A Surprise for Sunday - I Had to Preach

I woke up early today and had a text message on my phone. The lead pastor of our church was taken to the emergency room and he wanted me to lead the service today. I was absolutely unprepared as I wasn't going to speak until next week and I hadn't even decided what I am going to speak on next week.

When I got to the church I was told that the pastor had been released from the hospital and was resting at home. I said that if he showed up at the church he was going to get a piece of my mind. The service went well and we all enjoyed some home made fruit salad afterwards.

The service was a simple one and although I rarely post about religion on this blog, I wish to summarize it for my dear readers. I turned to the congregation and asked them what they would do if the lead pastor had died. We are a small church and it is primarily Hispanic. I should point out that the services are in Spanish and I have to be translated because I don't speak Spanish.

I asked the congregation if they understood that it was their church and not the pastors. I mentioned how Paul started churches and might have only visited them once or twice. A church is not a building, it is not a pastor, it is the congregation of believers. The pastor may be responsible for advising and teaching; but, it is the congregations responsibility to bring people in and participate together in doing the work of the Lord.

You can go to church everyday of your life and hear as many sermons as possible and it still will not make you a Christian. You can be as sinless as possible and still not be a Christian. If you are truly a Christian then you will be of service to others. If this world is truly a spiritual battle then I cannot understand why anyone would go in unarmed. Our service to others and our living our beliefs is our armor and weapons.

Everyone told me the service went well and I was relieved. I joke a lot in my services and I always worry that the jokes wont be understood, I worry my humor will be lost in the translation; but, so far so good. I joke because, while I am not a fire and brimstone sort of a person, I deliver messages of responsibility and relationship. I am not there to make people feel good about themselves or beat them up for past sins, I am there to tell them what it means to be a Christian and explain parts of the bible that they may not have understood.

After the service someone came up to me and thanked me for my sermon. He told me that he thought I was a good speaker and thought it was interesting that I was able to take anything available and preach on it. I didn't know how to explain it to him. It is like this blog, I don't plan it out. I know what I believe and everything else is just an example.

That was all just a lead in to say this. I haven't read the news today and have nothing on my mind. Oh and we have a new follower. Hello Raye. Welcome to a look into my twisted little mind at work.