Is That What Comes To Mind?

So I'm reading a newsletter today online and happen to glance at an ad in the right frame of the webpage. It's for the website of a magazine that I actually used to subscribe to - "Preaching Today."

Is that what comes to your mind when you think of preaching today?

Lord help us if it is.

That'd Be A "No"

It's Really Important To Remember Your Part

From Steve Brown's blog today:

I have a friend (you would know his name…he's a famous Bible teacher) who was introduced at a Bible convention this way:

You're very fortunate to be here. I've been asked to give an introduction and the man I'm introducing to you has spoken to audiences the world over. His message has changed millions of lives and his presence has brought peace, repentance and love to very difficult situations throughout the church. He is profound, wise and compassionate, touching people everywhere with his message.

His name is Jesus.

And here is _______________ to tell you about him.

That's my job.

That's your job if you are a follower of Jesus.

We do our part by living the love of Jesus out loud through our lives - our words, our actions, and what we value.

After Sermon Thoughts

It's late Sunday evening, and I'm about to follow my wife to bed and call it a day. It's been a full one. But like most of the people called "preacher-creatures" by my friend Ian Anderson, I keep thinking about this morning's sermon and wondering - did I do it? Did I give them what God wanted them to hear? If I did, did I do it well? Who heard it? Who responded to it, even though I may not know?

It's funny, because today I was preaching out of Acts and one of the parts I touched on was Peter's first sermon.

3000 people - hostile people - the people who put Jesus to death - get SAVED!

It's your first sermon. You're not a preacher, you're a fisherman. But it happens.

Can you imagine what Peter thought? "That went better than I expected."

I can so see him turning around and asking the other guys...

"Is it going to be this way every time?"

One of the things you learn to do - if you're willing and capable of learning from what you do - good or bad - is to analyze your part in the process, make sure you did the best you can do, change if you didn't, and leave the rest to God.

There's no way Peter was able to do what God did through him that day. God can use anyone, anytime.

And fellow preacher-creatures, regardless of how you did today, God can use it.

So let him.

Now, about next week's sermon. :)

Crossing Cultures and Building Bridges

This term at Rockbridge is winding up, and the course I'm taking "Understanding Cultures" is beginning to come together for me. We've been learning how our cultural view affects how we perceive our world and how it colors our relationships. We're also acquiring some anthropology chops to enable us to study and understand cultures and people groups.

Going in, I had probably the lowest expectations of any course I have ever taken at Rockbridge. With two weeks to go, I can say I've learned a great deal that I believe I can use. Kudos to Dr. Jeff Ginn and Rockbridge as well as my classmates.

My role in the Kingdom is that of pastor/communicator, not anthropologist. I'm learning how to "read" cultures and people groups for one purpose - to better proclaim the Word of God and give testimony to God's greatness. So tonight, when I read this quote in the lecture notes, I just had to share it

Communicating God's Word is a deeply spiritual event involving the Holy Spirit. Gospel presentation is a missionary act.

Communicators of the Gospel are intimately and personally involved as participants in this process. And the best communicators do it in deep, deep prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit.

There is something mysterious about the infinite communicability of the Bible.

There is nothing else like it in the world that is proclaimed and then transforms people.

True, the Bible by itself does not do this either. The community, the church, works through the text and brings their understanding to what they receive.

R. Daniel Shaw and Charles E. Van Engen, Communicating God’s Word in a Complex World (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003):29-30

It is through the Holy Spirit, through a prepared communicator in awe of the power and majesty of God's revealed Word, and to a community prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive it - that God can do amazing things.

He can change the course of a life and through that life the course of history.
He can bring the Words written down thousands of years ago to bear on the problems of today.
He can lead a person across the "bridge" of the gospel into newness of life.

Too cool! And I get to do it every week!

How Long Oh Lord?

It was one of those days when there was so much I wanted to say. But clouds were forming on the horizon. Announcements and welcome lasted 15 minutes. The children's sermon went for 6 more. And note to self - video clips count as time out of your portion. They are not an added bonus that everyone goes away feeling glad they got.

With the two videos, yours truly grabbed an amazing 50 minutes. Uh huh.

So yeah, an hour and a half was what we took from start to finish today.

It wasn't as bad as the three hours "There Will Be Blood" took from Bunny, Sean and me yesterday.

But it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Content in context, delivered with passion - yeah. Clips were both great and supported the theme extremely well.

BUT... I was too long. Way too long. And what I think could have really been impactful was made less so.

I'm posting this to remind me if I ever get that idea again. Although Bunny and Sean will probably handle that. :)

Preaching

'The one passionate desire of my heart has been to lead my hearers to Christ. I have never entered a pulpit without feeling that, if only people could catch a vision of the Saviour, they would have no alternative but to lay their devotion at his feet. My soul has caught fire when ever I have exalted the cross.'

F. W. Boreham

Amen.