I got to preach again at my church on March 27th!
Last time around I went for 50 minutes without even realizing it. I only went five minutes over this time and went for 35! It so many ways I think it, while still deeply flawed, was one of my best sermons yet - it's super encouraging to know that this could be a legitimate option for me in the future!
What struck me the most this time around was the reminder that as crucial as a sermon is to Sunday worship, that is all it truly is - a part of Sunday worship! When I preach for my classes there is no context. The sermon I gave at my church was the exposition of a Bible passage to help us further worship God along the worship theme for that day. We sing songs, we pray together, we confess our failings, we confess our beliefs, and get lost in the beauty of our God to make much of him. I preach for my congregation what I think God desires them to hear from his word. The whole worship service is a large group effort to do one thing. We gather as a family to live out the reality that our lives are at their best when they are not primarily about us. I participate in the service as much as when I sing along in the pew as when I open God's word.
We have been going through a sermon series on the book of Colossians. False teachers had gone to the church at Collosae and began spreading lies like "you are missing something" "to be a truly great Christian you need more than just Jesus" "you lack the means to grow or to avoid being a victim of your circumstances" etc.
The heartbeat of the book is this: "You have Jesus and he is enough!" It has been so good learning how that isn't just a cliche platitude but something that has true power in our daily lives!
Last time around I went for 50 minutes without even realizing it. I only went five minutes over this time and went for 35! It so many ways I think it, while still deeply flawed, was one of my best sermons yet - it's super encouraging to know that this could be a legitimate option for me in the future!
What struck me the most this time around was the reminder that as crucial as a sermon is to Sunday worship, that is all it truly is - a part of Sunday worship! When I preach for my classes there is no context. The sermon I gave at my church was the exposition of a Bible passage to help us further worship God along the worship theme for that day. We sing songs, we pray together, we confess our failings, we confess our beliefs, and get lost in the beauty of our God to make much of him. I preach for my congregation what I think God desires them to hear from his word. The whole worship service is a large group effort to do one thing. We gather as a family to live out the reality that our lives are at their best when they are not primarily about us. I participate in the service as much as when I sing along in the pew as when I open God's word.
We have been going through a sermon series on the book of Colossians. False teachers had gone to the church at Collosae and began spreading lies like "you are missing something" "to be a truly great Christian you need more than just Jesus" "you lack the means to grow or to avoid being a victim of your circumstances" etc.
The heartbeat of the book is this: "You have Jesus and he is enough!" It has been so good learning how that isn't just a cliche platitude but something that has true power in our daily lives!
You can listen to the series here:
Concord Presbyterian Church Media