Day 2 of 365: Sermon Prep

 

The new blog challenge is off and running! Thank you to those of you that took the time to read yesterday’s blogs. One of the questions I received was “Do you have any new dreams or plans?” My answer is absolutely but that is for another day. 

A question that came to me out of the blue is "as a pastor what is your favorite thing to do week in and week out?" This is kind of a loaded question because I have two that are evenly matched. Given the times that we live in I would have to say currently it is sermon prep. This has always been something I have enjoyed doing. As a young 22 year old youth pastor it took me much longer and the messages were much shorter. Why? Because I was completely scared each time I had to give a message. The first message I gave at Bay View Assembly of God in 1996 clocked in at 11 minutes. Yeah….I was pretty green. 

These days I still love putting messages together. In 2 Timothy 2:15 those that preach are charged with these words “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”. A pastor ought to put a decent amount of thought and prayer into what they are going to teach but I also believe that they should have fun with it. 

It is for that very reason I enjoy doing sermon series like the one beginning tomorrow at the church I pastor. I entitled the series “This Is The Way”. It is a four part message series based off the code of the Mandalorians but let’s be honest…it is a message straight out of the Bible. If there is ever a time that a person would say “how in the world is he going to preach off a movie?” Well, then…they don’t smell what I am stepping in. 

When I use pop culture to put together a message or series, it is only because the thought of said pop culture reference is pointing to a larger biblical principle. If you ever looked at the four topics of this series; one steeped in the word would instantly be able to link those topics to things the Apostle Paul spoke of. 

It is true that you ought to be careful when around a pastor because you never know if he/she is going to use you as a sermon illustration ha ha. For me that is one of my greatest joys. 

The other thing I love to do? Well, that’s easy…hanging out with people at restaurants, church, etc. I am a people person and thus, I love being with them.