It is sermon time

I've been working on my sermon for tomorrow. It's titled "Just Make Sure You Stretch." It is based on Paul's epistle to the church in Philippi. The particular passage I'm quoting has Paul saying that he is going to forget the past and press on to the future.

I read somewhere that some Pastors do not like to preach. They feel it is an arduous task. They prefer the administration or visitation or pastoral care. The pulpit presents their greatest challenge. Not me. I enjoy looking at God's word and trying to apply it to our every day lives. I try to find out what God is saying to us. I think the secret to my preaching is that I try to discern what God is saying to me and then I turn it around and pass it on. I've often said that most weeks I am preaching to myself.

I know some preachers like to delve into history and their preaching is more like a seminary lecture. I enjoy that. I love to learn and feel empowered by anything new that I can take away from a sermon. Some preachers are linguists and they enjoy looking at the texts in their original language. They try to help us see what the authors intended when they wrote their texts. I agree that this is important to know. I get fired up by it. But my preaching takes a little bit of this and a little bit of that and combines it to come up with a word that speaks to what's happening in life.

That makes preaching fun. So I'm going to get back to my sermon. Hope to see you tomorrow.

Cal