Church pastors are amazing people! Even though I grew up the son of a minister, I never had any idea how much work it actually was to prepare a full sermon. That is, until this past Sunday.
I was the guest speaker at Franklin Alliance Church in Franklin, PA. Their pastor, Scott Woodlee, had invited me up to tell my Bongolo story. Once I got over the shock of what he'd offered, I eagerly said "Yes" and immediately got to work. Two months later, I was finally ready and delivered the message attached to this posting. I was incredibly excited and nervous as this was the first sermon I'd ever delivered!
My topic was that God is actively recruiting his people to do things for him - to be "on a mission from God" to quote a line from a favorite move, The Blues Brothers, and that we are transformed when we obey him. The call of Gideon, a reluctant soon-to-be hero was my scripture (Judges 6: 11-16). The main points were that:
- God initiates
- God chooses
- God permits questions
- God empowers
The whole point was to challenge the congregation to listen for and act upon God's calling(s) in their lives, and that they would be transformed as people when they do so.
I felt so uplifted, both by the congregation's response, as well as the hundreds of Facebook likes and comments when I posted asking for prayers! Thank you to all of you.