Sermonizing

Today was the first (and second) sermon(s) while on internship. I say one/two since there are two services (hence two), basically preached the same stuff both times (one), and attempted to not preach the exact same sermon twice (two).

If you understood all of that mumble-jumble, you get an imaginary gold star for you imaginary collection.

Fortunately, I kept it short since I myself hate long sermons. That and the fact that I knew there was enough going on during the service and chose to limit my portion to make room for such things as baptisms, installation of Sunday School teachers and the official welcome of me as intern pastor. And bonus factor is that the sermon was about me. Specifically about how I came to be at the congregation. The intention was for people to get to know me and my journey (aka how I came to be at their congregation as a pastoral figure) a little bit more. So I did just that. I catered to what people would like to hear the first time they hear their new intern pastor preach publicly.

Next time I shall wow them with amazing insights and profound reflections upon God and the Word of God. (Disclaimer: this may or may not come true)

Tomorrow I will start looking at the comment sheets my internship committee members filled out to critique the context and execution of the sermon. Not too worried about presentation since I've already been getting feedback that some were surprised that I don't mumble but instead can articulate my words. Why is it that no one ever assumes that young people (since I'm a young'un at age 24) are unable to speak so that the general population can understand their words?

I must give credit to my mother, who constantly nagged me and my sisters to speak clearly and to not mumble. No matter how annoying at the time, I have to admit that in the end the annoyance was worth it. So...Thanks, Mom!