No verse.

Dear God, in three hours from now I’ll be preaching. I’ve spent the week looking at the scriptures I believe you’ve led me to. I’ve prayed. I’ve prepared. Now, I just need to get myself as much into your presence as I can. Everything is nothing without the Holy Spirit guiding each word I say and action I take.

If one takes it seriously, there’s a lot of pressure when you get up in front of a church and give the weekly sermon. The most pressure I’ve ever felt is speaking at someone’s funeral because this is the one time that the family gets to bury and formally memorialize their loved one. I’ve officiated two funerals and I felt a tremendous pressure for both. But preaching on Sunday is a close second. Why? Well, this is an opportunity for you to speak to your church, and this week they chose me to be your conduit.

I think my first priority is to not preach heresy. This is a little tricky because I am not a trained theologian. I don’t know all of the Greek and Hebrew to go back and dig into the etymology of every word myself. I rely on the translators of the NIV, NLT, and NASB to get me to the meaning of the text. But beyond that, I could take the passages today and make them say what I want to say. For example, the main passage today is the Books of Job. If I wanted to, I could easily go Prosperity Gospel with it and point out to people that when Job finally figured out the lesson you had for him he got rich again. But I don’t personally believe that is the message you have for us. Then again, perhaps my own biases are getting in the way of what you are saying and perhaps you are saying that. See what I mean? Preaching heresy is very easy to do because I am tainted by my own experiences, the things I’ve been taught during the course of my life, and the biases I have.

The other thing is to not make this a waste of their time. The people in that room made a decision, for whatever reason, to get up this morning, get dressed, and come to worship you. This effort should be rewarded with a touch from you. One time after I preached this summer, a man came up to me and said, “I feel like I’ve been to church today.” I felt so relieved!

Finally, I have to tune into you enough to say the words you want them to hear. I have to be your conduit. No glory for me (which I love it when there is glory for me), but only glory for you. No honor for me, but only honor for you. No love for me, but only love for you. I must decrease so that you can increase. Help me to decrease this morning.

Father, grant me your presence. Love through me. Help me to be completely selfless. Help me to learn the lessons of the sermon you have helped me to prepare. I submit myself to the Holy Spirit as much as I am capable. Holy Spirit, please flow through that church today. Flow through each heart. And if this sermon is only for one person in the room, give that person ears to hear–all for your glory, honor, and praise.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen