Preaching about elders
Isn't that a privilege! A man is appointed as elder, and I get to preach the morning message, and the subject given is elders.
Because we are trying to show how Israel in the desert is a type for the church today, I started in Exodus 18 and then via the Moses/Christ type/antitype got as quickly as I could to Acts 20.
But what a shambles!
The PowerPoint computer suddenly turned itself on half-way through the message and projected whatever onto the wall by the pulpit. Because I look after the PowerPoint computer I found it quite hard not to stop and go and sort it out!
Then the phone rang.
Something else happened, too, but I can't remember what it was now.
Still, folks listened well and Silvie the sermon buddie says there were almost no faults as such - just one or two things that are not quite as a Frenchman would do it.
For example, in one message some time ago I used the word enfin for when I was getting to my last point. Well you are better not to, because really it means "At last!" Better use finalement.
So today I used finalement, but you're better not to really. It's better to use pour finir.
I have this kind of feeling that when I go with pour finir they'll tell me to go back to saying enfin...
I am feeling much more able to "be myself" when I preach, to use silly illustrations and so on. It's coming. I actually had some quite tough things to say this morning about eldership and respect for authority and so on, so it was good to be able to lighten it from time to time. And there is a rich vein for that in the fact that ancien means elder, but à l'ancienne means old-fashioned.
Because we are trying to show how Israel in the desert is a type for the church today, I started in Exodus 18 and then via the Moses/Christ type/antitype got as quickly as I could to Acts 20.
But what a shambles!
The PowerPoint computer suddenly turned itself on half-way through the message and projected whatever onto the wall by the pulpit. Because I look after the PowerPoint computer I found it quite hard not to stop and go and sort it out!
Then the phone rang.
Something else happened, too, but I can't remember what it was now.
Still, folks listened well and Silvie the sermon buddie says there were almost no faults as such - just one or two things that are not quite as a Frenchman would do it.
For example, in one message some time ago I used the word enfin for when I was getting to my last point. Well you are better not to, because really it means "At last!" Better use finalement.
So today I used finalement, but you're better not to really. It's better to use pour finir.
I have this kind of feeling that when I go with pour finir they'll tell me to go back to saying enfin...
I am feeling much more able to "be myself" when I preach, to use silly illustrations and so on. It's coming. I actually had some quite tough things to say this morning about eldership and respect for authority and so on, so it was good to be able to lighten it from time to time. And there is a rich vein for that in the fact that ancien means elder, but à l'ancienne means old-fashioned.
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