Have you considered spending a Sunday on trauma?
Life doesn’t always give us easy answers, and sometimes the burdens we carry are heavier than we’d like to admit. It’s likely you’ve seen this in your own congregations—people who are going through tough times and maybe don’t know how or where to seek help. This brings us to an approach that’s worth considering.
Our pulpits should address trauma head on.
Why talk about trauma from the pulpit? First, let’s acknowledge that silence can be isolating. If trauma isn’t addressed, we risk making our churches places where people feel their struggles are invisible.
Addressing trauma head-on legitimizes the suffering of your congregation. Addressing these difficult subjects head-on creates a sense of community and belonging, showing that the church is a safe haven for all types of healing.
Next, consider the spiritual component. Your role as a pastor isn’t to be a therapist, but your words can offer another form of healing.
Trauma-informed preaching leverages biblical teachings to offer both emotional comfort and spiritual guidance. It’s about understanding the deep emotional struggles that your congregation faces and guiding them through it with scriptural wisdom.
Finally, our communities are experiencing shared hardships—whether from societal issues, natural disasters, or even global pandemics. When the church offers thoughtful reflections on these struggles, it remains a relevant and needed force in the community.
As you explore this curated collection of sermons, view them as resources. These aren’t just canned talks but thoughtful guides meant to help you address the needs of your congregation in a meaningful way. By doing so, you’re not just enriching your own ministry; you’re providing a genuinely needed service to your congregation, showing them that faith can be a source of incredible resilience and healing.
Top Ten Sermons About Healing from Trauma
Auto Response: Learning to Handle Our Behaviors & Emotions
Too many of the decisions we make throughout a given day are not really decisions at all. They are automatic responses. When we become afraid, angry, or frustrated, we often turn on autopilot. Sometimes these are auto-responses we want to keep. Other times they reveal troubling behaviors that don’t align with God’s purposes. This four-week series explores the habits we’ve created and how Scripture should shape our auto-responses when we face conflict, anger, anxiety, fear, and failure.
Recover: Hope After Trauma
This series is meant to help parishioners walk through the trauma of the past years, grounding them in Christian hope and the comfort and presence of Christ.
Church Hurt
This four-week series addresses common causes of wounds that people experience from church life. Many people have been burned by other church members or church leaders, and the pain often leaves them feeling confused, hurt, and isolated. God does not take this lightly; in his Word he calls out our hypocrisy, hurtful tongues, and judgmental attitudes. Church life is messy, but it is also a place of hope, comfort, and reconciliation. It is never too late to start fresh with God and his people.
Triggered: Dealing With Anxiety
There is a prevailing sense of anxiety in the world around us, and for many people anxiety is a daily and personal struggle. Thankfully, the Bible isn’t silent about this. This four-week series helps us face the anxieties of life with the truth of the Word of God and the spiritual and practical applications it provides us today.
I’m Not Okay: Bringing Our Brokenness To Christ
Adults are not the only ones who suffer. This four-week youth series discovers the truth that comes from telling God that we’re not okay. By looking at common struggles like anxiety, depression, temptation, and conflict, we can see what God wants us to do to experience peace, joy, hope, and love no matter what struggle we are going through.
Wounds: Healing From Our Past
This four-part series addresses the issue of wounds in our personal lives and in our church community. How we respond to our wounds and to those who wound us matters. When we look to God and the future he has planned for us, we can process our trauma and heal from our wounds.
Before You Give Up
This four-week series for youth and adults seeks to reach and encourage people who are nearing their breaking points and invites them to bring failure, doubt, hurt, and fatigue to Jesus and community.
Never Alone
This series looks at times in the Bible when men and women felt alone or abandoned and found that God was with them. Stories like those of Dinah and the widow of Zarephath’s son show us that even when those we should be able to lean on and trust have betrayed or abandoned us, God still sees, cares, and intercedes on our behalf—even if we can’t see his loving hand in the midst of our grief and hurt.
I'm Still Not Okay
This two-week series explores how after the year 2020—a year full of trauma—many people are still not okay. And before you think, 2020…just think about the number of people who lost someone they loved, fell behind in school achievements, missed weddings, funerals, birthday parties, proms and graduations. But through understanding the struggles of Jesus and the peace that he gives us, we can be honest about our struggles and persevere in Christ. This series also shows hope for other seasons of dark grief or despair.
Messy Spirituality
This is a four-week youth series for imperfect Christians. Have you ever felt like you are riding the “spiritual struggle bus”? Feelings of spiritual inadequacy can make us fearful of God but not in the healthy way. This series explores how knowing the loving, gracious God of Scripture can overcome our constant feelings of guilt and imperfection. “Messy Spirituality” examines the realities of our human weaknesses and the grace of God that meets us in those struggles, empowering us to change.
Wrap Up
As you’ve explored these ten invaluable resources, we hope you’ve found inspiration and practical tools for integrating trauma-informed preaching into your ministry. Remember, the pulpit is not just a platform for theological discussion; it’s a place where healing can begin. By speaking openly and compassionately about trauma, you make your church a sanctuary for those in need. Thank you for taking this important step to make a lasting impact in the lives of your congregation.
Oh, before we forget! Each one of these sermon guides is completely customizable in our Sermonary+ platform. You can drag-and-drop each one, browse illustrations and application examples, write your content, and, then, you can easily export it to your tech team or Canva. Let us know if we can get you set up today by clicking the icon in the bottom right!
