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About

In this powerful episode of the Resilient Pastor podcast, hosts Glenn Packiam, Rich Villodas, and Sharon Miller sit down with Megan Marshman — international speaker, teaching pastor at Willow Creek, and women’s ministry leader — for a raw and holy conversation on preaching with vulnerability, leading through grief, and learning to live relaxed in Christ. Megan shares her journey after the sudden loss of her husband Randy in 2021, offering profound wisdom on how pain transforms both preaching and pastoral leadership. This episode is essential listening for pastors wrestling with self-focused preaching, personal loss, or leading congregations through seasons of disorientation and grief.

Key Takeaways

• Shift your preaching focus from “How am I doing?” to “What has God done in me through this message?” — personal transformation fuels powerful preaching.
• The link between the biblical text and the listener is the preacher’s own life. Authentic vulnerability and “preaching through your life” create deeper impact.
• Only 38% of pastors feel equipped to lead on grief, and nearly half feel unequipped for trauma — highlighting a critical need in pastoral ministry.
• When experiencing personal grief or disorientation, slow down, simplify, lower expectations, and be gentle with yourself.
• Share your scars, not your open wounds. Appropriate self-disclosure in community (especially with elders) protects both the pastor and the congregation.
• Grief must come out in safe community. The number one predictor of post-trauma growth is having supportive relationships to process pain with.
• Jesus is relaxed. True spiritual formation leads to peace, trust, and release of control as we abide in the One who is not worried about anything.
• Relaxation is not escaping responsibility — it is relaxing into relationship with Jesus rather than striving in our own strength.

Highlights

• “Rather than caring about what they think about the message, if the message has changed me, then I can’t wait for it to change them.” — Megan Marshman
• “The link between the world of the text and the world of the listener is your life.” — John Stott (via Glenn Packiam)
• “You share your scars, not your wounds… The healed wounds can bring healing to others.” — Glenn Packiam
• “Prayer is not a place to be good. It’s a place to be honest.” — Dr. John Coe
• “Pain is relatable… I’ve moved from being really impressive to really impactful.” — Megan Marshman
• “Relaxed is the byproduct, not the goal. The goal is intimacy with Jesus.” — Megan Marshman
• “His yoke is far lighter than ours ever will be because we don’t have to carry the things He never intended us to carry.” — Megan Marshman

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