Thursday Morning Sermon Thoughts

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if anyone but me actually reads this blog yet, but if you do, then good morning to you. So after completing my Systematic Theology exam yesterday (which = not fun), I was able to catch up on reading (110 pages last night, and there was still more I could have done), got my vocabulary notecards for my Greek quiz tomorrow done, I started writing my sermon for this Sunday. The title is "Lost No More," and it is on the story of the Prodigal Son.

Some of you may wonder how I come up with topics for preaching when I preach every single week. Well, the answer is I cheat...sort of. Actually, I follow what is called the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a list of four readings for each Sunday of the year (Old Testament, Psalter [Book of Psalms], Epistle and Gospel), following a three year cycle (Years A, B, & C). Right now, the lectionary is in Year C. I find this to be the best way for me to preach, because it forces me to look at a variety of different texts and preach on them. It also covers a good chunk of the Bible (although critics of this method point out that it doesn't cover the whole text - but when was the last time I heard a pastor make it a point to preach on the whole Scripture anyway? It's been awhile...). While I find that the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel text do often line up, a good chunk of the time they do not; on those occasions, you pick one to focus on primarily. Usually the Gospel text is the one I preach on, and use the other texts as ways of setting the context and applying the passage to people's lives. There have been times, however, when I've seen the need for something else to be preached, and on those rare occasions, I do "tweak" one, two or even all of the texts. This is rare for me, however.

Nonetheless, here's what I'm thinking about for this sermon. We're discussing the story of the Prodigal Son (or as my professor of Greek, T. David Gordon pointed out, it should be called the story of the Loving Father), and I was thinking this week about outcasts. I have always felt a soft-spot for those who are thought of as outcasts, because for a time in my life (the awkward Jr. High years), I didn't fit in so well either. But just the same way, there are those in the world who don't feel good enough to be in church. They think they don't fit in because their "lives aren't perfect." While I didn't know that any of us in the church were perfect by any stretch of the imagination (I'm not - that's for sure), I think it goes to show how we sometimes deal with the "tax collectors and sinners" of our day, and we often cast them from our presence, and consequently God's presence. But as this parable illustrates, this is not what Jesus had in mind...come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church at 10:45 this Sunday to hear how the rest of it turns out. If you can't make it and want to read the sermon, contact me and I'll send you a copy Monday.

In the mean time, today I'm headed to meet some of the shut-ins and do visitation with a session member (which I probably shouldn't be doing yet as "pastoral" duties, but just because it isn't official doesn't mean I can't go visit people, right?). So, I'm off...

Have a blessed day, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.