RoboPreacher

& you know what? i hate it? A sermon on a girl whose name we don't even know I’d be willing to wager the biggest reason you’re hesitant to sign up for Stephen Ministry isn’t the application . And it’s not the time commitment, either. Why it’s not even the training work itself. Is it? No , the biggest source of your unease is the suspicion that you’re not qualified!   I’m right on this, too. Aren’t I? Well, let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way right now ; it’s not true! You couldn’t be more wrong , you knuckleheads ! But don’t feel bad. Naaman made the same mistake, too.   And Naaman was a man of few mistakes! In fact, the only reason you and I are here is that we have more blunders under our belt than good ol’ Naaman . Naaman never had any reason to turn up in a place like this because he never needed to! Naaman assiduously kept his life on the up and up . Perhaps you’ve had the misfortune of working with someone like that . You know the type, the ...

you'll see one with open gates A sermon on a crowded doorway and four unlikely ministers   This is a great story. Isn’t it? As Al read this passage, it practically came to life of its own volition! This episode crackles with liveliness. Why this Scripture barely needs a sermon. It speaks for itself . Doesn’t it? One of the things this passage says, though, is, “would you ?”   Would you haul your pal to a house you heard Jesus was at? Would you , if the doorway was blocked, scale the roof and dig through the thatching to get your friend before Christ? Well, would you? Speaking for myself , I want to say “ yes .” I hear this story and long for something like that. Deep down, I want to grab that stretcher of life and march it into the presence of the Lord. Even the trouble of hauling it all and climbing the obstacles sounds better than how life can so often feel, like an endless slog of one trivial thing after another.   And since you’re here , too, when you cou...