tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post7251830568008843726..comments2024-01-20T00:07:48.249-08:00Comments on part time priest: Preaching painsClaire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-55551303223879697802012-10-23T09:28:34.499-07:002012-10-23T09:28:34.499-07:00'despite our failings' so true. Thank you ...'despite our failings' so true. Thank you Sarah.Claire Alcockhttp://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-53991649956451853712012-10-23T06:47:19.814-07:002012-10-23T06:47:19.814-07:00Thank you for reminding us what a wonderful God we...Thank you for reminding us what a wonderful God we serve - who works despite our failings - and for your honesty and love for him.Sarah Edennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-84863789488090892962012-10-15T01:17:17.363-07:002012-10-15T01:17:17.363-07:00Thank you for your thoughtful comment and encourag...Thank you for your thoughtful comment and encouragement.Claire Alcockhttp://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-18811826301485210702012-10-14T07:36:40.457-07:002012-10-14T07:36:40.457-07:00"But in the process I have been obliged to be..."But in the process I have been obliged to be disciplined whether I felt like engaging with the bible or not. I have sat under it, metaphorically speaking. I have encountered something living. I am not unchanged. I have had to remember that before I can offer it I have to struggle with it; that by grace, week after week, it isn't really just me doing the talking. I'm not crafting it. It's crafting me."<br /><br />It has been some time since I preached in a church, or anywhere. But this last paragraph sums up perfectly what I felt when I prepared for that sacred task. A minister I once knew once said that the process of sermon construction wasn't always a comfortable one, because he knew that, invariably, whatever the subject matter, God would apply the lesson to areas of his own life before he delivered it to the church. He said that was rarely a painless and always a humbling experience yet necessary for the personal liberation required to preach it to others.<br /><br />I never felt more alive than when I was preaching. It is a truly humbling experience to have the Holy Spirit give you thoughts and words, to 'sense', in a truly tangible capacity, God's movement through your own mind as you let His Word caress and mould your own thoughts. It was at such times that the reality of the body being the temple of God's Spirit truly hit home to me.<br /><br />Thank you for your blog and I thank God for the gift He has clearly given you to explain something of the mystery of preaching and preparation, in such a clear and thoughtful way.<br /><br />I pray God continues to bless your ministry, far beyond the reaches of your immediate placement.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-584894834961865482012-10-14T06:16:06.269-07:002012-10-14T06:16:06.269-07:00Thank you. I grew up Methodist. Good preachers and...Thank you. I grew up Methodist. Good preachers and singers!Claire Alcockhttp://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-4767054901544577932012-10-13T10:58:26.213-07:002012-10-13T10:58:26.213-07:00We Methodists have to do a lot of preaching before...We Methodists have to do a lot of preaching before we even candidate for ordained ministry, but I'm certainly with you in much that you say. Blessings as you continue to wrestle with this impossible taskJulyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10632293140569480064noreply@blogger.com