I don't know how my sermon on the Transfiguration went on Sunday. The texts from Exodus and Matthew are rich with detail and drama but preaching on the mystery of the Transfiguration is not easy. Mystery is mystery. To "dumb down" mystery by attempting to explain it with illustrations is very tricky and I attempt to avoid silly illustrations of profound ideas. I did receive comments from my congregation but they were the pleasant and useless "nice sermon" type.
What I wouldn't give for really helpful comments!
"Preacher, you speak so fast I couldn't follow you" or "I've been thinking about what you said and I wonder if I could talk about ____ with you?" Or, "When you wave your arms like that it makes me think of a short gorilla..."
Well, not that last one. I am active in the pulpit but do try to keep from going goofy. I keep my shoes on which is a temptation each week to take them off and pad around in pantyhose feet.
We gathered for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper after the sermon then had our annual congregational meeting following worship. The meeting went well then the best thing happened! Two of our long attending but not joining members told one of the elders that they were ready to join the church. We are ready for them! They are regular attenders and givers, eager to take on jobs, know how to ask for help and are delighted to be in worship with us. Yahoo!
For a small church, two new members is a great thing. There are many great things about the small church. I'm learning this much to my surprise and pleasure.
How's it with you?
2 comments:
Oh, the joys of a small church! I love it, too! I know what a difference 2 new members can make, and I know the difference that having 5 to move away in the course of one year can make. (Okay. To be honest, it isn't always a bad thing! One of the 5 to move away had a habit of stirring up trouble. There is such a thing as a good loss!) Something was in the air last Sunday and we had 15 visitors! 15! We were missing several of our regulars who were out of town. If they had been there, we would have broken that magic number of 50. That's a big deal for a small church!
And by the way, I think that sometimes the best thing we can do in the pulpit is to declare a mystery to be just that - a mystery. We humans have gotten a bit too cocky in our belief that we can come up with an explanation for everything. Sometimes we just need to say those words that are so hard for us to say: "I just don't know."
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