Saturday, November 04, 2006

Saturday Night Special

I've heard of preachers who preach more topical type sermons waiting until Saturday night to determine what they will preach...sermons affectionately known as "Saturday Night Specials." Often, these preachers will justify this practice by saying they depend upon God to give them just what the congregation needs on that Sunday. They also say that they depend upon the Lord more because of their waiting on Him for His message.

I have to admit, thinking of preaching this way causes heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and blurry eyesight! I cannot imagine coming into a Saturday night without a clue as to what I'm preaching on the next morning. In other words, "Saturday Night Specials" are not for me.

Now, do I depend upon God as much as the other guy? Does the message I've been preparing for in advance still have relevancy for my congregation? I think the answer to both of these questions is a resounding YES! I preach through books of the Bible (for the most part). Currently, I'm preaching through Galatians on Sunday mornings. I do admit there is a sense of serenity knowing that I don't have to come up with a "topical" message for a Sunday morning, whether I prepare it a week in advance or have it mystically "come to me" on a Saturday night. I'm preaching Galatians 3:15-26 tomorrow...why? Because I finished Galatians 3:14 last week. How easy and reassuring is that?!?

As to topical preaching, I hit lots of topics. I recently preached through the 10 Commandments. Talk about topical!!! As I'm preaching through Galatians, Paul expounds on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's pretty topical as well, especially in light of the Gospel "light" some receive on Sunday mornings. The fun part of preaching through books? I hit the topics God thinks are important as His Word is eternally true and eternally relevant. Sure, I want to help my folks apply the Word, but God sets the agenda, not me. Preaching through a book helps me to preach the whole counsel of God, not just ideas I think are important. In fact, the more of God and the less of me...the better!!!

No, I think I'll stick to preaching the Word of God by preparing weekly so that on Saturday night, I can thank Him for how He prepared me to preach for His glory. May my preaching of the whole counsel of God bring Him much glory and the people much good!

1 Comments:

Blogger Joseph Gould said...

Amen!

5:04 AM  

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