Thursday 28 April 2011

Preparing Sermons

When I first started preaching, back when I was a high school student holding a luchtime evangelistic meeting, I used to prepare notes - but I found I was always led down a different path when I got to actually speaking.

So one day while I was preparing notes again, I asked myself why. I threw the piece of paper in the bin, and decided to go to the meeting trusting God to give me His Word. It became a new habit that stuck with me even later on when I started ministering in churches. God would usually give me the Word during the last worship songs before the preaching-time. Doing so meant that my messages took on somewhat of a prophetic character.

Then one day years later during the worship, God wouldn't give me a Word. It came time for the Pastor to hand the pulpit to me - but still no Word. So I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do instead, and He said: "Just hand the meeting over to Me, and let Me move". And to our surprise, we experienced an outpouring of the Spirit that day. So this became a new habit - allowing the Holy Spirit to do whatever He wants, rather than assume that I should always spend the whole time speaking.

It didn't mean I didn't prepare for meetings - I prepared by spending time speaking with tongues, and by spending time fellowshipping with God through His Word.

Of course not everyone will be led the way I have been led. Pastors have a responsibility to present the wider counsel of God, whereas exhorters can be used to bring a single emphasis or to minister the Spirit in a specific way, wherever they go. Exhorters who share the same emphasis wherever they itinerate probably have their message memorized, whereas Pastors have to come up with something new every week and therefore might feel a greater need to prepare their topic.

"...every man has his proper gift of God..." said Paul.

1 comment:

  1. Finally found your blog.
    I write and maintain a spiritual blog which I have titled “AccordingtotheBook” and I’d like to invite you to follow it.

    ReplyDelete