So, this will be my last blog entry in my forty blog goal for Lent, which means I have accomplished something. I feel pretty good about that. I am not sure when I will write my next blog entry, but I can almost guarantee that it will not be tomorrow, and for the first time in 40+ days that's okay, I won't have to catch up later or make sure I don't miss too many days so that I can reach my goal. It has been somewhat stressful to write a blog almost every day, but at the same time it has been fulfilling, knowing that I could come up with something to write about, knowing that even in those times that I came to a blank page with no plan I was still able to come up with something on the spot.
That last point, about coming up with something on the spot shouldn't surprise me anymore. As I wrote in a blog some months ago about a year ago I decided to switch up my sermon writing style. Up to that point I had always been a full manuscript writer, as I was taught by Dr. David Sebastian in seminary. From that point on I have lived in a outline world, it takes less time in the planning and more faith in the actual act of preaching. It requires a certain amount of faith in myself to come up with stuff in the moment, this coming from someone who by and large takes a lot of time in thought before they talk about anything. I blame Dr. Willard Reed for the fact that I do think so much before I talk, back in Intro to Philosophy he drilled it into my head that I should think before I speak. Before that class I was a very outspoken kind of guy, I was the one who got my name written on the board for talking in class when I should be quiet.
So, now I think before I talk and force myself to preach from an outline and think on the spot. I think that it has mainly been a success, never have I stood behind the pulpit and been at a loss of words, in addition I have a few congregants that tell me that I keep getting better at preaching, which does make me wonder what they thought of me at first.
Why am I talking about my sermon prep? A subject that I have already mentioned that I have blogged about before? Because I am in the midst of my sermon prep at this very moment, well not this very moment, at this very moment I am typing a blog so I can take a break from my sermon prep, which isn't going very well at the moment. This week is Easter, obviously, and so I feel a little more pressure on getting the sermon right. We should have more people there tomorrow, plus there is the inherent pressure about doing Jesus justice on such an important day. Add to that, tomorrow is my final sermon in my Last Words series, and I would like to end it on a high note.
My sermon will be based on John 19:30 where Jesus cries out his final proclamation from the cross, "It is Finished." Seeing as it is a combination of Good Friday and Easter Sunday my title is 'End to Begin Again.' Last year I talked about it being Friday but that Sunday was on the way, this year I will be talking about how Jesus earthly life is finished but that just propels the life of the Church forward. In other words, to quote Semisonic, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
Well, it has been a fun ride for me, I hope it has been for you also. Until the next time I write and you do me the honor of showing up.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
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