I preached my first sermon last week as part of the VLI-AD mentoring program. 6 peple from the class were assigned the book of Ephesians to preach from, told to pick some verse and to preach a 15 minute sermon. I chose Ephesians 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I went into the preparation time with an attitude that I wanted to preach their socks off - to me this wasnt a classroom, a clinic or a dry-run - this was the real thing with a small congregation (albeit about 12 people in size). During my preparation I felt the Lord speak to me about something specific to share - a conclusion - so I wrote that in, attempting to be obedient to what I thought I’d heard. Seems I heard accurately enough - one of the feedback sheets came back with a short note on the bottom saying that the conclusion had particularly spoken to one person there. They’d consequently marked me far higher than anyone else giving feedback.
I have to draw a powerful lesson from this: if a given sermon connects with the real needs of a person, the perceived quality will be higher. Totally subjectivity from the perspective of those hearing the sermon, yes, so I need to put my full efforts into pulling together a sermon each time that shoots accurately for the heart. This week clearly demonstrated that a sermon that penetrates deep will make a difference in people’s lives. Nicely crafted intellectual essays that are all well and good, but they just sit there passively for people to appreciate from afar. I saw this week something that was far from passive. God gave the means to crack through whatever defenses were up and to impact a person’s heart, bringing them closer to Him in the process.
Next preaching engagement will be Feb 16th - the day before my birthday - when I’ll be preaching on “something from the gospels” … Ive already selected the passage from John 9:1-7
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Please join me in praying that it will impact people again. This week left me in tears as I sat through a 2 1/2 hour lecture on Romans, after the mentoring.