Urban Onramps

SYV Pres, and how to preach 3 services in one morning

I had a good time preaching at SYV Presbyterian Church yesterday. Evidently Keith Phillips of World Impact had been there the previous Sunday. It’s not easy to preach three services in one morning. You might say, “Just read the same sermon three times.” But would you do that? So I used the same biblical text and same dismount, but the stories in-between varied. It was almost three different sermons, which is easier for me than reading the same sermon. I put out a lot of emotion and story-telling effort when I preach, and it’s just hard to replicate an emotion, or the flow of a story. I guess that’s why actors on Broadway get the big bucks… but I digress (and, yes, I’m aware that such actors get paid very little… it was a joke). I knew at least two people would appreciate the fact that I didn’t cookie-cut the sermon: the pastor who presided over all three services, and the sound man. Both HAD to listen to all three; even the worship team rotated out. But these two perked up with every sermon, wondering what I was going to say next. That was fun. That’s what a 39-year-old urban minister considers fun, keeping the presiding pastor and the sound man happy.

posted Aug 21, 2006, 6:39am by Rodolpho Carrasco