COSTA MESA, CA — In order to make his upcoming Sunday message as entertaining as possible, a local pastor plans to stay up late in search of the perfect Bible verse to compliment the hilarious personal experience he wants to share.
"I remembered this really funny story from back in high school, and I can't wait to share it as the centerpiece of my sermon," said Pastor Ryan Ehart of SynergyChurch. "The tricky part is finding a Bible verse that I can somehow tie in with it to make it, you know, more 'spiritual.'"
Pastor Ehart finds his messages always seem to resonate and get a more positive reaction from churchgoers when he focuses on making them laugh and hitting them with quirky one-liners and funny anecdotes. Filling his sermons with expository preaching with large sections of Scripture, while challenging and more spiritually beneficial for hearers, just doesn't seem to go over as well with the crowd. Some attendees, however, still hold out hope for something more substantive.
"I've been going through a tough time in my life lately, so I've been looking forward to finding some guidance when I come to church on Sunday mornings," said Caleb Olla, who has been attending SynergyChurch for nearly three years. "Most of the time, though, it just seems like Pastor Ehart's sermons are like standup comedy routines. If only there was some source I could go to for wisdom and direction. And better jokes."
At publishing time, Pastor Ehart was getting closer to finding that perfect Bible verse to fit in with his personal story. "If I can't really find one that works perfectly, I'll just take a verse and twist it around so I find it more useful. That works, too."
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