God displayed His kindness to me in an unexpected way on Saturday morning. My family and I got back from Texas earlier this week and I have been looking forward to sitting under the exposition of Romans 8:12-17 by our associate pastor, Jonathan. It is always refreshing for a preacher to be able to listen to God's Word exposited since he is usually the one expositing. And, I was looking forward to some golf with one of the men attending my church. We haven't had a chance to play and we finally were going to be able to since I wasn't preaching on Sunday. Our tee time was scheduled for 9:14am and I arrived at the course around 8:45 excited to fellowship with a friend and take in the beautiful day. As we stood in the pro shop waiting to pay for our round, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I was very close to putting that phone in my golf bag just minutes before. I am thankful I didn't.
It was my wife who had just heard from Jonathan's wife. Jonathan had gotten very sick Friday evening and was not going to be able to preach Sunday. I instantly had a decision. Do I ignore the inevitable for a few hours and go ahead and play? Or, do I pack the clubs back in the trunk and begin a long day of preparing a sermon I wasn't expecting to preach?
I loaded the clubs back up, took a shower, packed a lunch, and headed toward the office. For a split second, my pride, selfishness, and worldliness seized me. My plans had been all messed up. God quickly reminded me of my love for Christ Baptist Church, for preaching, and for the honor of His name. I was thankful that God had broke in on my plans. It was His kindness to me.
So I sat at my desk with a huge question: "In the limited amount of time I have, how can I most honor God and benefit the church tomorrow?" I quickly listed about 6 possibilities. One idea (my charismatic friends would call that an "impression") was extremely attractive. Led by the Spirit, I decided to preach on a topic that has been buring at my heart lately: The Preservation (Perseverance) of the saints.
I guess you could call it a topical sermon because I used about 15 different passages. It was a unique labor of love.
You can listen to it at our church website.
I'll try to post some notes soon.
Here is a good book on perseverance and assurance: The Race Set Before Us
2 comments:
Thank you. I will be sending those books out this afternoon. I will understand if you desire to delete these comments.
Not charismatic, sounds like an "impression".
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