What I learned about preaching over Easter

Given that I am a newbie in the world of gospel ministry I am learning a lot, a lot of the time. And one area in particular that this is the case is in preaching or delivering a bible talk. Yes, you are taught and you have the opportunity to speak whilst training. But when you have the responsibility to deliver God’s word week in and week out you quickly learn that you are not capable of undertaking this task.

However, this is not how the human mind works. I don’t know about you but I tend to overestimate my abilities and forget just how easy it is to follow the meandering road into a number of pitfalls. Here are some that I discovered in preparation to speak about the cross and the resurrection.

Lent: Giving up or Gaining all?

Around this time we hear a similar phrase being used in everyday conversation. It usually goes something like this; “what are you giving up for lent?”, “I’m giving up….. for lent”. For many this act of abstinence will normally involve setting aside something which we really enjoy for the allotted time. Common “vice’s” are chocolate, take-away’s, alcohol, TV, even social media. And with great enthusiasm people begin this time of setting aside, but it doesn’t tend to last. What began with zeal tends to tail off after some time (usually 2 days) and what started as a cheeky square of chocolate turns into a massacre of wrappers lying across the table.