GOD IS FAITHFUL

Jesus assured His disciples that He would always be present with them as they went out into the world in His name. What an empowering comfort that was for them to know that He was not leaving them orphaned and alone. Across the centuries since, Jesus has continued to provide this same assurance in the hearts of those He calls to go in His name. He still speaks His assurance to those He calls into fields of service. From the time I heard my name called and subsequent events began nudging me toward a new commitment of service, (see the last two blog messages) I began seeking an assurance from the Lord.

Without a doubt, the events that led to my going to Mt. Vernon UMC were spiritually exciting in their own right; however, given the responsibilities of a very busy ministry I already had, as the Executive Director of the Conference’s Disaster Recovery Ministry (DRM), there were major concerns over taking on the additional duties of a pastor of a church.

Among all the things such a job would entail, I was most concerned about the precious little to no time at all, for adequate sermon preparation. If I was to preach every Sunday then I needed time to prepare. Of course I had the proverbial “preacher’s barrel” full of SAP (Sermons Already Preached); but they were sermons I had preached to my Air Force congregations years ago. There weren't many recent sermons from my ten-year tenure as the Associate at Dauphin Way UMC. Even the sermons I did have were from four to fourteen years old. So as I began feeling a tug in my heart toward taking this job, following my first visit to the church, the preaching issue loomed as one big “show-stopper” for me. I feel very strongly that preaching is the single most critical function of a pastor’s role in the church.

If going to Mt. Vernon to preach every Sunday was in God’s will for me, I wanted to understand how sermon preparation was going to work. The focus of my prayers over this matter was for clear guidance as to how God wanted me to proceed. When it seemed that the Lord clearly was guiding me toward accepting the task, I was insistent on understanding how I could do both jobs and be faithful to the task of preaching. My concern was not all selfless, there was personal pride involved too. I simply did not relish the idea of standing before a congregation each Sunday ill prepared. Turns out Christ shared my concern. He honored my request by giving me an absolute assurance that He has remained faithful to for almost a year now.

It happened one morning as I was praying and asking God how I could do what He was asking of me with such limited time to prepare. His answer was so clear I had no doubt that what I heard in my heart was from the Lord. His message was simple and to the point; “Go preach in my name, and I’ll give you what to say.”

Well, that was enough for me. I took Him at His word and agreed that same day to serve Mt. Vernon UMC. Of course I was thinking just until Annual Conference in June 2008. What I learned later was that the Lord had much more in mind. I did serve from October 2007 until Annual Conference in June 2008, at which time I was assigned as the pastor for the next year. At this writing I have had the joy of preaching at Mt Vernon UMC for almost a year now, and the best part of all is that the Lord has never failed to make good His promise. He has not only given me what to say, but has shown up to bless its delivery.

Every week the Holy Spirit has kept His promise. This partnership with the Lord in the preaching experience this past year has proven to be one of the most rewarding periods in my entire preaching ministry. With His help I not only have found time to prepare, but have thoroughly enjoyed the exercise. The true joy for me though, and the power in this preaching experience, has been the wonder and glory of His Presence with us as He continues to show up Sunday after Sunday. Praise God!