16 Mar 07 The Word Is . . .
After about a week and a half of negotiations we have reached an agreement to purchase a house. It seems the second house was the charm, though for a while it looked like we might have to move on to choice # 3. This house is in need of complete updating so we will get to add those personalized touches. The icing on the cake, and largely the reason we were interested in the house, is the lot size is almost 1/2 of an acre. Now we begin the wonderful process of escrow.
I’ve been asked to speak for the Sacramento area-wide gathering of churches in two weeks. Those of you in ministry know the drill. A speaker is needed at the last minute so they ask the new guy in the area because he’ll want to make a good impression on everyone.
My assigned topic is "A Word To The World" which is actually given me some difficulty on two levels.
Difficulty # 1 - I can think of quite a few words . . . Redemption . . . Grace . . . Hope . . . Forgiveness.
Difficulty # 2 - Because of the nature of the service, and the churches involved, I’ve been asked not to say anything controversial. I know what some of you are thinking . . . "Good luck with that."
It’s harder than you might think. When the word forgiveness came to my mind it was in the context of asking the world to forgive us, as those who believe in God, for the ways in which we’ve failed to be Christ to them.
Right now I’m leaning towards the word being Jesus and focusing more on the way we’ve communicated that word.
What are your thoughts?
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At first, as I read the invitation… I thought perhaps this will be another opportunity for to give advice like the opportunity for youth minister interviews… Advice to the new guy in the area: Don’t bring your ‘Reverend’ guitar and lead Kum-ba-ya as your lead in to the sermon…
But, you took the high road… and I think you are right on target. John 1:1 has so much power for us to realize the reality of Jesus: God/Man… Saviour. The ‘how’ we communicate is important because of magnitude of the message.
Blessings on your preparation. You will do a great job.
Contrats on the house! Sounds like the real work is yet to come. Don’t let it cut into that fishing time too much.
In the begiining was the word…
Word up!
Word to your mother.
What’s the word? Thunderbird. (ZZTop)
I think you’ll do a good job whichever way you go with it. I’ll have you in my prayers as you prepare.
P.S. On a completely irrelevant subject to your post today…………….let it be known that the UofM Tigers beat out North Texas today.
I like this video to get people thinking in the right direction of being Jesus in the world. It’s called “Get Service.” It will cost you a few bucks to download it, but it’s worth it.
http://www.sermonspice.com/cart/?p=product&id=1585
Peace.
Oh, you can preview the whole thing at the site I gave you.
Peace.
The problem w/ the video Puck mentioned is that it has music in the background. I’m sure that would be most "controversial" in your setting. I think I would speak on the controversial nature of Jesus. Congrats on the house! You do know a 1/2 acre lawn has to be mowed, don’t you.
Congrats on the house. Now you can put up the inflatable pool in the new house or are the children too old for that now?
As to the sermon, the only thing that comes to mind is I will be praying for you.