Friday, March 24, 2006
Preaching and Lent
In one short week, I will be preaching for the first time in front of my new congregation. In the Baptist world, I have been afforded many opportunities to preach, for a woman that is. I am not unfamiliar with the pulpit, but I am nervous about the first sermon at my first church.
The Sunday I preach (April 2) is the last Sunday before Palm Sunday. We are a liturgical church, one that follows the church calendar, and if you know anything about that, you know that we have been confessing sin and miring around in our grossness for the past 3 and a half weeks. In fact, my first day as a vocational minister was on Ash Wednesday. The message Kevin preached was AMAZING (you can listen on our website) and the point was clear: I serve people who are confessing sinners. I am a confessing sinner. We're especially confessing sinners during this season.
What this has meant for me personally, as a vocational minister during Lent is that I'm squirming around in my sin and wanting badly for the unbelievable act of Easter to arrive. BUT, if I learned anything from Calvary Baptist Church (and, boy, have I learned....the list would be endless) it is this: "Do not rush to the cross. Bear the heaviness of the sin now so that the 'greatest story ever told' will be what it was meant to be...a true deliverance from our fallenness." So, I'm feeling it. I did not give up anything for Lent per se, but I have given up the jump to the cross.
I guess you could say preaching and praying sin to your brand new congregation for three weeks straight is not a good way to start. I feel like a downer. A party pooper. Fortunately, I am not called to help people 'feel good.' I am called to remind them of reality. And that reality, for me, is that I sin, I have sinned, and I will sin. And more importantly, that God has been here, is here, and will come again.
Amen.
The Sunday I preach (April 2) is the last Sunday before Palm Sunday. We are a liturgical church, one that follows the church calendar, and if you know anything about that, you know that we have been confessing sin and miring around in our grossness for the past 3 and a half weeks. In fact, my first day as a vocational minister was on Ash Wednesday. The message Kevin preached was AMAZING (you can listen on our website) and the point was clear: I serve people who are confessing sinners. I am a confessing sinner. We're especially confessing sinners during this season.
What this has meant for me personally, as a vocational minister during Lent is that I'm squirming around in my sin and wanting badly for the unbelievable act of Easter to arrive. BUT, if I learned anything from Calvary Baptist Church (and, boy, have I learned....the list would be endless) it is this: "Do not rush to the cross. Bear the heaviness of the sin now so that the 'greatest story ever told' will be what it was meant to be...a true deliverance from our fallenness." So, I'm feeling it. I did not give up anything for Lent per se, but I have given up the jump to the cross.
I guess you could say preaching and praying sin to your brand new congregation for three weeks straight is not a good way to start. I feel like a downer. A party pooper. Fortunately, I am not called to help people 'feel good.' I am called to remind them of reality. And that reality, for me, is that I sin, I have sinned, and I will sin. And more importantly, that God has been here, is here, and will come again.
Amen.
Monday, March 20, 2006
The Answer is 'No'
Thanks to two of my closest friends, the answer is no. No, I do not need any more friends. If they keep coming to see me like they have planned, I won't even need to leave the house to meet anyone new!
But, I am going to take tennis lessons. Alas, something to get me out of the house!
Thanks, friends, for not pressuring me to have more friends.
But, I am going to take tennis lessons. Alas, something to get me out of the house!
Thanks, friends, for not pressuring me to have more friends.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Should I have more friends?
I've been living in Columbia now for two weeks and already several people have asked, "Do you have a lot of friends?" I think, "What do you mean do I have 'lots' of friends?" If you haven't forgotten, my bar has been set VERY high in the friend category. Three of my best friends andI meet together every MLK weekend. We share so much and those friendships are almost 13 years old. Roommates and classmates came after that and those arealmost 5 years old. GIVE ME A BREAK. I'm not ready to rush into the work of having more friends. Plus, I have some excuses for not having friends here. One: I have only been here 2 weeks and part of that time I have been away at a conference. Two: I have DVR which means I've been distracted by lots of TV. In fact, I have watched "The Bachelor" and "American Idol" for the first time. Three: I work in a church. As I have already discovered, church work is not a 40 hour a week job. The next two Saturdays will include church related activities thus cutting into my social (TV) time. My primary social interactions are within the walls of the church. This is not unusual for me, but now it is now my place of employment. Hmmmm....an interesting thing to blog about I think. Anyway, right now, it's Sullivan and me. And, really, for right now, that is fine.
