My Best Sermon Series Ideas

Right about now is when I start thinking about sermon series for the winter and spring. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I spent a couple days with our senior pastor on a retreat, planning out the winter months of preaching. 

I thought it might be helpful to share my best sermon series ideas. You can decide if they are actually decent.

Emotions

We experienced very high engagement in our fall kickoff series, called “Emotions.” We spent four weeks exploring anger, sadness, anxiety and desire. We chose four emotions that seemed relevant for people right now.

If you did a series like this, you could obviously pick a different set of emotions to explore. My favorite sermon in the series was on anxiety from Joshua 1. I’d be happy to send you my notes if you email me at aaronbuer@gmail.com.

During the series, we did something on social media that led to our highest engagement ever. We shot four short conversation videos between me and a local Christian counselor.

Each video was on one of the emotions we were exploring during the series. We posted these videos midweek, following each of the sermons. They were very well received.  

10 Questions Jesus Asked

For our summer series, we often try to create a series that has a broad theme so that we can carry it through most of the summer and invite guest speakers.  

Last summer, we did a series called “10 Questions Jesus Asked.” Our congregation really responded well to the series. If you do an internet search on “Questions Jesus Asked,” you’ll discover something like 307 questions that Jesus asks in the Gospels. Many of these questions are fascinating and challenging.  

A few of my favorites from this series:  

• “What do you want?”
• “Why do you worry?”
• “Do you want to leave too?”  
• “Do you want to get well?”  

Thou Shalt Party

This is a series that we will pursue in the weeks leading up to Christmas. “Thou Shalt Party” is not what we’re going to actually call the series, but I think the title is awesome.  

This is a series on the festivals that God instituted in the Old Testament for the people of Israel. This series could be three weeks long—Passover, Weeks and Booths or longer if you include The Day of Atonement, Sabbath, Jubilee or even Purim.  

Something cool about the three big festivals is that they each have an agricultural element, an historical element and a Jesus element.  

• Passover: the barley harvest, the Exodus, Jesus as the Passover Lamb/The Last Supper
• Weeks: the wheat harvest, the giving of the law, Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit
• Booths: the tree harvests (olives, dates, etc.), wilderness wandering and Jesus teaching in the temple.  

Here’s a great resource if you want to explore more: Rose Guide to The Feasts, Festivals and Fasts of the Bible.  

Daniel

The series we are currently in is on the book of Daniel. Here’s why: Daniel is about God’s people in exile and how God brings honor to His name without the temple, land or kingdom.  

My sense is that many Jesus followers living in the U.S. feel a bit like exiles right now. Culture has changed and many don’t feel as at home as they once did in American culture. And, we are experiencing more resistance to the teachings of the Bible than ever before in our culture.  

It seems to me that many resonate with the situation of Daniel.  

Wrap Up

I’m hopeful that one or more of these series ideas might spark an idea for you in your context and lead to a great sermon series with your congregation. If you find yourself stuck while preparing a sermon, check out an article I wrote on how to become unstuck, here. Have a great week!