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SERMON: Who Owns It by Gina Coburn

Preacher: Gina Colburn

Sermon Title: Who Owns It?

Sermon Link: http://twcallentown.org/media/i-was-broke/

Gina ColburnGina Colburn is the lead pastor of Trinity Wesleyan Church in Wescosville, PA. She preaches with optimism and authority.  This particular sermon addresses every preacher’s favorite topic– money. Every pastor knows learning to navigate such a touchy topic with grace and finesse is both skill and art.

Admit corporate guilt.

We do not always like to admit how often preachers have spoken in ways more harmful than helpful on tough topics such as money. Some preachers believe admitting this in the pulpit is to jackhammer any foundational credibility we enter the pulpit with. Who will listen if we admit defeat from the start? There are times preachers have to confess others preachers’ sins in order to gain a hearing. Everyone has heard stories of how money was mismanaged and minds were manipulated in individual churches. Some of the men and women in our pews have been wounded as a direct result of someone else’s preaching on money. Pastor Gina acknowledges previous bias against the church as a way of helping the listener feel heard, understood, and disarmed by honesty. It signals to the listener, “You may have been misused before, this sermon will not repeat that.”

Keep it light.

We take ourselves seriously, we take our Bible seriously, we take Jesus seriously. Some of that seriousness is good and necessary, but it can make the sermon moment (and life in general) feel like a weight to carry instead of a key that looses. The presence of humor does not mean the absence of gravity. Usually the best humor comes unforced, almost as a surprise to both the preacher and the congregation. Do not force it, but let humor come. Homiletician Fred Craddock writes in As One Without Authority that, “only the true and meaningful can provide the leverage necessary for laughter” (74). Secular comedian David Spade once said he does not try to “say something funny.” Instead he tries to “say something true” in a new way. Then as people laugh they will say to themselves, “you know that is so true.” It seems that serious topics (like money) not only demand humor for a sense of relief, but they often lend themselves to laughter.

Responsibility and Receiving.

“I want this for you, not from you.”

It’s easy in sermon moments for the preacher to ask much from their people. After all, the gospel does require sacrifice. Relentlessly asking for great sacrifice week after week makes for quick easy climaxes to our sermons and doing so even seems to lift the religious egos of some more fragile preachers. However, in asking our people to rise up and live the Gospel, we must remember that God has things in store for us; God doesn’t merely want things from us. I know no better news than this. Pastor Gina doesn’t leave us wondering if it’s time to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. She tells us very clearly that yes, we must act, we must live as responsible stewards. She also adds that God wants this for us. She asks two questions throughout her sermon and both determine how we answer the call to be good stewards.

She doesn’t only ask, “Can God trust me?”, leaving us to wonder alone what we’re going to give to God. She also asks, “Can I trust God?”, leaving us to ask, “do I believe that this God has good in store for me?”

What might you put into practice here the next time you preach?

  1. No, OneRepublic, it’s not too late to apologize.

Some sermons are easier to preach than others, aren’t they? I love sharing with people about how God changes my heart and my life, I love conveying the hope of transformation in Jesus Christ. Other sermons induce a little more anxiety in preparation and delivery. When talking about money, I’m conscious of all the ways in the past I’ve heard this done badly. I’m hyper-aware of the ways in which this conversation can quickly become manipulative and weird, and, frankly, of what people will say in the foyer aftewards — even if God starts speaking and/or this conversation is done well. While we don’t need to lean into those fears, I do think we’re wise to be aware of the reality that some of our congregation has been wounded by conversations like this in the past. Perhaps both the businesswoman on your left and the poor woman on your right have both been hurt by money sermons gone badly in the past. You’ll help them hang in there for the journey if you acknowledge that this topic doesn’t always get discussed well. Next time you bridge a difficult topic with your congregation (trust me, you’ll know it in preparation when you’re having one of those sermons), perhaps you’ll feel the need to acknowledge sermons gone badly– whether they were your own or those in the Church at large.

  1. Let them laugh.

Straining for humor is no fun for the speaker or the listener. Humor rising naturally from your content helps lift the room a little. Pastors are not required to be comedians. It is helpful if we can let our congregation laugh. We’re not looking for a laugh for a laugh’s sake, but we certainly want to allow people a breath in the midst of the sermon. Humor is a natural part of our everyday conversations we have with friends. To refuse to allow it into the sermon moment leaves the message feeling forced, like we’re asking people to hold their breath until the end when ordinary life can resume. Not only does that make for a boring sermon, but it sets the sermon apart in way that divorces it from ordinary life. Let a laugh in. Your people will thank you for it.

  1. Balance respond and receive.

In any sermon we preach, it’s helpful and faithful to try to help your congregation find a middle ground between receiving and responsibility— the knowledge that while we must act and cooperate with God’s work in our lives, that we also receive more from the Lord than we can begin to imagine. We have responsibility, yes, but we must also be people who know how to receive from the Lord. The next time you preach, ask yourself this question: Where am I asking my people to act? And am I balancing that with reminder after reminder that God extends His hands in abundant grace to help us do that which He has called us to do?


Dave Ward and Elyse Garverick