A local pastor says that preparing a sermon for Easter Sunday is more challenging than you might think.
Cookeville First United Methodist Church Pastor Chip Hunter said the sermon is challenging because everyone already knows the message. Hunter said he tries not to be too spectacular as he has had a few sermons that he thought were going to be really good, but they didn’t turn out so well.
“I guess after 30 years, 29 years of doing it, I have kind of come to the conclusion that the power is in the message in the story of Jesus and the resurrecting power there, and so I just try to tell the story,” Hunter said.
Hunter said you just cannot create a sermon that is bigger than the resurrection. Hunter said Easter Sunday is about hope, which is something everyone could use.
“Especially in our culture today, where there are so many disagreements and families are torn apart by different ways of thinking about politics or what have you,” Hunter said. “To preach just the message of hope for everyone and a message that everyone is invited to hear is a very, I think, inspiring and important part of the church.”
Hunter said he recently went to a community service at another local church and noticed something special.
“There was a good crowd there, and I got the sense that the crowd wanted to be together, and I don’t think that everybody thinks exactly alike in that crowd,” Hunter said. “There are several churches that are represented there, but there’s something wholesome and good about being together.”
Hunter quoted a key figure in the Methodist movement, John Wesley, and said, “If we can agree on the essentials, then I can call you a brother and a sister.”
