New Life, New Hope, New Mission!    

June 11, 1007

Sometimes you just blow it.  Last Sunday I think I really missed the mark with the sermon.  I counted one parishioner actually sleeping with his head on the chair in front of him.  I sure hope it was God's way of keeping my disjointed thoughts from distracting his prayers. 

It happens sometimes.  You're on a roll, really kicking out some hot-ticket sermons, and then it just seems to fall apart.  First of all, for those of you in need of a more inspirational word, my apologies. Secondly, I pledge to give it a more prayerful and prepared go this Sunday.

In it all, I am reminded of preacher in our home church who had just such a bad preaching day.  Three quarters of the way through the sermon, he stopped, apologized, and closed with prayer right there.  Sitting in the pew, I felt cheated.  Even if he thought the words he was preaching were powerless, they were still hitting me.  So it is that I am prayerful that even when I think I really messed up a sermon, its presentation, its clarity, it order, its power ... well, I pray that somehow in the infinite mercy of God's Holy Spirit, He managed to transform my confusion into healing power; and if so, then all the more glory to God, for it certainly wasn't anything I did. 

Updated: 09/29/08