It was tough judging the winners of our first-ever sermon contest. We had many great sermons that would have and should have been heard in church. But we were looking for superior sermons that would not be heard in church, which is why we chose what we did.

FIRST PLACE
A sermon where none is needed by Leslie Barnwell
Dear Navita: It’s been a while since I was here in your neighbourhood. That was way back when I drew your face for my fear-in-fragment art project. Anyway, today I’m sharing a meal with … (Continued here ).

SECOND PLACE:
A pattern sermon by Bonnie Loewen
It matters how I pull back the sheet in the morning, whether I slide my hand over the night’s warmth of Mark’s back. It matters how I look at him, or don’t when he hands me my morning coffee. (Continued here ).

THIRD PLACE
The lawn-sign sermon by Duncon Nicholls
What is the purpose of a church lawn sign? Here’s what I’ve come up with: 1. to advertise upcoming events; 2. to create employment for those who design and build signs; 3. to display how pithy and clever the minister is … ; 4. to lecture and berate the unfaithful . . ; 5. to somehow motivate the passerby to come in and check out what’s shaking. (Continued here ).

HONORABLE MENTIONS
The detoxification sermon by Stephen T. Berg
Excerpt: Genuine worship is a detoxification process. It’s about releasing our fascination with who’s in and who’s out. It’s about letting go of our obsessive competitiveness that reduces us to shadows of each other. It’s about escaping the grip of this acquisitive fascination with one another in order to truly encounter and be open to one another.

repress, address: the holy revolution by Lindsay Bradford-Ewart
Excerpt:
thank you
I’ll decide if I’m hailed or I’m nailed,
defined by entrails,
kept in a “god-is-in-the-kitchen-too” type-a j/ail.
sold out for _______. no doubt for _______.
because yours is not a revolution, I’m _____ to say,
it’s a deevolution,
salute (shun) brigade.

Thanks to all who entered. We’ve already begun scheming for the topic of next year’s sermon. Suggestions are welcome.