"No"
"OK, try to imagine you are going to and hopefully that will give you a better understanding of how I am feeling right now...sorry if I'm being a jerk."
Which I'm sure I was being. I was significantly less stressed before preaching last night at church, maybe the reason was because I didn't feel like I was going to pour my heart out. When Christe asked how I felt about it, I told her I definitely didn't think it was my most compelling stuff. For whatever reason I never really got into my element with this one.
I try to learn from my experiences so I can make my next one better, like the first time I spoke at InterVarsity at the U of A, which was my first sermon of any length, not only did I not not have water up with me, we had a random schedule at school that day so I took one of my classes to play dodge ball, an hour of screaming didn't do so hot for my voice...about half way through my talk my voice gave out almost completely. So there I was in front of 75 college students with no voice begging the guy in the front row for some of his Gatorade.
Last night never really clicked, maybe because I was sitting instead of standing, maybe because I had to work from a large chunk of scripture, something I have never done before, maybe because I didn't tell enough stories or quote enough smart people? Maybe I just wasn't passionate enough about the topic? All things I will consider when I preach again on July 19 at Revolution.
Anyway, needless to say, no standing ovation like at the promotion speech, no one asking for a copy of my Sex Talk. What I did get was a learning experience. Amongst the prior list of things I need to consider I discovered why public speaking is a top three fear of in the United States along with fear of spiders and a fear of heights...all finishing higher than fear of . I had a moment, just after my opening, that I thought I was reading the wrong scripture, I froze, don't know if anyone else noticed but I freaked and stumbled through the next five to ten minutes of the sermon. Maybe you can notice once I get podcasted.
Here are links to the videos I wanted I show at church last night that tied in with the sermon.
Cardboard Testimony
Lifehouse Everything Drama
With all said and done I still think that A Story Like No Other is a relevant topic and I hope the congregation could see past the speaker and let God move in their hearts through it.
As scary as preaching/public speaking is I am happy to do it again and continue to try and master the craft...just don't call me Pastor.
Just prior to church last night Christie H. said, "Hey Preacher Man! Do you mind if I call you that?" I Said, "'Preacher' is fine, just don't call me Pastor."
See, I can speak in front of people, I can preach, and I am even fine with negative critiques of my talks, people can take or leave what they want. However, Pastors are Shepard's, there's a whole lot more into it than just preaching. If one sheep is lost its the pastors responsibility to find it...that's not something I'm ready for and something my pastor may be finding out just how difficult that can be.
Shout Outs:
James & Diane, Phil & Tyler for making a special trip to hear me last night. I appreciate it more than you guys know.
Seth & Kindra, thanks for the text and prayers, we missed you guys last night.
My beautiful wife, I love you more today than I did yesterday if that's even possible. Thanks for our first blog.
Other Business:
- I know blog posts are not supposed to be this long, I'll keep that in mind for next time
- Coco is still the best dog in the world...at least in his weight class
- I went to Vegas for my brothers bachelor party last week which I will post about later
- We watched our nephews this weekend which I'm sure Christe will post about later
- Beniah's room is almost done, a big step for me
- Summer has not been as chill as I had hoped but at least I'm livin'
1 comment:
Hey Dave - I'm really looking forward to listening to your sermon on the podcast. I'm glad to hear it was such a great experience for you. Nice blog by the way.
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