attention because something is wrong. I don’t always catch it, and I have paid the price. One day this past week, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and our daughters and granddaughters planned a girl’s day. I ...read more
Scripture: Psalm 37:4
Tags: Together, Sharing
Normally, whatever normal means, I don’t get agitated by many things. I can keep my cool under the most bizarre circumstances. Nothing gets under my skin, and I can take everything with a grin. I can’t remember the last time I lost my temper and got mad. I’ve been married for over 50 years, so I ...read more
Scripture: John 8:44
Tags: Humor, Telemarketers, Snarly, Aggitation
Of all the holidays during the year that I like, my birthday is at the bottom of the list. Now that I'm at my current age, I prefer not to be reminded that I'm getting older. All a birthday does for me is tell me I'm just getting older. Who wants to be reminded of that? Then, the worst ...read more
Scripture: Romans 10:17
Tags: Unity, Hearing
You would think I would have learned all I needed to learn at my age. However, each day I learn something I did not know the day before. So much of my new learning is still connected to being married to The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. I know, for example, that she is not soliciting ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 5:14
Tags: Harmony, Questions
Recently, the A/C company we use came and did their yearly inspection. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage took them around to the places that needed inspection. Everything turned out to be quite well and no problems. That got me thinking of what happened many years ago with another company ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 18:2-3
Tags: Service, Fool
The last few weeks have been rather hectic, and I’ve struggled to keep up with everything. If it weren’t for The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, I probably would not have gotten where I am today. I don’t know anybody who can plan out a day, week, or month better than her. She has everything ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 25:21
Tags: Stress, Humor
There is much talk today about what’s wrong with our society. That list is pretty long, but the most important cause of problems in our culture today is the lack of fathers. So many children grow up without a father in the home. How tragic. I was fortunate enough to know my father. My father ...read more
Scripture: Proverbs 23:24
Tags: Father, Family, Authority