Power in Living

The call of Lent is not simply to give something up. It is to go looking for something; something of lasting value, something that does not rust, rot, or slip through your fingers when you need it most.

In this Cycle B Lenten and Easter series, Derl Keefer takes readers on what he calls a treasure hunt — through Ash Wednesday's call to honest self-examination, through the six Sundays of Lent and the profound arc of Holy Week, through the Easter morning light of John 20 and the rich series of post-resurrection appearances. Along the way, Keefer draws on sixty-plus years of preaching experience, a lifetime of pastoral storytelling, and a deep conviction that Scripture becomes a message to the person in the pew only when the Holy Spirit is involved.

These are sermons that reach for the life illustrations; a wartime lifesaver who never received a thank-you, a preacher's father refusing aid to those who wouldn't help themselves, the old acrostic on prayer that opens into something deeper. They are honest about the struggle and clear about the power: the power that is not manufactured by the preacher or manufactured by the listener, but given, by the One who defeated death on Easter morning.

Use these sermons as a resource, a starting place, a Holy Spirit-led prompt. Preach the word in season and out of season.

Derl Keefer has been preaching for over sixty years in the evangelical tradition. He is the author of Let's Get Committed, The Wesleyan Preaching Resource, (Vols. 1 & 2), the co-author of two collections of Wedding Sermons and Marriage Ceremonies and other books of sermons (CSS Publishing) and numerous other preaching resources. His sermons draw on a lifetime of pastoral ministry, biblical study, and the conviction that great preaching is always a matter of preparation and prayer working together.