Priesthood of the bloggers

I'm preaching at Emory on January 1st, 2006. I could have passed on the oportunity but I try to get into the pulpit whenever I can. It makes me wrestle with texts and gives me preaching practice.

Earlier this week, Charlie (EPC's current interim pastor) and I were discussing the sermon and the priesthood of believers. I thin in protestant churches the sermon event is one place they refuse to acknowledge the priesthood of believers. I'm not against having the same guy preach every week, but I think we preachers have to open up our preparation process to others and build some sort of ability to respond into the sermon. Charlie and I kicked around some ideas, but nothing we felt comfortable introducing at EPC just yet.

But I do want to open up the process to you, our loyal readers. I'm going to post my gospel text at the end of this post, and I hope you'll comment with your reaction to it. This is my first attempt at communal response to a text, so I don't even really know what will happen here or how it will effect the final sermon, but I think it's worth a shot. You could even comment on what you think a sermon on the first day of a new year should be about. Please take a minute and offer your thoughts for the benefit of this sermon.

Thanks-

Adam

Luke 2:15-21

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.