Last night I delivered my first official sermon to a group of youth. Wow! What an amazing experience. I have started the process of interviewing with a church and I was invited by them last night to speak at their youth group.
The entire process has featured God continuing to stretch me in ways I don't necessarily like but I always appreciate. One of my key personality traits is that I am a compulsive planner, I love organization and I revel in being able to predict possible outcomes and have contingency plans ready for them. God has made that process anything but plannable however. The invitation to speak came on Tuesday morning, and so I had less than 36 hours to prepare. Being brand new to the sermon idea, I have never even written a full sermon much less delivered one. God held me up though and showed me that my words are never going to matter, it's the heart of the messages and the ability to let him shine through any topic.
I ended up scrapping some early ideas I had for a message and instead focusing on something that was close to my heart. My core verse was 1 Peter 2:9, specifically confirming our identity as a kingdom of priests sent by God. I loved it because it was organic, I had a chance to tell a story from my personal life, and I built in several interactive moments with the kids to keep them engaged.
Over all I am really proud of the way things went. Of course I was nervous, I could barely walk up front without shaking but I don't think it came across as much as I would have thought. I feel a sense of confirmation from God though that this is really the right path for me. I don't know if this church in particular is where God wants me, I haven't received confirmation on that yet, but I can tell you that every day I explore this path I grow both personally and in my understanding of Christ and the role he plays in our lives even today.
Now I'm just hoping for another chance to speak so I can get more comfortable!
Pat
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