mundane stuff

sermon prep day today; fridays almost always are. on wednesday, took the day for prayer and study, during which i jotted down a number of thoughts that made their way into the sermon today. part 2 (or 3, if you count the sermon on prayer that my dad preached at the end of the year, which served as a launch pad for this series) of a series on the lord's prayer. in particular, the "our father" portion. enjoyed working on it today...some at the home office, and then the later afternoon at Starbucks.



i like writing sermons in public, once i've had time and place to pray, wrestle with the text, get a sense of direction and inspiration. helps me remember that the words need to connect with the kind of people sitting around me, talking, drinking coffee, living lives in the real world. otherwise, it's easy to get caught up in the world of ideas and never really answer the "what difference might this make to that guy working over there who doesn't really get jazzed about theology yet, but has a knawing hunger for God and a nose for humbly delivered truth?" question. plus, maybe the caffeine helps too.



still have to put the multimedia stuff together tomorrow. thinking about a lyric driven presentation of "papa was a rollin' stone" for before the sermon, too. that always takes a long time to pull off, though. we'll see.



Grace hung out with us tonight while Mom & Dad were at a national Vineyard meeting in Salt Lake City. she's an awesome sister. Colin & Elle couldn't be luckier to have her for an aunt. plus, i know she reads this blog a lot, so thought i'd give her some well deserved props.



speaking of props, for what it's worth, my dad is on a serious preaching roll lately. the sermon series the a2 vineyard did on the 12 steps was extraordinary, and the current series on "prayer: improving concious contact" is really something else. excellently crafted and full of "aha" insights, naturally, but also significant i think. something that may end up bearing fruit for the whole vineyard movement. yeah, i know, who am i to have a sense for that sort of thing? no one really. and it is my dad, afterall. but still, as i listen to each of the sermons when they come out online, the feeling grows, rather than diminishes. Jesus is up to something good among his students.