I have a beef with chirstian ministers that do not use discernment when sharing the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is time to stop the "Saturday Night Specials" and last minute messages. I understand that sometimes in life we do not have enough time to prepare a message. So then if you dont have enough time dont believe that you can just walk in there and just speak from the heart. A message from God requires study, prayer, and meditation which cannot occur 45 miniutes before you go to bed.
There have been times when I have been asked to share a message at the last minute for that I have what I call my reserves or messages that I have prepared in advance. But I WILL not believe that I can just walk up in front of people and just hope that the words of God will just spill out of me. Now dont get me wrong. I do believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, but how can the Holy Spirit truly work through you if you havent given your time to God trhough prayer, study and meditation of the word. Discernment is a process of prayerful reflection which leads a person or community to understanding of God's call at a given time or in particular circumstances of life. It involves listening to God in all the ways God communicates with us: in prayer, in the scriptures, through the Church and the world, in personal experience, and in other people. Peace.
5 comments:
You have been touched with truth. Or perhaps you have been touched by Truth would be a better way to state my comment.
The rule of thumb for sermons (or as we call them in my Church of choice: homilies) is one hour of study for each minute of sermon. Sometimes more than an hour of study for that minute. A man of the cloth who is sincere spends much of his time reading, studying, praying, and jotting of notes as God impresses a word or phrase to him. Then with much prayer, he sits down and looks at his sermon notes and his jotted-down-notes and writes or types his sermon. Good sermons are created in much the same way that a good painting is created. The scene is there, it's the use of the words or paint which brings it to reality. And like a painting, a good sermon needs to 'set' (or sit) for hours or a day in order to give the creator/writer time to reflect and then go back to his creation to see if it needs additional work.
A man dedicated to his flock will have his sermon completed and printed by Friday afternoon, if there are no emergencies. And if he can't get it together? Well, that's why he keeps copies of all his 'old' sermons, so that he can use one of them (with corrective touch ups, as needed), or he has a bookshelf containing pre-written sermons for 'all occasions' for emergency use. Just emergency use.
"Reflective time" is of no use if a minister has not filled his soul and spirit with the Word upon which to reflect.
God bless you and your family.
Auntie Coosa
http://auntiecoosa.blogspot.com
i think i need to spend some time in prayer and study before i make a comment. till then, i'm with ya'
shalom
-g
Right on. Preach it. I have had experiences where the HS has showed up and spoken at the last minute, but all too often we use that as a cop out. God gave us brains but somehow we've decided that they're a bad thing or can "destroy our faith". Using the ol' noggin is particularly important for those of us who claim Mr. Wesley as our spiritual father because he grounded his "the world is my parish" claim on the fact that he was a fellow of Lincoln College at Oxford. The call to preach comes part-n-parcel with the call to think deeply. Good words, my friend.
erm first time here ...
disregard what I say if it's out of line
but how can you know that a last minute message or Sat night special hasn't come out of a whole lot of prayer, study and meditation.
In the past I've worked diligently all week on a sermon only to hear God say at the last minute "this sermon is good - it's not what I want though ... let it go and preach the sermon I want
I hate this last minute thing - I'm not as polished as I want -but it does come from an intimacy from God,and when I look back the preparation was never wasted.
I'm not a pastor yet, only a lay speaker (local preacher) but it also seems to be that too many UMC pastors (and other denonminations too) are bogged down with paperwork, committees and pastoral calls, that their job as a teacher is neglected somewhat.
pastors like those in willowcreek spend 20 h a week preparing their semon (which htye deliver upteen times during a weekend) they can do that because they have a huge support staff and active lay leadership to take care of committees and pastoral care.
From a purely self-centered point of view, I must say that watching a minister fumbling for words/ideas greatly detracts not just from my ability to follow his/her thought pattern cohesively, but also suggests that the content/spirit which he/she teaches is of little value to the speaker and should be of even less value to me. How am I supposed to meditate on and revisit thoughts thrown together like so just many scrambled eggs?
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