CloudofSteam

On Easter Sunday, I preached for the congregation my father pastors in Rokeby, Tasmania. The text was 1 Peter 1, especially verse 3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

In preparing the sermon, I was struck by how the whole of 1 Peter hangs off this verse. Without it, all Peter’s instructions about persevering in trials and how to live as the people of God would be futile legalism, just like 1st century Judaism.

Now I’m seeing explicit references to Jesus’ death as the cornerstone to so many of the practical sections of the epistles. I’m planning to continue studying 1 Peter and hopefully develop a sermon series from it.

I’m preaching at Grace Presbyterian in Wodonga on 29th May, so locals will have the opportunity to hear this message live, as well as the results of further sermons in the series in the coming months.

No, it’s not an announcement of a career change (though a few people did suggest one).

Over the summer I was asked to go and preach in the Parish of Numurkah, which is currently vacant. So last Saturday, I headed down the Murray Valley Highway. It was nice to stop at Yarrawong and Cobram on the way, as I had passed through or close to both these towns, but had never had a chance to look around.

Arriving at Numurkah, I was able to stay in the Manse and familiarise myself with the church building.

As I prepared to go to bed, I got quite a shock. Reaching into my bag for my pajamas, I realised that my black trousers and tidy shirt where nowhere to be seen. They were still hanging on the handle of my wardrobe more than 2 hours drive away. There was no way I could retrieve them. The trip was showing potential to descend into a preacher’s version of James Herriot’s tales of a veterinarian’s life in Yorkshire. This did not make for a good night’s sleep.

Waking in the morning, there was no option but to put on the checked shorts and blue polo shirt I had worn the previous day. While I’m not opposed to preaching without a tie, it wasn’t the way I wanted to introduce myself to three new congregations. With two piece of bread in my stomach, I headed off to down the Goulburn Valley Highway to Tallygaroopnah (north of Shepparton).

The church there is a nice 1960′s brick building with a high ceiling and lovely wooden pews and floorboards. After the service, there was time for a cup of tea and a sandwich before heading back to Numurkah for the service there.

At Numurkah, the fan behind the pulpit blew my notes around a bit, but thankfully they never got out of reach. Then it was off to lunch which had been arranged for me by one of the elders with a couple from the congregation. A warm lunch is part of my normal Sunday routine, so I was very happy to have some lovely casserole to keep me going.

It was quite easy to find where the Presbyterians meet at the Anglican Church in Cobram as I had eaten my dinner in a park one block away the previous night. With each service I was heading closer to home, although it took a little longer because of an unexpected invitation for a delightful afternoon tea with the congregation to Cobram.

Being young and with a top temperature of 40 degrees expected, there were no comments about my preaching in shorts. In each centre, the message was appreciated and I pray will continue stick in the minds of the congregations. Rather than dreading preaching multiple times, I was able to reflect on my delivery in between and adjust it was needed. Apart from being wrung out on Monday morning, I think I could get used to this.

A number of Sundays ago now, I was called on to preach with very little notice. The visiting preacher expected did not arrive. Thankfully, I had been reading and rereading the Epistle to Titus over the preceding days and was able to sketch an outline while the three chapters of the book were read to the congregation. Apart from a Bible, those very sparse notes were all that I took with me into the pulpit.

The feedback was that it was helpful to take the broad brush overview of the book, though it would have been nice to have had more application. In my opinion, I thought the book applied itself pretty well.

The audio of my sermon is online here if you would like to listen to how it turned out. It was an enthralling event, but not one that hope happens often.