When Your Sermon Feels Out of Sync

Ever have one of those days?  It’s Sunday, you’re the preacher, and the sermon just doesn't seem to get off the platform.

Every pastor has those times.  Maybe it’s a difficult subject.  Maybe it's even more difficult to make interesting enough for your listeners to actually tune in to.  Or maybe you just don’t feel good physically.  Maybe you’re in a personal slump.  Maybe you and the wife had a fight the night before.  Maybe it’s something you just can’t identify.  We've all been there.

What is a pastor to do then?

Answer:  You preach.

You show up and do your job.

You go in the strength of the Lord since yours is inadequate.

You depend on the same One who took a child’s small lunch and multiplied it to feed thousands.  You trust that He will do something similar with your message.

Ignore your own misgiving about the sermon.  You are a poor judge of your own preaching and what it actually accomplished.

After all, it was “God’s Word” you talked about, not yours.

You remind yourself that the Holy Spirit did a lot of things in church today and your sermon didn’t make or break the service.  People greeted each other in the Name of the Lord, chatted and connect on a personal level, hymns and gospel songs were sung, lives were enriched, the scriptures were read, and prayers offered.  Newcomers were welcomed and God’s people made new friends.

Ministries took place in a hundred places or more.

Were these things important?  You bet they were.

Before you stood to preach, the Holy Spirit had already done a hundred things in the congregation that were Christ-exalting, gospel-oriented, and Body-edifying.

No one hits it out of the ball park every time they get up to bat.  It’s okay to hit a single every now and then.  Even the best of preachers have an off day.

So when your sermon seems out of sync, get over it.  The kingdom was advanced, and that’s all that really matters.

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be Glory)