Preparing for the Most Effective Church Event of the Week

 Calvinist News prays that I repent of this!

The biggest church event of the week is the sermon on Sunday, and it is directly related to Holy Communion.

If someone were convinced that the sermon was the most important and effective effort he could make for that week, wouldn't he spend some time on it?

I think he would make it his own rather than stealing it from another source. Giving another person's sermon or repeating an old sermon - both are rather deadly, lacking the energy of the moment.

Reagan had speech writers, but he made each speech his own. Most presidents read the text like the subway schedule. Reagan's were memorable, even 40 years later.

How would someone prepare?

First, he would look up the Gospel or Epistle lesson on Sunday or Monday, so he could think about the subject all week. Psalm 1 - Blessed is the man who meditates on the Torah (teaching) day and night. Luther did that, sometimes only with a phrase.

The two best sources for the sermon are Luther and Lenski. Sometimes a passage in the Book of Concord, which is really a one-volume commentary, is also useful. For instance, on the efficacy of the Word, look up the first Three Commandments in the Large Catechism. "Much fine gold," as Frosty Bivens would say about other sources.

Luther and Lenski are both good for exposing and refuting false interpretations. If the errors seem to be worth addressing, they add interesting details.

By thinking and reading early, various ideas will come up. Study makes a person wiser, but writing makes a precise man. There is always too much to include in one sermon, which is good.

My current approach is to set up the entire service and hymns on Saturday, so that details are not missed - or at least fixed on Sunday.

I always post Luther's sermon on the topic in this blog and also on Facebook.

 Graphic by Norma Boeckler

I may do a short background essay on Saturday, dealing with issues related to the topic, such as miracles, the Two Natures of Christ, the efficacy of the Word. I am trying to finish and post that on Saturday in the worship material and on Facebook. Many people like the background for the sermon and comment on it.

In writing the sermon, mostly completed early Sunday, I use each verse as the outline. That way, when I give the sermon, my only notes are the text itself.

Years in the pulpit and the classroom have taught me that read material loses the attention of the audience. I even used PowerPoints as punishment when computer classes did not participate. I do not think anyone can read material effectively, and I am certain I cannot.

Since I completed the sermon on Sunday, it is fresh when the service starts. I suppose some would like their own outline to preach from, but I find the text itself is enough.

The audience already has the sermon in writing in Word, before the service, so that is a form of the Means of Grace that can enhance what is taught - or forwarded by email to others. It is all written out on the blog post too.

Previously, I was only posting the blog link to the service on Facebook, but now I also post a graphic and the Ustream link on the blog and on FB.

 Ustream keeps track of views and stores the videos.
"No one reads the blog!" I might add.

Content of the Biblical Text

We have only one option in preaching - to teach and explain the Scriptures as they are, not to use them as a platform for anything else.

The entire purpose of the Bible is to teach faith in Christ. From that will come blessings too numerous to count, and the effects will reach into eternity.

Why retire from such a special role?

 This is a Ustream screen grab - the show and tell segment from the Creation Garden. Norma Boeckler's beautiful artwork is behind the altar she designed.

Absolute Certainty in Results - A Little Rainwater, A Little Food, A Little Seed

What did the settlers have as they moved into the Midwest and began turning prairie soil - the best in the world - into farmland? Their plows were almost useless in the rich soil, but John Deere fixed that. They had tiny print prayer books and hymnals, inexpensive Bibles, and relatively few pastors.

The only way to have a congregation was to visit, teach, and preach. Unlike the city-slickers of today, the Midwestern pioneers knew about seed and soil, rainwater and harvests. One only needed to apply some effort to the seed and soil, and the living seed germinated and grew. Fickle rains started the crops when they needed water most, and finished the crops when the grain was forming, wheb vegetables and fruits were ripening.

The Bible is a closed book for those who think food grows in supermarkets. Gardeners and farmers recognize that the Scriptures consistently and repeatedly teach the power and efficacy of the Word - illustrated by Creation and exemplified by thunderstorms.

I remember Aunt Grace grinning as she pointed at the Iowa thunderstorm headed toward their farm. The crops would thrive and the animals would feed from the wealth of the Noel farm.

But today, the visible church is run by people who know more about cologne and the latest sure-fire programs than they do about Creation, the Word, and God's approach to growth.

A farmer gets up early, plows and plants, and knows there will be a harvest. The modern clergy buy expensive programs, often sold by their overlords in the synod office, and expect a harvest from no visiting, no hand-crafted sermons, and no teaching of the Word.

 Rev. Dr. Capon - "I'm here from headquarters and just got my DMin from Fuller. You are probably wondering why this new program costs so much. It works, I tell you. And if it does not, you are doing it wrong."

Labor in the Creation Garden is often followed by nothing in particular, a time of waiting and frustration. The best plants take their time to show their colors. Iris may not bloom until the second year. Roses may bloom  once the first year and then recuperate. Birds seem far too wary to visit.

I wondered about the five (5) feeders for Hummingbirds. I did not see birds feeding until August. The feeder outside the kitchen sink is now turned into Hummingbird Theater, with two birds darting about in their peculiar left-right, up-down flights, looking me over. As I told Christina, "They are thanking me and guaranteeing future supplies of food."

Sassy does the same during coffee prep time. She walks into the kitchen, her nails clicking on the floor, sits down, and smiles. "You want food?" She grins.

 Is the Rio Samba Rose worth a little extra work?

Yesterday we visited the Rio Samba roses at Ranger Bob's house. He keeps fresh water for Sassy and all creatures outside, and Bob's water is better than mine - from the way she enjoys it. I did a very close inspection of both plants, bought from a rainbow (all colors) clearance sale

#1 rose - In bloom, the leaves were clearly chewed by slugs.

#2 rose - No apparent growth, but still green. I got close enough to see one tiny green leaf starting to unfurl. Dormancy begone. Roots are working. Bring on the stored rainwater.

The Sass and I went back to the house, filled a large watering can, and returned to water both plants. Today both plants were much better and #2 looked even perkier. They will get a second watering.

I remember Aunt Grace toting a watering can so heavy that she stuck her opposing arm out for balance. "This one is too heavy for you. I will let you use the hose."

1. The Word of God is never void (always effective). 2. The Word will always accomplish God's will. 3. The Word will always prosper God's will. Worshiping the synod and extolling its infallibility? - just the opposite.

The ministers who feel discouraged - and we all do at times - should consider again the many passages about Creation:

1. The entire Universe fashioned by the Word, the Logos, Genesis 1 and John 1 (1:3 in particular).
2. The inevitability of rain and snow coming down, a visual comparison to the efficacy of the Word. Isaiah 55:8ff.
3. The Sower and the Seed, which teaches - sow the living seed of the Word instead of soil testing like a city-slicker. Matthew 13.
4. Paul planted, Apollos watered, and Who gave the growth?

And the laity and teachers, likewise. Pick a gardening project, very limited, and see what planting and doting on the project will accomplish.

 Edible Borage flowers quickly turn into seed and start new plants, just what the impatient newbie gardener needs.

 Buckwheat is as fast and prolific as Borage. I sow rather than plant the seeds of both.

Examples - borage and buckwheat grow very fast and attract beneficial insects. Watch them every few days. Store rainwater and see what that does.

The same thing can be done with a sermon - 

1. Teach each verse in the lesson. Prepare far more than can be said in 20 or more minutes. Lenski and Luther, not the watered down mush from various publishing houses.
2. Write out the entire sermon. Writing = thinking. There is no substitute.
3. Use the passage as the outline and preach without any manuscript.
4. Repeat all year plus Advent and Lent and Ascension.

The farm (congregation) may take years of work, and the labor may not seem to be accomplishing much. However, the Word will have its effect, even if the benefits - the fruits of constant labor - appear much later.

Discouraged comes from impatiences and means "lost courage." Faith makes us bold, and nothing makes us bolder and more patient than the Word of God. The Word of the Gospel is so carefully explained to us in the Scriptures and enhanced by faithful writers like Luther, Chemnitz, Lenski, Loy, and Schmauk.