Today, I preached my third sermon at Maple Valley Presbyterian Church. I am far from a strong preacher and I feel like I learn something new each time. This morning, I took a few more steps forward.
I preached on Ephesians 5:21-33 and the sermon title was "The Essence of Marriage." The sermon was the fifth in a seven part series and David Diehl (head pastor) has preached all the other sermons. The theme of the sermon was that married couples need to intentionally nurture the new flesh (person) reality in order to experience their God-given friendship. The primary word picture was the chemical reaction that occurs between sodium and chloride to form a whole new compound - salt. A husband and wife come together like two chemicals and form a whole new person in marriage. If they do not intentionally nurture this new reality, then they will slip into mediocrity as separate individuals instead one unified flesh.
I had received some very helpful feedback from my mentor and others after my last sermon in September. I attempted to put some of those ideas into practice this time around. The main change from my view was I spent more time in prayer throughout the preparation. I can see how that played out in more ways than I can begin to summarize.
I have a long, long, long way to go as a preacher but I am learning to put myself in a position that let's God speak through me without calling attention to myself.
1 comment:
I'm very glad it went well. Interestingly enough, There's going to be marriage imagery in my sermon Sunday - although the point is very far from being about marriage. But when you end up preaching from Jesus "In my father's house are many rooms" and add in a Scripture reading from Hosea - it's kinda hard not to end up with marriage imagery, eh?
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