Occupation: Preacher (10/18/12)
“Lord, I pray that you show up, God that tonight be weird” were the words of a squad member as they prayed for me. This whole week we have been participating in revival and tonight happened to be my night to preach.
Rewinding to earlier in the week, our house gathered together to pray about the week to come and ATL (ask the Lord) who should preach. Preaching was something I didn’t really want to do. I actually was fighting it. However, when I started praying I gave in and told the Lord I would do it. From that moment, I felt so much peace. When we came together to discuss who we thought the Lord was telling to preach. I had several people say that they felt the Lord telling them that I was supposed to preach. I took this as confirmation and was ready for the Lord to work through me.
When we arrived to the church, no one was there. It wasn’t until a woman started to lead worship that people started coming in and the church soon became filled. The whole time, I just prayed asking for the Holy Spirit to come and during that time it did. The Holy Spirit fell and was so tangible. As a congregation we danced and worshiped and we’re all so joyful. It was “the weird” my squad mate had prayed for.
By the time it was time for me to speak. I wasn’t nervous but excited. My sermon was a simple message of repentance. I read through Luke 15, where Jesus tells the three parables, the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son. I was concerned that it was too basic and elementary but I felt that it is exactly what this church needed. A message about God’s heart and that he is always there waiting for us and that He rejoices when we decide to turn from our sin and follow after him.
I felt so blessed to given the opportunity to speak. I felt like I was able to hear the Lord’s voice, follow His voice and He was faithful. I believe even if I went up there and completely failed, I would still be glorifying the Lord because I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and obey Him.
