The Day I Bailed On A Sermon

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James 1: 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

I took a few moments to think about how many sermons I have preached so far in my life.  The number has to be around 4 - 5,000.  Some sermons were stellar and a few just plain stunk.  

Some years ago I was preaching one morning and, well, it wasn't going well.  I was having a bad day, and the message was a mess.  I remember thinking to myself, I wish I could end this.  The something happened that really shocked me.  The Holy Spirit said, "You're right, you should end it."  

I kept preaching, thinking the message might improve, but to no avail, I knew I was in trouble.  Finally, I just gave up. I looked at the congregation and said, "I'm sorry.  But this isn't working.  Let's just go home today, and I'll make sure that this doesn't happen again."  I knew that people were going to be upset with me, but I couldn't waste their time anymore.  To my surprise, people were quite supportive.  They understood!!! 

After the service I took the sermon walked over to the paper shredder and fed the sermon to it.  I felt better. 

If you were in church this Sunday, and you can't remember the message, don't feel bad. James said that we can look at ourselves in the mirror but as soon as we look away - we forget.  They why do we listen?  Because just as the Holy Spirit speaks to me, He will talk to you too.  Don't listen, only to hear something.  Listen to hear more.   Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart while you are reading the Bible, while you listen to a message, or while you are praying.  

PRAY:  Dear Jesus, help me to do what I hear about You.  AMEN 

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