21st July 2013
The usual Sunday of preaching, teaching an adult Sunday School class and preaching again. But this time with Anne in the congregation and she is the person who I rely on most for feedback.
After the 9am service (in which Sir Wally rode again for the last time and at which we did a recap of Kingdom Rocks) Anne said to me that I’d preached with real passion and conviction. And that has been true (I feel) of all my sermons over the last few weeks. But this is because there is something about Fair View congregations that allows me to be unrestrained and also something that fuels me.
I think it is partly because the people at Fairview seem to come to church enthused and willing to worship. But also because their energy seems to give me energy. And also I think because I come to the services here feeling less tired and more focused than at home. Here my job is to be the pastor and to preach and not like at home to be the pastor, to preach, to chair meetings etc etc etc. Consequently the end product as it were is going to be of better quality here rather than back at home.
Something I have found strange though at the services here is the lack of prayer. Back at home we are taught (firstly as local preachers and then as ministers) that each service should have prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and intercession. That doesn’t appear to be the model here. Nor is it the custom apparently to have a prayer with the minister before the service.
Also there seems to be quite a bit of clock watching in respect of the services, The 9am contemporary service always seems as if the worship band and worship leader have been told that they must not run on after 9am on pain of death. In my opinion the service timings need reorganising somehow to allow for more time in worship.
11am service we had a good old hymn sing. Lots of old favourites and ended (of course) by “Guide me O thou great Jehovah.” The preacher’s choice!
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