I listen carefully to comments made to me after a sermon. After preaching I wonder what people heard while I was preaching, what resolutions they made in their own mind, what questions were raised, etc... I received several interesting comments today. One person expressed disappointment that I did not use the King James version when we said the Lord's Prayer in unison at the conclusion of the sermon (I used the New King James version). They were not so much averse to the version used as longing for the nostalgic familiarity of the King James. Another person mentioned a prayer clip from the movie Patton that they thought might have fit well with that sermon (I'll check into it for future sermons in this series). Yet another asked when I'm going to show the meal time prayer from Sister Act. The answer: probably in a few weeks; I'd like to space out the meal time prayer as much as possible since that is the most frequent prayers to be found in the movies. However there was one comment that especially caught my attention. One person expressed appreciation for the sermon since it answered the question he has been asking for the past few weeks: Is it really o.k. to pray the words of others? This person has been involved in our Wednesday evening prayer sessions, praying daily through the Face to Face book, and spent an hour praying for our teenagers during our recent prayer chain. Thank you Lord, for working through me to answer a real heart question from one of your intercessors! This is what makes preaching worthwhile.
Here's the clips shown from this week's sermon:
Christmas Vacation
Aunt Bethany's Prayer
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Fiddler on the Roof
Sabbath Prayer
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Pray Continually
While working on this sermon this past week, I was reminded of how many things distract us from praying. I wrote a section in an early draft of my sermon to address this subject of distractions. We seem to be in a constant flurry of mind numbing activity: Ipods, blue tooth, email, texting, television, and video games come to mind. When are our minds ever simply at rest? The psalmist writes, "the heavens declare the glory of God, . . . day after day they pour forth speech;..." But, who is listening?
As I got in my truck to drive home from the office, I mindlessly turned on the radio. As the voice coming through my speakers rattled on about things that will have no relevance tomorrow, not to mention next year or ten years from now; it occurred to me -- what a perfect time to practice what I preach! I turned the radio off and had a few minutes of simple conversation with God.
Thanks Tevia, for reminding me that prayer can be continual when we allow ourselves to simply remember God.
Here's the clips from this week:
As I got in my truck to drive home from the office, I mindlessly turned on the radio. As the voice coming through my speakers rattled on about things that will have no relevance tomorrow, not to mention next year or ten years from now; it occurred to me -- what a perfect time to practice what I preach! I turned the radio off and had a few minutes of simple conversation with God.
Thanks Tevia, for reminding me that prayer can be continual when we allow ourselves to simply remember God.
Here's the clips from this week:
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Fiddler on the Roof
Lame Horse
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Fiddler on the Roof
Rich Man
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Fiddler on the Roof
Chosen People
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Fiddler on the Roof
Troubles, Troubles
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Watch the Clips!
If you would like to see the two film clips that were part of the sermon "Teach Us to Pray" preached on Sunday, January 13; click on the appropriate link below.
The Following Videos use Real Player, If you do not have real player or if your current video player will not play a real media file then you can download Real Player for free Here!
Catch Me If You Can
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Meet the Parents
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The Following Videos use Real Player, If you do not have real player or if your current video player will not play a real media file then you can download Real Player for free Here!
Catch Me If You Can
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150K Mid-Range
384k Cable/DSL
Meet the Parents
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
Teach Us to Pray
I have spent the past 31 years seeking to learn how to pray. I have read more books on prayer than any other subject. I have done more Bible study on this topic than any other. I have participated in a plethora of prayer methods and disciplines seeking to develop my prayer life. Why then do I still feel like the disciples in Luke 11:1 asking Jesus for help in learning how to pray? In one sense prayer is as natural as breathing; yet in another it feels like speaking a foreign language. How can this be?
Jim Woodroof once advised young preachers not to preach on anything which God had not yet taught them. Good advise. I have long felt that God teaches me just enough so that I have something to share with the congregation while, at the same time, continually reminding me that I'm not that far down the road myself.
As we enter into the "Reel Prayer" series, I am excited to teach what God has taught me, while fully realizing that I too am part of the flock of God at Clear Lake. I join the rest of the body of Christ looking to the great Shepherd of the sheep for guidance and direction. May he truly, "guard, guide, and direct" all of us as we seek to follow him.
On another note, I am hopeful that my techkie friends will enable me to post the movie clips I'll be showing each week. Check back later in the week and see if we've been able to get them up.
Jim Woodroof once advised young preachers not to preach on anything which God had not yet taught them. Good advise. I have long felt that God teaches me just enough so that I have something to share with the congregation while, at the same time, continually reminding me that I'm not that far down the road myself.
As we enter into the "Reel Prayer" series, I am excited to teach what God has taught me, while fully realizing that I too am part of the flock of God at Clear Lake. I join the rest of the body of Christ looking to the great Shepherd of the sheep for guidance and direction. May he truly, "guard, guide, and direct" all of us as we seek to follow him.
On another note, I am hopeful that my techkie friends will enable me to post the movie clips I'll be showing each week. Check back later in the week and see if we've been able to get them up.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
The Recurring Choice
In this morning's sermon I referenced Israel conquering the land of Canaan. In spite of the fact that the previous generation of Israelites said it would be impossible to defeat the Canaanites, Israel did in fact win! The point I made was that we will never fail when we are faithfully obedient to God. After the sermon I got into a discussion about what it means to never fail. I realize how easily that statement could be misunderstood or misconstrued.
One of the problems associated with being a public communicator is being misunderstood. Some try to avoid that by giving disclaimers for their statements. For example, "The sky is blue" is a statement that would not seem to need any qualification except for those who might point out that sometimes the sky is gray, black, red, overcast, etc..... To give a disclaimer one would say, "The sky is blue, unless of course it happens to be raining, cloudy, nighttime, dusk, or dawn. Disclaimers tend to clutter communication.
Jesus, it appears, was not a big fan of disclaimers. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, . . ." was a statement made without qualification. Jesus liked to make people think. If you read his statement in the context of all his teachings you would have to conclude that he meant something like "love less" rather than "despise" by his use of the word "hate".
I'm a far cry from communicating like Jesus but if I made anyone think this morning that's good! By the way, what I meant by the statement I made about never failing, is that one will never fail in doing the things that God wants done. I certainly don't mean that God will give you whatever you want or think you need just because you act or ask in faith. Faith, by it's very definition, is trusting God.
One of the problems associated with being a public communicator is being misunderstood. Some try to avoid that by giving disclaimers for their statements. For example, "The sky is blue" is a statement that would not seem to need any qualification except for those who might point out that sometimes the sky is gray, black, red, overcast, etc..... To give a disclaimer one would say, "The sky is blue, unless of course it happens to be raining, cloudy, nighttime, dusk, or dawn. Disclaimers tend to clutter communication.
Jesus, it appears, was not a big fan of disclaimers. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, . . ." was a statement made without qualification. Jesus liked to make people think. If you read his statement in the context of all his teachings you would have to conclude that he meant something like "love less" rather than "despise" by his use of the word "hate".
I'm a far cry from communicating like Jesus but if I made anyone think this morning that's good! By the way, what I meant by the statement I made about never failing, is that one will never fail in doing the things that God wants done. I certainly don't mean that God will give you whatever you want or think you need just because you act or ask in faith. Faith, by it's very definition, is trusting God.
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