Preaching with a purpose

I've posted off my work for section A. Now to get on with B. Onward and upward as they say. It does feel good to have completed A, progress is being made.I think my tutor is more nervous than I as to the outcome, but then I am his first student. We are learning from each other.But then that should always be the case. It's an adventure we go on together.The course seems to be suiting me alright but I feel there are a lot of potentially excellent local preachers out there who are put off by the study. Something should be devised to include these good people, we can ill afford to do without them, especially as the numbers of ministers is dropping. What did Wesley do? You don't need a degree, or even A levels to preach. You need a call, and a close relationship with God.

Here's my latest lens on Squidoo, about music theory http://www.squidoo.com/theory-of-music-1 I have 40 years experience of teaching music so it should be easy to understand. Went to a good send off for our retiring District Chairman John Carne. I don't know him well, but he's done a good job and is most friendly and approachable.Look forward to meeting the new one Pete Pilinger.this time of year is a busy one for the furniture vans.Local preachers have the job of keeping things steady while all the changes take place.Tonight I am signing and sorting things of section A ready to send off for assessment. Then I have to wait till November to hear the verdict while I get on with the next section.

Take a look at this. It's my squidoo lens encouraging you to play an instrument. You are never too old.I have a pupil in his seventies and he's doing wonders. http://www.squidoo.com/PNOVLN

I'm going for Giant Squid on Squidoo, which means I have to make at least 50 lenses by the end of September. The big question is, will this cause any conflict with my preacher training. I am sure not. I am retired and so have plenty of time. Also I can use some sermon material for my lenses as one of my purposes is to encourage people to think about God. So I see no conflict, it is all part of the same calling. I do also write humourous lenses and lenses about sport, just to show that I am not lop-sided. So here's to an interesting couple of months. Do pop in to Squidoo. I am LizMac60 there.

Went to the Local Preachers' study evening yesterday. These are excellent evenings where we can all learn things from one another. I think it would be good if we could have a short description of what we are doing, before we go. We were discussing theological reflection last evening and a short summary of what was involved would have meant a bit of reflection could have gone on before hand. Earlier in the year we had a study day"On bring hefted." I think some people were put off by the title. We are not here to be esoteric, we are here to help one another become preachers, who take the gospel to others, in a form they can understand. My pet hate in a sermon is to say something like,"this of course was the pre exilic era." We are supposed to make the message clear not show how erudite we are.

I've recovered from my assessed service. Now I have four week's without a service so I shall be wading into units 7 - 10. I'm on the assignment for 7 and I've already taken a little peek at the others. As I am retired and so have plenty of time I am aiming to finish the course by a year September or failing that the following March. However I wont beat myself up if it takes longer. After all I feel called to preach and I am doing that very thing. In fact I think I will have withdrawal symptoms in the next few weeks.

You might find it helpful to look at my experiences in here http://www.squidoo.com/preach Some of my other lenses are relevant too.

First of all thanks to Fat Prophet for your interest. I see from your blog you are having trouble commenting. To get back to my assessed service. Criticism albeit constructive is harder for some to take than others. I felt a little crushed after my assessed service but then remembered I had recorded it on my dictaphone. I listened to it all through and although my assessors were quite right about me speaking a little quickly and rushing from item to item, I was actually very pleased with the content of my sermon and how I presented it. So I have decided to take heart. I highly recommend other trainees to record your services. You can hear your good points and your bad and there is no argument about it, it is all caught on the recorder.

Take a look at this link http://www.squidoo.com/stormyweather for one of my poems and a sermon. all about the storms we go through in life and what they mean.

i wouldn't say I'm copying Wesley yet but I've got some fire and enthusiasm. I'm not sure open air preaching is quite the thing any more and I'm not cut out for it but at least I'm having a go on the internet. The chance to help anybody in the world to find Jesus and salvation in him cannot be missed. Here is the link to one of my poems with an explanation of it and a taste of the sermon I used it with. http://www.squidoo.com/stormyweather

The assessed service was fine. I felt comfortable taking it and felt that I related to the congregation quite well. Apparently I have quite a good speaking voice. I tend to rush from one item to the next, so I must learn to relax and take things at a leisurely pace. I added in some thoughts to my sermon and at the end found that I was running out of time, so I cut out the next hymn and went to the prayers of intercession and the final hymn. After the service three gentlemen deliberated in another room and then called me in to discuss their thoughts on the service. At these times you tend to think you are about to be thrown out no matter how confident you feel. But it was not an unpleasant experience and their comments were helpful. And so we proceed.

Drop in on my squidoo lens How to become a local preacher with the Methodist church in the UK http://www.squidoo.com/preach you might learn something.

This is the bit of preaching that I don't like. There is an hour and a quarter to go, I need to get in the car in a quarter of an hour, so I'm feeling nervous, especially as it is an assessed service. That won't bother me at all when I get there. As far as I'm concerned it is a normal service and my job is to lead the congregation, including the assessors in a time of worship. At the moment I'm feeling as if I haven't a clue what I've written in my sermon, whereas in fact it is very thoroughly prepared. I do think we should all have a little nervousness, it proves we are taking our preaching seriously. I will probably drop by later to tell you how I got on.

How on earth can we churchy types express the idea of sin to non churchy types? When you say "sin" to someone there is a sense of accusing that person of terrible things. I think "human nature" is a better way of expressing it at first. After all we all have that and understand its limitations and drawbacks. Also we realize we are all in it together. There is no sense of one group of people accusing another. So that's it Jesus came to save us from human nature. He came to buy us back into fellowship with God, to turn us away from the bad things that bug us, from all the regrets and into his way.