First I thought about doing one sermon on all three miracles found in verses 1-17.

Then I decided I would at least split it up into two and do one sermon on verses 1-4 and then one sermon on the rest.

So I started working on the sermon and as I went I knew that I had too much material, but I had no idea how to break it up and never really thought much about it because I was a bit under the gun for time.

So I ended up with ten pages of handwritten notes when I went up into the pulpit.

I looked down at the notes at the beginning and then after about 30 minutes I looked down again only to find that I was only about 2/3rds of the way through the FIRST page. I think I actually laughed out loud.

I informed the congregation that we were going to have to split this up because I was still on page 1 of 10 and we’d be here until the evening prayer meeting if I kept up at this pace.

I didn’t know how I was going to end, but I figured God would give me the words if I started talking, so I did, and so did he.

It wrapped up nicely with a good application, and then we sang a couple of songs at the end, and dismissed right on time.

In hindsight, somehow as I was talking the Lord helped me to split the sermon into two distinct ideas without overlapping them too much at all. The division I couldn’t see before hand forced itself upon me as I was preaching.

Now I have most of next week’s sermon done already.

But here’s the real kicker. And I didn’t think of this until I had to start wrapping up the sermon during the service last Sunday…

I’ve been asked to speak at another church’s youth retreat this next Sunday and I was trying to figure out how I would find the time to prepare two sermons this week.

Jesus, you’re so sneaky. I love you. Thanks a lot.

What a loving Savior we serve.

If you haven’t been blown away by a passage of Scripture lately, take a look at Matthew 8:1-4. And then go back and read Matthew 1-7, and read it really close. And then look at the next number of miracles that Jesus does in 8-9. Then figure out how they’re all connected. And then give Romans a Galatians a read as it talks about the Law.

Jesus is amazing. God is brilliant. We’re so lucky that he is our God.

Lord, we come to you for the cleansing and the healing that we so desperately need. Rebuke the influence of sin and Satan over our lives. Show us how unclean we are and how willing you are to receive us and cleanse us. Help us to submit to your will in regard to the details of how you choose to overcome the power of sin in our lives; whether that’s immediately, gradually, or at your return and the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

I find that I especially like Constable’s Notes. They are clear and concise, and reference other fairly contemporary commentaries.

 Net.Bible.org

[LYRICS]

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee talkin’ to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John go do My will!”

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down

I can distinctly remember one time where we were driving home and the song I wanted to sing hadn’t come on yet and so we drove around town for a good 15 more minutes until it came on.

I enjoyed his music then, and I still enjoy it immensely today. Something simple and raw about it.

It moves you through the Bible one book at a time but alternates from Old Testament to New Testament to Epistles so you still get a good variety.

Plus it means that you only have one bookmark in your Bible!

All you have to do is print the PDF on two sides of the same paper, fold, and trim, and you’re all set.

Enjoy

Bible Reading Plan

On Christmas Eve we had about 140 people at church. There were more visitors than regulars. It was an awesome evening and a great opportunity to share the gospel.

On Sunday morning our attendance was WAAAYY down. I think people got their shot on Christmas Eve and then got some sleep and some peace and quite on Sunday. I probably would have done the same thing if I wasn’t the one who had to preach.

But Christmas morning was one of my most enjoyable services in a while. The sermon came together quite nicely and I felt as though the Lord was really using it my life as well as a number of those from our congregation who were present that morning. I taught from Colossians chapter 3 about putting on the new man and being clothed in Christ on a daily basis.

I got a little laugh from the folks when I actually used the phrase “blinged-out in Jesus” during the service. Not sure where that came from. It certainly wasn’t in my notes. Must have been the Holy Spirit. If it was, it seems like he was having a little fun on Christmas morning himself.

Enjoy the Lord.

Then the relatives came over and buried them in presents and they totally forgot about ours. I cried myself to sleep that night.

As a result, Ericka and I did some talking and we decided that we wanted to spread Christmas out a bit and so for the last several years we have given each of our kids one present each Sunday in December leading up to Christmas. And each time we did we would go over a different part of the Christmas story. It worked well both practically and spiritually.

This year we were more intentional about tying it into the season of Advent. It’s been a lot of fun, and real good for our family.

If you’re not very familiar with Advent I would encourage you to look into it. It has really helped us to stay focused on Jesus in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas.

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And please keep praying for me as I have some very interesting meetings and have to make some important decisions and lead in some clear ways.

Things are going well at the church. Real well actually. God is bringing more and more people our way and many of them are taking some very wonderful steps of faith.

Lately I’ve given away two Bibles to people who are coming to our church who didn’t have one but wanted to get one so they could read it and have one to bring to Bible study. Pretty cool.

This week I’ve got two sermons. One on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas morning. Please pray that I would know what to hit on and that it would be short, sweet, and powerful.

Enjoy the Lord.

This week I’m speaking on the topic of “Love.” I just read my sermon from last year, and I’m almost tempted to use it again this Sunday. We’ll see.

I’m also starting to get a little sick so prayers for strength and healing over the next couple weeks would be appreciated.

Jesus, he is our Savior
Jesus, King of Kings
Jesus, he is our Savior
Jesus, King of Kings

We’ve been singing it every night with the kids for years.

I pretty much write out all of my sermons word-for-word, and it’s a good thing, or I don’t know how this all would have turned out. But even with the words in front of me, I still had a really hard time continuing.

I’ve had that sort of thing happen before, where you tear up for a second or two and then you can kind of push it back down and carry on without it getting too obvious. But that didn’t work so well this time. Next time I need to be careful about how long I make certain sections of my sermon.

For a moment or two I thought I might gain the upper hand, but then the merciful love of Jesus would just come over me like a wave and pull me back out to sea. It got so bad that one of the older ladies in the congregation actually came up to the pulpit to give me a Kleenex!

And now the weird thing is, the waves keep coming. I can’t tell me how many have hit me over the last few hours as I’ve been prepping for this Sunday’s sermon and sending emails and what-not. I’ve had to stop typing two different times just since I started writing this post.

You feel like an idiot… but it’s wonderful. A wonderful idiot, to be standing in front of your entire congregation overcome by the love of Jesus. To sit in McDonalds typing on a laptop, overcome by the love of Jesus and getting funny looks from people as they walk by with their fountain pops.

I just can’t believe how good He is. I know why he came. I can follow the Scriptural arguments. I know it’s all for the praise of his glorious grace, but I still find myself asking, “Why? Why me?”

He could have been just as glorified without me as with me, but here I am, the object of his special saving, forgiving, transforming love.

I just can’t come to grips with it. It always unsettles me. But I think I’m O.K. with that. I’ll just keep some tissues in my pocket and carry on, trying not to burst.

But anyway, if God wants to make me cry every time I preach, that’s his prerogative. I tend to think it might be a bit distracting, but it’s his call, not mine. So please pray that regardless of what he’s going to do with me this Sunday that it would not distract from the greatness of Jesus. Whether I’m dry or whether I cry, may it all be to the glory of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But this Sunday might be a little bit harder than other Sundays for another reason as well. One of my aunts has said that she is planning on coming to church for the first time this Sunday.

The first funeral I ever spoke at several years ago was for her husband who died of cancer. Another simple, hard-working man who liked his Blatz beer. I would get a 50-cent-piece for taking his empties and bringing him full ones from the fridge… well, almost full.

If God would grant me the grace to communicate just the smallest fraction of his love for her, I’m quite sure I know what would happen. Pray that he would. Pray that he would call her to Jesus and that she would embrace him with all her heart. That she would cling to him and put all her eggs in his basket. Pray she would come to possess the peace and righteousness that is found in Christ.

And there are also going to be lots of visiting families at church this weekend because all the kids our doing their Christmas presentation. Pray that they would repent and follow Jesus. Pray that his joy would fill them to overflowing and totally transform every area of their lives. Pray that they would be arrested and convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. Pray that the love of Jesus would wash over them like it’s been washing over me and that he would wash their sins away. Pray that the cross would be an emblem of joy unspeakable. Pray whatever you want, but please pray.

I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but it’s all good. Thank you so much for your prayers. They are worth more to me than you could ever imagine. I can tell they’re working.