I preach my very first sermon in front of a church while in
Chile!! =) And I had five (5) minutes to prepare….talk about winging it! =D
On September 3rd (Sunday) when we arrived in
Chile, we (Emily and I) was suppose to go with our team mates (G and K) to
church. However, when we were picked up
from our host home, we were taken to a different church then G and K. Only we didn’t know it was a different
church…we just thought they were late (really late as the worship began without
them). =/
After the worship, the Pastor gave everyone a 10 minute
coffee break (this is the Vineyard after all…we live on coffee). During this time I was told that I was preach,
as G was not there…. Talk about shock!
Luckily (as if luck had anything to do with it) while on the
plane, I had written down some thoughts that God had given me. They were
disjoined, but at least I had something to talk about. [For those interested, I
spoke about how we are to dream big but to always remember to let God change
your dreams and plans (Prov: 19:21). Follow Him even when it sounds crazy…ie.
the story of my life these last six months moving to Sweet]
15 minutes into the 45 minute preaching block I ran out of
notes and words….so I told them (via a translator) that I was used to teaching
kids – 10 minute lesson and then recess!!!
=D
Yet, God doesn’t care if we are polished and professional.
All He cares about is our heart. He proved this fact that Sunday as the Pastor
got up and shared how God was stretching him in a similar way as He was me. It was an amazing ‘pinch
preaching’ (ok – I had to through a little baseball into this) that led into a
wonderful time of prayer. God just
rocked the place!!!!
People were crying, falling over, receiving Words of Knowledge and having their lives changed. Talking to folks afterwards I discovered that this type of thing does not happen at this church…..it was an unusal service for all of us. =D
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thats really cool. btw: hows your back?