Wednesday was a first for me. I preached my first sermon. Well, I gave the main message at least. A “sermon” sounds so educated and important. We knew ahead of time that we would be planning the whole church service for a small church called “Sonido de Alabanza.” On Tuesday night, we were praying and asking God who should give the sermon. Nobody was really hearing anything specific from the Lord. Spano was leading worship, Candice was doing an introduction, Andrew and Morgan felt strongly that they were not supposed to give the message, and Amanda said she would give it, but was not sure. Then, there was me. I didn’t offer to preach, because I didn’t really want to, but I had this peace in my heart about it. Amanda asked if I would do it. I said, “I’ve never done it before, but I will try.” So, Wednesday morning, I spent some time praying and preparing what I was going to say. God has continued to lay on my heart of the simple truths of being vs. doing and loving God then loving people. I hesitated to talk about it because it seems so simple, but it is something that often people and churches forget.
So, our friend, Ivan, came and picked us up and took us to the church. It was a small, cute church with approximately 40 people. We were welcomed by the congregation. We sang some songs, performed a drama, gave a testimony, and then it was time for me. I still had a sense of peace about the whole thing. I hopped up there and began talking about what I had prepared. I was speaking with an interpreter, which is nice because you can gather your thoughts and if you mess up, you can change what you say before the people hear it. I did that once. I also kept interrupting him. Oops. Besides it being incredibly hot in the church and feeling like I was sweating all over the place, it went really well. At least that is what people told me. Ivan was interpreting for me and told me he was impressed that was my first time preaching. My team also encouraged me as well. I am thankful that I was available for God to use me and speak through me. The church took an offering and gave us the offering. They also invited us to come back on Wednesday to perform a drama and speak again for a women’s cell group. We are still praying about how long to stay here in Puerto San Jose. Please pray that we have clear direction about where we are to go next and what we are to do next.
Here´s me in the church after the service 🙂
