{"id":298,"date":"2018-12-04T15:30:05","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T23:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=298"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:40:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:40:20","slug":"diary-of-a-preacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/diary-of-a-preacher\/","title":{"rendered":"Diary of a Preacher"},"content":{"rendered":"
Diary of a Preacher<\/span><\/div>\n

\".\"
\nBy John McLarty<\/span>Take a few moments to peer into the busy life of one pastor as he wrestles with how to meet his weekly sermon deadline.
\n_________________________________________________________________________
\n<\/em>
\nMonday,\u00a0 8:30 a.m. (at my desk)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to start my sermon for Sabbath.\u00a0I\u2019ve been preaching through the Book of Acts, a chapter per week.\u00a0The book itself dictates the focus of each week\u2019s sermon. Now, it\u2019s time to choose a new focus.\u00a0How do I decide what to preach?\u00a0Usually, I consider three factors:<\/p>\n

1.) What do my members need?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0A few of my people wrestle with questions about the efficacy of prayer and the reality of God\u2019s personal involvement in the lives of individuals. Others have recently experienced dramatic personal and marital transformation through their involvement in a prayer ministry. They know God acts and speaks.\u00a0I know of individuals struggling with pornography, smoking, depression, dysfunctional marriages and other \u201cunmentionable\u201d problems.\u00a0For other members life couldn\u2019t be going better.\u00a0All these folks come to church looking for hope and help and meaning, wondering if God will say something to them.<\/p>\n

2.)\u00a0 What is burning in my heart?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 What has God been doing in my life? If my sermon does not connect with my own experience, it feels like a lecture. It may contain useful information, but probably doesn\u2019t offer much inspiration.\u00a0But lately, I\u2019ve been in a funk\u2013okay, I\u2019ve been depressed. Nothing much is burning in my heart except a desire for a vacation.\u00a0And that is probably not what my people need to hear.<\/p>\n

3.)\u00a0 I speak for the church.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0My preaching makes a statement about what our congregation\u00a0and our denomination considers important. So over time, I must ensure that the full range of our beliefs is given voice in the preaching.<\/p>\n

Monday, Noon<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to leave my desk.\u00a0I still don\u2019t have a focus for the next couple of months, even though I\u2019ve been thinking about it for weeks.\u00a0Maybe I\u2019ll address some basic doctrinal topics\u2013salvation, prayer, faith, obedience, law, spiritual disciplines.\u00a0But where to start?<\/p>\n

Monday, 8:00 p.m. (at a home in Tacoma)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am meeting with a group of young adults who have the most tangential of connections with my church.\u00a0Matt, the leader, said he didn\u2019t get much out of my sermons back when he had attended our church, but he found our conversations helpful.\u00a0Would I come and visit with him and his friends? I think, maybe if I listened to them hard enough, I could learn to preach to them.<\/p>\n

Tuesday morning, 8:00 a.m.\u00a0(at the Pony Express Caf\u00e9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I meet Jeff for breakfast.\u00a0Jeff graduated from an Adventist academy last year and no longer attends church.\u00a0He\u2019s not hostile.\u00a0He just finds church boring.\u00a0At the end of two hours together, he said, \u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t want to go to heaven.\u00a0I do!\u00a0 If God would just spell out exactly what I had to do to guarantee I would be saved, I would do it!\u201d\u00a0 I was astonished.\u00a0This from a twenty-year old who grew up in an Adventist home and attended Adventist churches and schools.\u00a0I suggested we get together again the next Tuesday and check out what the Bible said.\u00a0 He said okay.\u00a0Back home at my desk, I think, I\u2019ve got my sermon: \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If I can craft an answer that works for Matt and Jeff, maybe it will work for the young people who sit in my congregation.<\/p>\n

Friday, 9:00 – 12:30 a.m. (sitting at my computer)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(I was going to do this yesterday, but . . .)\u00a0\u00a0I begin by running through the Bible in my mind, looking for relevant stories. I think of the Philippian jailer, the Ethiopian eunuch and the rich young ruler.\u00a0Next, I open my Bible software and search the New Testament for sav* (for save, saves, saved) and salvation. I read through the hits, pasting into my word processor any that strike me, all the while asking myself, how would this text answer Jeff\u2019s question?\u00a0 How would it help Matt and friends?<\/p>\n

It quickly becomes obvious there are at least two distinct biblical approaches to the question. Since I believe good sermons should have one central \u201ctake-home\u201d idea I decide to do at least two sermons and probably three.\u00a0I will begin with the story of the lawyer who is famous for asking \u201cwho is my neighbor?\u201d\u00a0 His first question had been, \u201cWhat must I do to receive eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike the Philippian Jailer, both the lawyer and Jeff knew the Bible.\u00a0Jeff had told me he knew what he would tell someone else if they asked the question.\u00a0He just didn\u2019t know what answer to give to himself.\u00a0His words highlighted my dilemma: The people I preach to already know the answer. So why will they listen to what I have to say?\u00a0 I need an illustration that connects with\u00a0 their world.\u00a0Not something from long ago and far away or out of a book of sermon illustrations.\u00a0What have my people been thinking about all week?\u00a0Most likely school, girls, mortgage payments, the funny noise their transmission has been making and gifts they plan to buy for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Christmas!\u00a0When I go shopping, I am impressed with guarantees.\u00a0Ninety days?\u00a0 A year?\u00a0What about an extended warranty?\u00a0Is it worth the money?\u00a0Jeff wanted a guarantee of salvation.\u00a0My shopping-obsessed listeners also want guarantees.<\/p>\n

Playing with this idea changes the focus of my sermon. The most important question about a guarantee is who stands behind it.\u00a0For a stingy vendor, the fine print of a guarantee may simply provide a legal pretext for avoiding customer service.\u00a0For other vendors, the written warranty serves primarily as a reminder to customers of the benefits available to them.<\/p>\n

Salvation is rooted in the intention and resources of God, not in my performance.\u00a0The commandments (to love God and love your neighbor) do not describe a minimal acceptable level of performance.\u00a0Instead they teach us how to align ourselves with the Savior.\u00a0By loving God and loving our neighbor we learn to appreciate and to rely on the love God has for us.\u00a0Thus we begin participating in the joys of unending life.<\/p>\n

So now I had my sermon.\u00a0The title: \u201cSalvation Guaranteed,\u201d the text: Luke 10:25-42; 12:32, and my principal illustration: Guarantees.<\/p>\n

Friday afternoon (at the grocery store and vacuuming)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am still worried about pulling the congregation into the sermon.\u00a0 My illustrations are on target, but I worry they aren\u2019t strong enough.\u00a0Sometime in the afternoon or evening, an idea hits me:\u00a0During the announcement period, I will tell the congregation that I\u2019m going to ask for their help during the sermon. I want them to think of a good experience they have had with a guarantee and be prepared to share it.<\/p>\n

Oops!\u00a0 What Didn\u2019t Happen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nearly always, I prepare a manuscript. I don\u2019t memorize or read it, but the discipline of thinking all the way through what I am going to say improves my preaching. (At least, that\u2019s what my wife says!)\u00a0 This week, I\u2019ve run out of time. Also, I usually write a one-sentence summary of the sermon.\u00a0I need these disciplines because I am highly creative, which is simply a polite way of saying I\u2019m disorganized and easily distracted.<\/p>\n

I create a sermon by \u201cstewing\u201d over it. I fret and worry\u00a0 the topic or text the way my dog goes after ground squirrels.\u00a0 He sticks his nose in different holes.\u00a0 He barks and whines.\u00a0He digs. He tries stalking and lying in ambush.\u00a0Then whines some more.\u00a0And sometimes, somehow he catches one.\u00a0This is not a very efficient method of sermon preparation.\u00a0I don\u2019t recommend it.\u00a0But I haven\u2019t mastered any other way. I hope God can use dogs as well as smart people.<\/p>\n

Sabbath Morning, 11:45 a.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I lay my Bible and outline on the pulpit, step to the right.\u00a0 Smile.\u00a0 And begin: \u201cIn August, I bought a computer for my son who was going away to college.\u00a0The salesman told me about a super-duper warranty that covered everything except the end of the world. . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

The congregants share their stories.\u00a0The last one is off the wall, but it provides a perfect segue from their stories back into my sermon.\u00a0As I preached, a couple of things came to mind that were not in my notes. I hope they added to the value of the sermon, but since they aren\u2019t in my notes, I can\u2019t remember them.\u00a0I was going to give a call at the end of my sermon, but I forgot to do so until I was half way through the benediction.<\/p>\n

Monday, 11:00 a.m.\u00a0(at the church office)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Melba calls to say the sermon was a real blessing. I remember that on Sabbath, someone else seemed touched by the sermon.\u00a0The young adults who were visiting did not say anything about the sermon, but they expressed interest in developing a young adult group in our church.<\/p>\n

Monday, 9:00 p.m.\u00a0(At my desk)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking and praying about tomorrow morning when I will meet Jeff again at the Pony Express Caf\u00e9 to talk about salvation.\u00a0And I\u2019m thinking about my second sermon on salvation. Hopefully, this time I\u2019ll prepare a complete manuscript and write a summary sentence.\u00a0In any case, I trust God will use it to help my people experience salvation.
\n______________________________<\/p>\n

John McLarty is Pastor of the North Hill Christian Fellowship, a Seventh-day Adventist Church, Federal Way, WA. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2008. Click here for\u00a0usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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