Open for Sermon Suggestions!

In the month of August, I will be attending a sermon planning retreat and putting together a preaching schedule for 2011. Here are my specific goals for this year's retreat:

• Spend this personal retreat time reconnecting with God through prayer, scripture, quiet reflection, Holy Communion, long walks, running, and worship.
• Pray for First UMC, Lancaster, Ohio, that the sermon themes in 2011 will help us grow in what it means to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world.
• Enjoy God's beautiful creation.

Specifically related to the 2011 preaching schedule, there are three vital areas I will keep in mind in my planning:

1) Be faithful to the church's annual liturgical calendar which helps us to stay in rhythm with the church seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, etc.

2) Reflect on the past, present, and future needs of the congregation.

3) In addition to sermons which will be based on the pre-selected scripture readings from the lectionary, I want to design several sermon series around various themes. I have discovered that sermon series can be effective since a congregation can spend an extended period of time on a topic, rather than just one Sunday.

Regarding the planning of themes around sermon series, I want to make sure that I have at least one sermon series per the following four categories - 1) evangelism 2) discipleship 3) pastoral care needs 4) equipping for ministry/service

If you have a particular topic that you would like me to consider addressing through a sermon series in 2011, let me know by the middle of August. I might not be able to incorporate your idea because of a limited number of Sundays, but the more ideas I receive, the better the brainstorming will be! Some of the sermon series ideas that I thought would make the cut for 2010 didn't make it because of the specific needs of the congregation.

The picture with this post was taken at last year's sermon planning retreat. I stayed at a friend's beautiful summer home which was located by a scenic lake.