Things I've Learned From a Year of Preaching

Over the past year, I have had the privilege of preaching on a fairly regular basis. I do not hesitate to say that I really love preaching; in many ways, it is my favourite part of this job. When I am in the pulpit, I feel 'at home'. I have a real sense that this is what God has called and equipped me to do, and it is deeply satisfying. And I hope, Lord willing, to be able to do it for the rest of my life.

As a new preacher, regular preaching has taught me a lot of different things. But the in course of this year, there have been two lessons in particular that have really impacted me. The first is recognising that there is a limit to what I can say. Since the goal of a sermon is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, there used to come a point when I was writing a sermon where I wanted to convey just how beautiful he is or how amazing his grace is or the wonder of life lived in fellowship with him. Earlier this year, I often found myself tempted to try and find the most powerful way I could think of to proclaim these truths. I would quickly find myself getting frustrated, though, because I was always setting myself up to try and say something more profound and powerful than the previous sermon. As I reflect on it now, I recognise that this was borne out of an unstated but subconscious belief that what Scripture itself said about Jesus was insufficient to stir people's hearts, and for them to see and be changed by these truths, I had to state them in more vivid and powerful language.

I now recognise where I was wrong. Instead of allowing God to speak through me by the power of his Spirit, I had been trying to substitute my own words. I wanted my words to change people. But, by God's grace, the wall I hit trying to say certain things brought about a fresh conviction of the power of Scripture to do the work. My words are only any good when they are his words speaking through me. I am just the messenger. Read more