The following is just my own musings about preaching...these are my own opinions and not necessarily the opinions of any other preachers on the planet...you'll have to ask them yourself!
A few notes on preaching:
Yes, we get nervous. It shows up differently in different people. I am usually grateful for a stationary microphone and a solid pulpit so that the congregants don't see my weight shifting from foot to foot as I attempt to keep my knees from knocking. I play with the papers (or lately, the iPad) in front of me and try to have opening remarks that don't sound like incessant stuttering but usually, as soon as I remember to smile, pray, and just read the scripture, it's all good.
Sermons do not fall from heaven onto the lips of the preacher. We read, we study the text, we pray, we read magazines and news articles. We are called to say a word but to also make it relevant. We have to know what is happening in the world in order to help God's people live in it. Sometimes, we will revisit or recycle a sermon but trust and believe that God will sweep the cobwebs away from outdated examples if the teaching is sound.
There is a part that must be given over to the Holy Spirit. After reading, consulting commentaries, doing word studies and searching for sermon illustrations, you have to let it breathe like a fine wine. There is someplace in which you feel a shift and then you might be saying the words on the page, but for me, the breath comes from a deeper place. I'm told that I have a 'game face' when I preach. That cracks me up but I know what people mean because there's always this moment when the congregation gets blurry and I can barely see my manuscript but the words keep coming anyway. If you know about the concept of "Flow" then you'll understand exactly what I mean. It becomes an out of body experience and I need to see the video or hear the recording to really grasp what everyone else saw in that moment. (But what a feeling! Whoooooo!) You may have heard a preacher say that it can't be preached until it preaches to the preacher. I agree. If that thing doesn't somehow bless me, then how can I hope for it to bless anyone else? And that usually happens somewhere around the practice run when my notes are done and "I try it on" to check my timing...and cry through the whole thing. Like the pop-up timer on a Perdue oven stuffer roaster, that's my clue that it's as done as I can make it!
Regarding sermon preparation, I often envy people who have the luxury to be alone with their thoughts and who can really carve out the time and space to really hear from God before, during and after. People who have not preached would have no way to know this, but for some preachers, those 20 minutes are the most exhausting in the week. I know you just want to shake my hand but I just want to sit down and sleep for a minute. Okay, so it may not be quite that dramatic, but preachers often depend on family and friends to assist with small things (like driving me to the church because I am so focused on saying what God has given me...or in my case because I can't get my car started! ha!). Everyone has their rituals and needs but an after church nap seems like the universal preacher treat! Today, I am returning to my 'day job' and I am not at 100% because I have not fully recovered from yesterday. I didn't preach a revival or run around the church but I did attempt to loosen my grip on the pew (tomorrow's blog topic) and just give what I was given to share with my church family...and I'm a tad worn out. (Thus, the pastor's day off is usually Monday.)
So, those are my notes for today. November is almost over and I'm just glad to have had this many days worth of things to write about! Tune in tomorrow for a little something I'm calling "If I let go this pew..."
Have a great day!
Shalom!
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