Congratulations! You made it. You climbed up the mountain and arrived. What am I talking about? A week ago you preached on Easter Sunday. And if you're like most preachers I know, you gave everything you had. You prepared, you agonized, you prayed, and you preached. Now it's over, and like many preachers you got a bad case of "post-sermon gloom," the emotional- spiritual-physical letdown that follows on the heels of a holy preaching event.

How do you handle the gloom? Some preachers wallow in failure; others pompously replay their own preaching highlights reel. Some preachers look at porn or drink too much or eat too much. Some preachers escape by watching sports or shopping.

There are dozens of unhealthy ways to deal with post-sermon gloom, but let me suggest something that humbles and consoles at the same time—the words of the preaching "doctor" Haddon Robinson who said, "Of course, we will not give God that which costs us nothing … Yet in the final analysis there are no great preachers. There's only a great Christ who does startling things when we place ourselves and our preaching in his hands." Now that's an outlook that can cure your gloom!

As you move forward in your preaching, here are some new resources from PreachingToday.com:

• Featured Sermon: "The God Who Sees Me,"a Mother's Day message by Hilary
• New Skills Article: Honing the Craft: Trust the entire worship service to change lives. By Matt Brown
• Featured Illustration: Film 'The Monuments Men' Shows Faithful Service
• Video: Unnoticed Moms, LLC. Celebrate moms and all the things they do.

In Christ,

Matt Woodley
Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.