Issue 14 Whole Life PreachingBlog | What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 25.03.18
I am a regular visiting preacher at a few churches locally. In all of them I find myself to be either the youngest adult or one of the youngest adults present. Being a young-ish preacher and my proficiency in both leading the service and preaching often invites much positive feedback from those within the congregation, which is really wonderful.
A good shape. few months ago I was preaching at a church, and I knew deep down that I hadn’t made the effort I should have been making with my relationship with God. I hadn’t been praying regularly, my Bible reading plan had taken to emailing me to tell me I needed to catch up and if there was such a thing as a ‘spiritual MOT’ I probably would have been called back requiring a load of extra work before I could be passed. However, when I preached and led the service, my competence wasn’t affected by my less-than-healthy spirituality. After the service, lovely congregation members shared with me how wonderful my sermon was, how great my service leading was, how much my life shined with Jesus. And yet, I knew, deep down, that if Jesus was shining out of me, it was in spite of my lack of effort, not in partnership with me.
