Friday, June 27, 2008

Crunch Day

Friday is the day of the week that I have a love-hate relationship with.  Early in my preaching career, I would do my prep work for my Sunday morning sermon on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Now I do most of my study on Thursday and then organize my thoughts and notes on Friday.  I have just found that it is fresher for me on Sunday by doing it this way.

There are weeks that I can't wait to come to the office because my mind is full of things I want to say.  Those weeks, the text seems to just jump off the page shouting its message.  But there are other weeks in which I have read the text, chewed on it, read what others have said, heard what others have preached, read the text again.  And I come in Friday morning going, "What am I going to say to the church Sunday?"

But here is the love part.  God is always faithful.  And it amazes me that often times those weeks in which I struggle with what to say are the very weeks that, after I preach, people will say, "That is exactly what I needed to hear today.  You spoke right to me."

So here I am this morning.  It's one of those weeks.

I LOVE this job (if it is right to call what I do a job).  Thank You, Father.        

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone who preaches knows what you're talking about. Sometimes the thoughts flow and sometimes they get stopped upstream.

I take Friday's off.

Jeff said...

I think Jonathon summed it up for me the other night when he prayed that God use him to let His message come out. That's the prayer I say every time I speak because I know I can't do scripture justice. I try to create my message from what God lays on my heart and pray that the ears hearing it will hear His words, not mine.

Josh Ross said...

Well said!