"Special" Days

Surely, I’m not the only preacher who’s wrestled with how—or whether—to preach the holidays. Ignore them at your own peril. But once you start acknowledging them, where do you stop Christmas, Easter, New Year, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, 4th of July, April Fools Day…it can easily get out of hand. This isn’t a new dilemma, either. Preachers have been figuring this out for centuries. Ask the Catholics who, in the 16th-17th Century, celebrated roughly 150 of them. Or you can be like the Puritans who in objection to that in 1647, formally banned the celebration of Christmas, Easter, and other feasts.

It seems foolish not to make the most of an opportunity, but once you do, you start something. You might have a knockout Mother’s Day sermon (poor word choice there)—but do you have two? Or ten? Or enough to last 40 years of ministry? 

A few thoughts for you:

  1. Enjoy the day! But preach the Gospel. Have some fun, honor Moms or Dads, recognize children at Christmas. But don’t forget in all that fun that you are a Gospel Preacher, so preach the Gospel.

  2. You don’t have to outdo Broadway to keep people’s attention. If they only come twice a year, they need to know that the church isn’t a seasonal performance—it’s a weekly gathering of prayer, praise, and people who love Jesus. We don’t have dancing bears and hydraulics every week. What we have is better: worship. Truth. Grace.

  3. Don’t go LONG! Sometimes guys try to squeeze so much in that the service goes 15-30 minutes over a regular service. I’ve seen it. You guests won’t appreciate it.

  4. Maybe every now and then, just give a nod to the Day and then preach a sermon on something needed. Let’s go back to the concept that some only come one or two times a year. They may never hear a sermon other than

  5. Kick off a new series….

  6. This is not the Sunday to air your dirty laundry or solve some church problem

  7. Remember, they know they should be there every week You fussing at them the one Sunday they are there will not bring them back next week. 

So preach the day—but don’t be owned by it. Preach to the moment, not the moment. And when in doubt, just open the Word, tell the truth, love people well, and remember: if they only come twice a year, you may only get one shot. Make it Gospel.

* Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago. Today (6/17/25) Babylon Bee put out a spoof on Father’s Day, 

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