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We're going to be talking together now about

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how to prepare a message.

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For some of you this may be the

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key.

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How to actually put together something that is

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going to so feed and edify the people

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of God that they grow towards maturity.

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And may God really bless these thoughts and

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principles, these practical things born out of a

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little experience to our hearts.

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I have on my paper nine points.

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And the first is this, that any message

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that you preach will arise, should arise out

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of your own personal life with God.

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Like a child, which is first born, it

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receives life.

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But then it needs discipline.

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Then it needs to be governed, tamed, controlled,

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pointed in a certain direction.

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So too does a message.

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Now I'm going to be talking in more

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detail about study habits and prayer tomorrow.

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The habit of regular systematic Bible study is

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perhaps the key thing.

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Perhaps the simplest help to you in the

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future as a preacher would be this, to

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have a notebook where seed thoughts can be

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put down and you take that notebook with

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you, it travels with you, it's with you

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when you have your time of quiet before

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God on a daily basis, it's with you

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when you go to conferences, and God sometimes

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gives you outlines, ideas, things to track down,

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insights.

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Do you ever find that?

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Sometimes you're sitting listening to someone preaching or

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even praying and suddenly a whole series of

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things come.

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Well, then is the time to write them

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down.

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Or in your morning devotions, if you have

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them in the morning.

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God will someday, as it seems, just give

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you something on a plate.

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There you are.

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It may be usable months hence, but write

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it down.

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Keep it in a book.

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I have downstairs a sort of red book,

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bought it ages ago, full of all kinds

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of scribblings from here and there, many of

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which have been eventually trained, like the child

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I was speaking of, it's given life and

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then it's tamed and trained into a usable

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form.

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I was stuck on a railway siding in

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Sweden, waiting for a train, a misconnection or

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something, just reading in Matthew's Gospel.

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God gave me a message for an OM

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summer conference, just as if he was dictating

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it.

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Point by point, and I wrote the thing

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down.

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God will do that sometimes.

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But you must be ready to write when

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the inspiration comes.

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Write in your own quiet times in the

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morning.

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Write as you study God's Word.

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Get those seeds.

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Now, a preacher is a bit like a

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hen, in many ways, but he will sit

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on his eggs for a long time.

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You may learn egg, but the thing is

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pretty useless.

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You need to sit on it.

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You need to keep it warm for a

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bit.

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That has tickled Stuart greatly.

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And Stuart sitting on something, we're just about

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finishing up, I think.

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But you ought to have at the back

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of your mind a number of ideas and

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burdens, little seed thoughts that are just ready,

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you know.

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Because when a man stands to preach, he

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needs to come before people able to say,

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thus says the Lord.

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He's bringing a burden from God.

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This is how the prophets began.

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Thus says the Lord.

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You remember, Habakkuk is it again?

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Martin Goldsmith is taking us through.

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The burden of the Lord.

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And the word in the Hebrew literally means

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the load laid as may be on a

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camel or a donkey.

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Something that you have to carry.

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Come before God's people with something to be

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carried until by the end of the message

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you feel you have laid it down.

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A weight on your own soul, on your

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mind, on your heart.

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All preachers know this in varying degrees.

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A book you see, an ordinary book, may

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well be true words, just plain words written

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on a page.

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But a sermon is something else.

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It's God's spoken truth carried in a human

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personality, filtered through that personality.

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And the preacher needs to sow weight on

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God and think, sit on his eggs, change

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the metaphor, wait till things ripen in his

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own soul until he's got that which he

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feels he wants to say.

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I will say that if you preach often

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on Scriptures you'll find that your appreciation of

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a book of Scripture or a chapter will

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change.

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Your sense of the burden and thrust of

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a particular part of Scripture will change.

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But we must be men who stand before

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God saying, look, thus says the Lord.

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Secondly, right at the start of the preparation

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process you must ask yourself one or two

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questions.

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What kind of a message is this going

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to be?

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What is its purpose?

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Your sense of purpose must be quite explicit

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in your mind.

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Let me divide messages into four different types.

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Christian preaching, four different kinds.

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It will either be evangelistic preaching where your

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specific aim is conversion.

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You want to see people illuminated and converted,

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their will touched and they begin to move

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out of darkness into light.

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Or it will be doctrinal preaching where among

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ourselves as evangelical believers we make certain assumptions

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about the Bible and we are aiming at

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doctrinal understanding, illumination.

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It may well, should have practical effects.

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But our real goal is to produce understanding,

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clarity of mind.

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Evangelistic, doctrinal.

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Thirdly, devotional.

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Some preaching is not doctrinal or evangelistic.

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It aims to warm the heart with some

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fresh glimpse here on earth of our Saviour.

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And the whole process of reading the Bible

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to preach one or other of these kinds

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of message is actually quite different.

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I spend some of my time as an

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evangelist, as I've already said, and sometimes in

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Bible teaching.

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And I find actually the discipline of reading

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the Bible is quite different for the different

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kind of message that you're going to produce.

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It's an interesting thing.

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I will have to, coming back from these

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conferences and gearing up to evangelism back in

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Britain, actually change gear in the way I

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think about God's Word.

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The kind of things I get from it.

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So evangelistic, doctrinal, devotional or ethical.

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You're aiming to persuade folk of new behaviour.

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Now obviously any message may be a combination

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of both.

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Often the doctrinal and the ethical will go

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together.

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Or the doctrinal and the devotional.

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People can be converted through messages that are

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quite other than evangelistic messages.

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But I don't know whether you ever read

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Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's recipe for a love

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letter.

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He said this, to write a good love

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letter you will begin without knowing what you

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are going to say and end without knowing

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what you have said.

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Well, in preaching that's a disaster, absolute disaster.

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The little ditty, I shot an arrow in

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the air, it fell to earth, I know

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not where.

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That does describe a lot of preaching and

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it's a waste of time.

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What are you going to do?

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Why are you there?

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What are you going to persuade people of?

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What do you want them to understand?

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Go.

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Peter?

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The question has been asked.

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We often get invited along to perhaps represent

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OM and to talk about the work in

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a church meeting and it doesn't fall into

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any of these categories.

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It's a report or a recruiting kind of

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message.

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How does this fit into my categories?

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Well, if we just do that, I would

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hardly take that to be preaching at all.

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I, over the years, have become increasingly frustrated

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and fed up with doing that and I

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would rather preach the word of God because

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I believe that people will be recruited, drawn

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to what they sense is the presence of

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God in the word, in the fellowship, as

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it comes out.

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Now, the making concrete what OM life is

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can come out in the message as you

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illustrate, very often from your OM experience.

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But if it's just a sort of 20

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minute introduce the ship in the course of

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a church service because the ship is going

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to come in six months' time and this

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is part of the build-up process.

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You obviously can't pinch the preacher's slots and

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begin with scripture.

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I think you've got to forget these and

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just do your stuff.

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If you're invited along to represent OM for

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a whole evening's meeting in a church and

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you are the preacher, I would urge you

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to preach the word, one or other of

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these approaches and bring in OM,

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not as the most important thing.

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I want to preach Christ and Him crucified.

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I want to preach the word and let

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people ask me questions afterwards, let me illustrate

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about OM and so on.

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Now, does that make life more difficult for

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you?

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Yes.

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Bring a report about the work if it

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illustrates a point that you want to preach

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to the people.

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Very often we would want to preach something

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about world evangelism or prayer or the body

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of Christ or something using the ship and

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the work and OM, the summer crusades and

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so on as illustrative of God's word and

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God's divine precepts and scripture and so on.

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The question is, to what extent do I

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use notes?

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I will deal with that on number eight.

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We'll get there eventually.

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But underlying all four of these types of

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categories I've suggested to you, you have one

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common aim.

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It is the, you are aiming at a

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manifestation of God in the souls of the

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people that are listening to you.

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Let me talk of evangelism.

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People will come in, who knows what they've

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been doing, they sit down, they're not particularly

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interested, one of their friends has dragged them

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and you notice almost a moment in the

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message where they suddenly begin to be gripped

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by what you're saying.

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It is as if God starts speaking to

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them.

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They're hearing something of his authority, seeing something

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of his grace and forgiveness.

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Suddenly becoming aware of a crossroads and the

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Lord himself there.

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Or, as you're speaking devotionally, suddenly people get

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a sense of God there to meet your

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real need that perhaps you hadn't even understood

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was there until the man started speaking to

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you.

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But Christ has come to meet that need

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which you perceive to be your own.

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And that sense of God in the soul,

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that is what you're aiming at.

277
00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:45,120
Because our hearts grow cold, don't they?

278
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,140
You remember Revelation 2?

279
00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:49,380
I know your works, I know your toil,

280
00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:51,260
I know your labour, I know your patience.

281
00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:53,680
I know how you've been plodding on, some

282
00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:55,780
of you in OM, for a long time,

283
00:12:55,900 --> 00:12:57,640
but I have this against you.

284
00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:04,230
Your love for one person in this universe

285
00:13:07,830 --> 00:13:09,410
stopped being as important as it used to

286
00:13:09,410 --> 00:13:09,630
be.

287
00:13:09,950 --> 00:13:11,070
In fact, it's gone cold.

288
00:13:12,630 --> 00:13:14,890
And because that happens, it happens in my

289
00:13:14,890 --> 00:13:17,850
life as yours, we need to be aiming

290
00:13:17,850 --> 00:13:21,930
at folks, as I put it, seeing God,

291
00:13:23,670 --> 00:13:27,210
hearing him, sensing his presence, responding to him

292
00:13:27,210 --> 00:13:27,810
in their hearts.

293
00:13:29,110 --> 00:13:30,530
And they will be converted if that happens,

294
00:13:31,010 --> 00:13:33,850
they will be moved doctrinally or ethically if

295
00:13:33,850 --> 00:13:34,370
that happens.

296
00:13:35,250 --> 00:13:37,590
I don't think I ever begin preaching without

297
00:13:37,590 --> 00:13:38,750
aiming that that should be so.

298
00:13:41,110 --> 00:13:43,350
And you should aim to leave people different.

299
00:13:44,010 --> 00:13:45,390
You know, you're not just giving an essay

300
00:13:45,390 --> 00:13:47,670
or a lecture, you want people to be

301
00:13:47,670 --> 00:13:48,050
different.

302
00:13:49,870 --> 00:13:52,290
And they go out of hearing you, their

303
00:13:52,290 --> 00:13:55,670
behaviour, their standards, the way they're going to

304
00:13:55,670 --> 00:13:58,590
treat one another, their prayer life or whatever,

305
00:13:58,770 --> 00:13:59,810
is to be different.

306
00:14:00,570 --> 00:14:01,390
Otherwise why bother?

307
00:14:01,610 --> 00:14:02,570
A waste of time.

308
00:14:03,970 --> 00:14:07,150
So the will must be touched.

309
00:14:08,750 --> 00:14:08,950
Okay?

310
00:14:09,990 --> 00:14:11,590
Your goal, your sense of purpose.

311
00:14:13,010 --> 00:14:15,450
Never, never speak to people without a sense

312
00:14:15,450 --> 00:14:16,510
of real purpose.

313
00:14:16,670 --> 00:14:21,370
I am aiming this session at every one

314
00:14:21,370 --> 00:14:26,980
of you getting something practical that illuminates you

315
00:14:26,980 --> 00:14:28,840
as I say it and will help you

316
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:30,900
in your practical preparation for the future.

317
00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:33,880
I don't know how that fits into my

318
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:34,400
four categories.

319
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,080
I haven't thought long enough about that.

320
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,100
But I want you to go out with

321
00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:39,780
something practical that's going to help you as

322
00:14:39,780 --> 00:14:41,100
a habit of life.

323
00:14:43,890 --> 00:14:46,150
Thirdly, let it be said that there is

324
00:14:46,150 --> 00:14:49,050
a variety of technique the way people prepare

325
00:14:49,050 --> 00:14:49,470
messages.

326
00:14:50,830 --> 00:14:54,510
Now Spurgeon used to pick his topic and

327
00:14:54,510 --> 00:14:56,110
he used to give his secretary his text

328
00:14:56,110 --> 00:14:58,570
or his subject and she would go into

329
00:14:58,570 --> 00:15:01,110
the library in his house and she would

330
00:15:01,110 --> 00:15:03,310
bring him the files on that that he'd

331
00:15:03,310 --> 00:15:05,750
been amassing over the years or any relevant

332
00:15:05,750 --> 00:15:10,150
books and he would, in his study, begin

333
00:15:10,150 --> 00:15:10,610
to prepare.

334
00:15:11,250 --> 00:15:14,670
Moody kept masses of ideas, quotations, scripts and

335
00:15:14,670 --> 00:15:16,830
scraps in a number of envelopes, big baggy

336
00:15:16,830 --> 00:15:18,610
envelopes and he used to pick out the

337
00:15:18,610 --> 00:15:22,930
relevant envelope and then begin to work, to

338
00:15:22,930 --> 00:15:26,130
prepare from material that he'd been amassing over

339
00:15:26,130 --> 00:15:26,650
the years.

340
00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:30,390
A man called Henry Ward Beecher who was

341
00:15:30,390 --> 00:15:32,490
a great preacher in America in the last

342
00:15:32,490 --> 00:15:36,050
century his total preparation, he said was to

343
00:15:36,050 --> 00:15:40,490
spend half an hour undisturbed in his study

344
00:15:40,490 --> 00:15:41,890
on a Sunday morning.

345
00:15:47,950 --> 00:15:49,390
I do know of preachers who spend less.

346
00:15:52,630 --> 00:15:55,290
John Stott, in his book, will tell you

347
00:15:55,290 --> 00:15:57,550
that you need to spend one hour in

348
00:15:57,550 --> 00:16:00,410
preparation for every five minutes that you propose

349
00:16:00,410 --> 00:16:04,840
to speak and for a beginner he suggests

350
00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,580
that any message will need between nine and

351
00:16:07,580 --> 00:16:12,930
twelve hours of preparation for that message.

352
00:16:14,130 --> 00:16:16,810
Now, John Wesley was in the habit of

353
00:16:16,810 --> 00:16:21,050
getting up at four in the morning prayer,

354
00:16:21,050 --> 00:16:21,610
preparation.

355
00:16:24,250 --> 00:16:27,850
Billy Graham dictates his sermon notes for the

356
00:16:27,850 --> 00:16:31,790
evening early in the morning.

357
00:16:32,350 --> 00:16:35,230
He gets up around six and by about

358
00:16:35,230 --> 00:16:36,990
seven thirty he's dictated his notes for the

359
00:16:36,990 --> 00:16:39,930
evening message before breakfast.

360
00:16:42,890 --> 00:16:44,730
People have completely different ways of preparing.

361
00:16:44,730 --> 00:16:47,550
I have seen an O.M. leader on

362
00:16:47,550 --> 00:16:50,370
his knees in the leader's prayer meeting before

363
00:16:50,370 --> 00:16:51,730
the evening meeting say I've got the message

364
00:16:51,730 --> 00:16:52,770
I just need the verse to hang it

365
00:16:52,770 --> 00:16:53,610
on.

366
00:17:00,220 --> 00:17:05,119
Others who will spend hours in careful crafting

367
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:05,780
and study.

368
00:17:06,339 --> 00:17:08,680
Now, you have to find the way that

369
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:09,319
suits you best.

370
00:17:09,740 --> 00:17:11,780
I cannot say that there is just one

371
00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:12,520
particular way.

372
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,660
Spurgeon is no more right than Wesley.

373
00:17:16,060 --> 00:17:19,300
Moody and John Stott and Billy Graham and

374
00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:21,900
Festo Cavengery and these men around the world

375
00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:25,500
who have moved multitudes have simply been honest

376
00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:26,060
with God.

377
00:17:26,660 --> 00:17:27,720
They've grown in their characters.

378
00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:29,280
They have found their own way.

379
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,720
And therefore there's no one particularly right technique.

380
00:17:34,980 --> 00:17:37,580
Therefore, if I say anything that's helpful, take

381
00:17:37,580 --> 00:17:37,700
it.

382
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:39,660
If I don't, forget it.

383
00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:44,460
But I want to suggest to you what

384
00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:47,860
I do and I feel it's good for

385
00:17:47,860 --> 00:17:51,680
you to think about some of these disciplines.

386
00:17:53,140 --> 00:17:54,660
You're going to have to begin with Scripture,

387
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:55,020
aren't you?

388
00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,320
And my next point, number four is that

389
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,840
you're going to have to work hard at

390
00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:03,280
Scripture.

391
00:18:06,820 --> 00:18:08,140
Chewing over a passage.

392
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,340
Trying to grasp the dominant thought in a

393
00:18:15,340 --> 00:18:16,980
paragraph or a chapter.

394
00:18:19,740 --> 00:18:22,080
And your message, I have used the picture

395
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:23,880
already of training up a child.

396
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:25,640
It's got some life, but it's young, it's

397
00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:26,120
untamed.

398
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:27,300
Has to be trained up.

399
00:18:27,660 --> 00:18:29,460
Let me use another picture.

400
00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,100
Your message will have to be like in

401
00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:34,880
a blacksmith's fire and come out and you

402
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,520
beat it on the anvil a bit and

403
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:37,780
you put it back in the fire again

404
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:39,280
and you take it out and you beat

405
00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:39,880
it a bit more.

406
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,100
Hard work at your Bible.

407
00:18:46,230 --> 00:18:50,010
The key, perhaps, to your entire ministry any

408
00:18:50,010 --> 00:18:51,970
ministry, even if you're not a preacher will

409
00:18:51,970 --> 00:18:52,750
be your Bible study.

410
00:18:53,530 --> 00:18:56,850
Working at your Bible because Bible will release

411
00:18:56,850 --> 00:18:58,570
in you every gift.

412
00:18:59,310 --> 00:19:00,270
Not just the preacher's gift.

413
00:19:02,950 --> 00:19:05,830
And there's really no substitute for regular, disciplined

414
00:19:05,830 --> 00:19:09,290
study of God's Word not study to preach.

415
00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:12,650
Study to study God.

416
00:19:14,050 --> 00:19:18,070
Terrible to simply study to get sermons because

417
00:19:18,070 --> 00:19:21,230
then it just stays in you however long

418
00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:22,390
it was before you had to preach and

419
00:19:22,390 --> 00:19:22,730
it's gone.

420
00:19:23,990 --> 00:19:25,130
And if the wine doesn't stay in the

421
00:19:25,130 --> 00:19:27,930
barrel very long if it's in one day

422
00:19:27,930 --> 00:19:29,290
and out the next it doesn't leave very

423
00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:30,350
much flavour in the barrel.

424
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,500
And the business of preparing the night before

425
00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:37,020
and then preaching it and then you forget

426
00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:39,280
it and next week it's something different.

427
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:41,840
It doesn't change you very much.

428
00:19:43,340 --> 00:19:48,480
John Stock, again has committed himself to print

429
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,100
in saying that Sunday's text should, at the

430
00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:58,510
latest be chosen by the preceding Monday so

431
00:19:58,510 --> 00:20:01,070
that it's got at least a week to

432
00:20:01,070 --> 00:20:03,250
ripen and to be thought over.

433
00:20:04,430 --> 00:20:05,190
As you take a...

434
00:20:05,190 --> 00:20:05,550
Yes?

435
00:20:05,790 --> 00:20:07,010
Now we've got some questions coming.

436
00:20:20,380 --> 00:20:21,980
As I was coming to church, God told

437
00:20:21,980 --> 00:20:22,540
me to speak.

438
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,320
Well, there was a preacher who was like

439
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:26,580
that.

440
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,140
He used to be openly proud of this

441
00:20:31,140 --> 00:20:34,140
that he would get his message on Sunday

442
00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:39,080
morning walking from the manse, the vicarage to

443
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:39,480
the church.

444
00:20:39,580 --> 00:20:41,360
It was a distance of about five minutes'

445
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:41,700
walk.

446
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,200
And do you know what his elders did?

447
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,560
They bought him a new house five miles

448
00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:47,000
away.

449
00:20:51,220 --> 00:20:52,440
Longer to walk.

450
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,980
Now, the question at the back.

451
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,320
The amount of Bible reading that I'm recommending

452
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:09,880
is impossible.

453
00:21:16,380 --> 00:21:19,900
Well, I'm quoting to you John Stock who

454
00:21:19,900 --> 00:21:20,820
is a professional minister.

455
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,480
My own experience of learning to preach was

456
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:24,980
within OM.

457
00:21:26,740 --> 00:21:28,120
I hadn't done very much before I left

458
00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:28,500
college.

459
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:36,120
Yeah.

460
00:21:42,330 --> 00:21:43,810
Well, I'm just about to give you the

461
00:21:43,810 --> 00:21:45,390
example of how I managed.

462
00:21:45,390 --> 00:21:48,170
Because Boba sent me down to Kerala to

463
00:21:48,170 --> 00:21:48,530
preach.

464
00:21:49,190 --> 00:21:50,830
Dear George, he said, I want you to

465
00:21:50,830 --> 00:21:51,030
preach.

466
00:21:52,170 --> 00:21:53,090
I hadn't done any preaching.

467
00:21:54,390 --> 00:21:57,950
So I went down south of India and

468
00:21:57,950 --> 00:21:59,510
I was due to preach in these conventions,

469
00:21:59,690 --> 00:22:00,950
these enormous big conventions.

470
00:22:01,110 --> 00:22:02,250
I prepared four messages.

471
00:22:03,030 --> 00:22:04,270
I thought I'd live off that for a

472
00:22:04,270 --> 00:22:04,450
week.

473
00:22:06,310 --> 00:22:09,430
I was so bad.

474
00:22:10,530 --> 00:22:11,090
You wouldn't believe it.

475
00:22:11,150 --> 00:22:11,610
I stood up.

476
00:22:12,830 --> 00:22:14,470
Frank Dietz was due to be preaching the

477
00:22:14,470 --> 00:22:14,870
same night.

478
00:22:14,870 --> 00:22:17,210
I preached all four messages and gave my

479
00:22:17,210 --> 00:22:19,090
testimony and I was done in about 25

480
00:22:19,090 --> 00:22:19,450
minutes.

481
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,820
But the discipline of teaching the team every

482
00:22:30,820 --> 00:22:33,100
day for an hour or so after lunch,

483
00:22:33,780 --> 00:22:37,220
not exactly a prepared message for all souls,

484
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:37,920
lang and place.

485
00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:39,780
But, you know, if you get up, I

486
00:22:39,780 --> 00:22:42,540
used to get up early, good early time,

487
00:22:43,100 --> 00:22:44,440
and have a couple of hours in the

488
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:45,140
word in the morning.

489
00:22:48,220 --> 00:22:51,480
And you will begin to live off your

490
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,240
growing knowledge of God's word as time goes

491
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:56,540
by.

492
00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,140
I think it's unwise to be overburdened with

493
00:23:01,140 --> 00:23:02,360
preaching when you are too young.

494
00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:05,560
Spurgeon is an exception.

495
00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:08,780
Preaching sort of Sunday by Sunday at the

496
00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:09,400
age of 19.

497
00:23:10,580 --> 00:23:12,340
It's good for a young man to bear

498
00:23:12,340 --> 00:23:14,920
the yoke in his youth, but don't over

499
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,280
-preach yourself out while young.

500
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:21,480
Christ begins his preaching ministry older than many

501
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:21,820
of you.

502
00:23:24,860 --> 00:23:27,580
First, get into the habit of regular disciplined

503
00:23:27,580 --> 00:23:28,440
Bible study.

504
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,240
Let me come back to all that question

505
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:33,780
when we talk about the preparation of the

506
00:23:33,780 --> 00:23:34,060
preacher.

507
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,200
The preparation of the message itself, you cannot

508
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,440
get away from time in the word.

509
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,680
And if you don't get very much time

510
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,800
in the word, then don't preach too much.

511
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,060
That's a good discipline.

512
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,660
But you're going to have to wrestle with

513
00:23:51,660 --> 00:23:52,320
the Bible.

514
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,560
What did it mean to the writer?

515
00:23:58,740 --> 00:24:00,680
How is a New Testament writer drawing on

516
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:01,260
the Old Testament?

517
00:24:02,260 --> 00:24:04,460
You're going to have to read, and think,

518
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:09,440
and question what is its application today.

519
00:24:12,570 --> 00:24:16,950
Turn to 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 7.

520
00:24:23,410 --> 00:24:25,710
Paul says to young Timothy, now you consider

521
00:24:25,710 --> 00:24:26,470
what I say.

522
00:24:27,950 --> 00:24:29,050
You go over it.

523
00:24:29,690 --> 00:24:30,650
You think about it.

524
00:24:33,140 --> 00:24:34,680
You ponder what it's really getting at.

525
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,360
And the Lord will give the understanding in

526
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:38,740
all things.

527
00:24:38,820 --> 00:24:41,460
He was inviting Timothy to be someone who

528
00:24:41,460 --> 00:24:43,920
gave time to thinking, wrestling with what he,

529
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:44,800
the apostle, had been saying.

530
00:24:47,550 --> 00:24:50,910
I know of a church in, well, one

531
00:24:50,910 --> 00:24:52,910
or two churches now, in my own country,

532
00:24:52,990 --> 00:24:57,670
Britain, where a group of people share the

533
00:24:57,670 --> 00:24:57,950
preaching.

534
00:25:00,820 --> 00:25:03,880
And they study together, and then one of

535
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:04,360
them will preach.

536
00:25:04,900 --> 00:25:05,900
They meet on a Monday.

537
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,420
They will spend perhaps a couple of hours

538
00:25:08,420 --> 00:25:12,800
in study, hard work Bible study.

539
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,380
One of them will preach then the following

540
00:25:15,380 --> 00:25:15,800
Sunday.

541
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,380
The beginning of the next Monday's session is

542
00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:22,000
an evaluation of how he got on on

543
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:22,260
Sunday.

544
00:25:23,460 --> 00:25:27,620
That can be quite crucifying if the little

545
00:25:27,620 --> 00:25:29,640
group is telling you how you did and

546
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,260
if you made a mess of it and

547
00:25:31,260 --> 00:25:33,000
if the illustrations got out of control and

548
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,300
were too long and if you missed the

549
00:25:34,300 --> 00:25:35,000
crucial point.

550
00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:38,240
But they will actually be gentle because maybe

551
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:39,660
next week they're going to have to preach

552
00:25:39,660 --> 00:25:41,700
and now you're sitting in the group doing

553
00:25:41,700 --> 00:25:42,440
the evaluating.

554
00:25:43,620 --> 00:25:47,980
But that sort of group preparation, the cut

555
00:25:47,980 --> 00:25:50,580
and thrust of study and argument and what

556
00:25:50,580 --> 00:25:53,880
does it really mean and how can that

557
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,820
be buttressed from the rest of Scripture is

558
00:25:55,820 --> 00:25:58,780
very important because it takes away from the

559
00:25:58,780 --> 00:26:02,200
preacher the solo performance dimension, you know.

560
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,600
People stand up and this is my goal.

561
00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:05,840
And look at me.

562
00:26:06,780 --> 00:26:08,160
If you can get into a team of

563
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:08,480
people.

564
00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:10,760
I think we ought to do a lot

565
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,880
more talking about the Bible together and preparing

566
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:14,800
to preach together.

567
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:17,800
I've got in my own home church now

568
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,020
some new developments along these lines.

569
00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:23,720
The entire church has been divided up into

570
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:24,820
small Bible study groups.

571
00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:27,000
I don't get time to go to the

572
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,680
groups very often but I take the leaders

573
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,400
regularly at least once a fortnight and we

574
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,080
will have two, between two and three hours

575
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,520
of Bible study every fortnight and they will

576
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,980
then go and teach what they have been

577
00:26:40,980 --> 00:26:44,160
learning in the debate, the argument, the Bible

578
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:45,400
study together.

579
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,560
And then when we come back we will

580
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,200
share how we're getting on.

581
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,360
I have another young man in the church

582
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,120
who wants to learn to preach and I've

583
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:56,120
told him that Scripture says let not many

584
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:57,980
be teachers but he still seems to want

585
00:26:57,980 --> 00:26:58,420
to do it.

586
00:26:59,540 --> 00:27:02,920
So sometimes when I've got to prepare a

587
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:04,720
message to go somewhere or he has, we

588
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,740
will do some of the preliminary grafting work

589
00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:08,500
together.

590
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:11,560
That has certain advantages.

591
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,620
It means that it broadens the scope of

592
00:27:17,620 --> 00:27:18,720
your material possibly.

593
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,160
It will force you to be clear in

594
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:23,620
your thinking.

595
00:27:25,180 --> 00:27:27,300
It will perhaps help you to be simple

596
00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:28,180
in your style.

597
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,880
Don't be afraid of using other people in

598
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:35,460
your preparation.

599
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,340
I sometimes, I mean even within recent days

600
00:27:39,340 --> 00:27:41,900
I've started to draw Peter into things like

601
00:27:41,900 --> 00:27:42,040
this.

602
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:43,240
I ask him, I say look I've got

603
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,340
to preach in such and such what would

604
00:27:44,340 --> 00:27:44,620
you say?

605
00:27:44,940 --> 00:27:45,900
And he'll give me a few ideas and

606
00:27:45,900 --> 00:27:47,300
then I might ask him one or two

607
00:27:47,300 --> 00:27:49,420
questions back and if we've got time we

608
00:27:49,420 --> 00:27:51,060
could go deeper into it.

609
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,020
Don't, get away from this thing of me

610
00:27:55,020 --> 00:27:56,960
being the sole prophet when I stand up

611
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,140
alone to preach.

612
00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:01,920
Use friends because the act of preparation may

613
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,460
be valuable with them.

614
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,060
Of course you're going to have to do

615
00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:05,760
your own praying.

616
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:07,660
You're going to have to wait on God

617
00:28:07,660 --> 00:28:10,400
so that the thing can sink into your

618
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,940
heart and reach that rightness so that you

619
00:28:12,940 --> 00:28:13,340
can bring it.

620
00:28:13,340 --> 00:28:17,380
But on a team as you get on

621
00:28:17,380 --> 00:28:20,520
in the work look for team preparation.

622
00:28:21,060 --> 00:28:22,380
I have no doubt at all in my

623
00:28:22,380 --> 00:28:24,460
mind that as Paul travelled with Timothy and

624
00:28:24,460 --> 00:28:28,300
Titus Epaphroditus they used to talk about scriptures

625
00:28:28,300 --> 00:28:32,040
together get things ready together and these younger

626
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,620
men would learn from the older.

627
00:28:36,060 --> 00:28:37,600
I have a co-worker in Britain.

628
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,620
He wants to come and work alongside with

629
00:28:41,620 --> 00:28:41,720
me.

630
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,020
We commit ourselves to meeting together to study.

631
00:28:44,540 --> 00:28:46,740
Last year it was John's Gospel as regularly

632
00:28:46,740 --> 00:28:47,260
as we can.

633
00:28:48,100 --> 00:28:50,240
And we're actually preaching John's Gospel but we're

634
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,640
sharpening up each other's messages with our sharing

635
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:54,120
the insights.

636
00:28:55,060 --> 00:28:56,140
Very, very valuable.

637
00:28:57,380 --> 00:28:58,820
So if you find someone else on your

638
00:28:58,820 --> 00:29:00,540
team who's got a burden for a bit

639
00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:01,640
of study like that and a bit of,

640
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,600
maybe you both like to preach work with

641
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:04,820
them.

642
00:29:05,820 --> 00:29:07,400
Get away from this notion that you've got

643
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:08,540
to go and be the prophet go away

644
00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:09,640
off into the desert and get the message

645
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:10,940
and come back all blazed up.

646
00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:15,220
Work together.

647
00:29:16,620 --> 00:29:18,080
Now there was a question, a hand floating.

648
00:29:25,770 --> 00:29:27,550
Yes, I've not been very successful.

649
00:29:27,670 --> 00:29:29,410
The question is am I going to be

650
00:29:29,410 --> 00:29:33,770
touching on evaluation, getting evaluation from others self

651
00:29:33,770 --> 00:29:34,250
-evaluation.

652
00:29:37,910 --> 00:29:40,090
It's always helpful if people do tell you

653
00:29:40,090 --> 00:29:42,910
things so long as they're kind.

654
00:29:45,910 --> 00:29:47,350
A good wife.

655
00:29:49,270 --> 00:29:54,500
My wife can really help me.

656
00:29:55,340 --> 00:29:57,820
Telling me that I'm doing things that are

657
00:29:57,820 --> 00:29:59,860
unhelpful which I'm quite oblivious of.

658
00:29:59,940 --> 00:30:01,040
I mean I get carried away by my

659
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,840
personality and she says, gently that wasn't very

660
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:05,440
good dear.

661
00:30:07,820 --> 00:30:08,180
Psssshhh.

662
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:17,240
I once came down off the platform after

663
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:18,740
I'd been carrying on for about half an

664
00:30:18,740 --> 00:30:21,240
hour this was really hard to take, she

665
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,500
said you used to be so good up

666
00:30:23,500 --> 00:30:24,460
behind the microphone.

667
00:30:27,140 --> 00:30:28,520
I think she was a bit angry with

668
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:29,600
me for one or two other things and

669
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,840
she was using the occasion to get at

670
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,240
me but normally she's much more constructive and

671
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:34,580
helpful.

672
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,340
Marry a good wife I'll talk maybe a

673
00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:38,360
little bit more about that tomorrow.

674
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,780
But you see with itinerant ministry preaching in

675
00:30:44,780 --> 00:30:47,240
different places it's much more difficult to get

676
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,020
evaluation because you're there once or there's just

677
00:30:49,020 --> 00:30:49,820
a weekend, then you go.

678
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,140
If you're regularly in a church John Stoddigan

679
00:30:54,140 --> 00:30:56,540
talks about this in his book he picked

680
00:30:56,540 --> 00:30:58,760
two or three men whom he asked to

681
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,040
help him because they were seeing the fruits

682
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,700
of their own help and they were always

683
00:31:05,700 --> 00:31:05,960
there.

684
00:31:06,140 --> 00:31:06,540
John?

685
00:31:28,670 --> 00:31:32,090
What struggles does one go through when talking

686
00:31:32,090 --> 00:31:33,390
to the people?

687
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,960
There are all kinds of off-putting things.

688
00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:51,020
I had I was with Peter once we

689
00:31:51,020 --> 00:31:52,840
were working together in a college doing a

690
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,940
mission and there was a very strange couple

691
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,340
who it seemed to me had some unusual

692
00:32:01,580 --> 00:32:07,740
even dark evil connections because as I was

693
00:32:07,740 --> 00:32:09,620
trying to explain the gospel to this crowd

694
00:32:09,620 --> 00:32:12,200
in the lecture theatre if ever my eyes

695
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,940
locked with theirs I lost concentration.

696
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,180
It was like a television set being jammed

697
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,620
and I did finish the week believing that

698
00:32:22,620 --> 00:32:26,000
they were being used by the evil one

699
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,960
to try and hinder the work of the

700
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:29,120
week.

701
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,900
And so I simply blocked off in my

702
00:32:33,900 --> 00:32:37,740
looking around that segment of the room and

703
00:32:37,740 --> 00:32:38,940
I just never looked in that corner.

704
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,380
I looked at everyone else but I never

705
00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:44,900
looked up there so that my eyes never

706
00:32:44,900 --> 00:32:46,140
locked with them.

707
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:48,780
And it was interesting Peter was speaking in

708
00:32:48,780 --> 00:32:50,200
the same place a year later or two

709
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,590
years later just three months ago and one

710
00:32:54,590 --> 00:32:56,370
of them was there again and the same

711
00:32:56,370 --> 00:32:56,870
impression.

712
00:32:58,470 --> 00:33:00,250
You can get problems like that.

713
00:33:02,550 --> 00:33:05,370
The funniest experience I ever had of this

714
00:33:05,370 --> 00:33:06,970
kind of thing was standing in India preaching

715
00:33:06,970 --> 00:33:09,790
through a translator some man that the church

716
00:33:09,790 --> 00:33:12,910
had provided because my own translator within OM

717
00:33:12,910 --> 00:33:15,170
was late but he wasn't very late he

718
00:33:15,170 --> 00:33:17,090
arrived about five minutes after we started and

719
00:33:17,090 --> 00:33:17,990
he came and sat in the middle of

720
00:33:17,990 --> 00:33:18,370
the front row.

721
00:33:20,210 --> 00:33:21,610
And I kept looking at his face and

722
00:33:21,610 --> 00:33:29,870
he was like this and I didn't know

723
00:33:29,870 --> 00:33:30,710
what was going on.

724
00:33:30,710 --> 00:33:34,550
I was preaching about three different kinds of

725
00:33:34,550 --> 00:33:37,230
hearts a very simple sort of evangelistic message

726
00:33:37,230 --> 00:33:40,740
and I couldn't understand a word of the

727
00:33:40,740 --> 00:33:42,020
language you see it was Malayalam.

728
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,300
I discovered afterwards that the chap beside me

729
00:33:46,300 --> 00:33:48,780
paid not a shred of attention to my

730
00:33:48,780 --> 00:33:52,820
message he preached his own about politics and

731
00:33:52,820 --> 00:33:53,580
things like that.

732
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,300
And when I stopped he stopped that was

733
00:33:56,300 --> 00:33:56,740
all.

734
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,540
And the translator of course knew that there

735
00:34:00,540 --> 00:34:02,120
was no connection at all between what I

736
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:03,340
was saying and what this chap was saying.

737
00:34:04,300 --> 00:34:05,280
Well that was quite off-putting.

738
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:15,219
I find people yawning and looking sleepy I

739
00:34:15,219 --> 00:34:20,370
find it a challenge I try to conquer

740
00:34:20,370 --> 00:34:21,830
it I usually try to get more lively

741
00:34:22,330 --> 00:34:28,110
sometimes to use humour if I'm not going

742
00:34:28,110 --> 00:34:30,409
to get through then I usually wind up

743
00:34:30,409 --> 00:34:31,870
quickly I give up.

744
00:34:33,270 --> 00:34:34,969
You know, bash on for a while and

745
00:34:34,969 --> 00:34:36,370
if it's evident that we're not getting very

746
00:34:36,370 --> 00:34:38,250
far if they're sleepy because it's been a

747
00:34:38,250 --> 00:34:41,710
night of prayer or some other factor try

748
00:34:41,710 --> 00:34:42,590
and be merciful to them.

749
00:34:43,610 --> 00:34:46,330
I remember Winky Prattney came to an OM

750
00:34:46,330 --> 00:34:48,690
conference some years ago he'd flown in from

751
00:34:48,690 --> 00:34:50,929
the States somewhere we were all terribly tired

752
00:34:50,929 --> 00:34:53,010
it was after the night of prayer we'd

753
00:34:53,010 --> 00:34:54,110
gone, I don't know till three o'clock

754
00:34:54,110 --> 00:34:57,810
in the morning people were pretty exhausted he

755
00:34:57,810 --> 00:35:00,090
was also exhausted he was going to have

756
00:35:00,090 --> 00:35:03,030
the meeting George introduced him he spoke for

757
00:35:03,030 --> 00:35:06,170
two minutes and then stopped and then said

758
00:35:06,170 --> 00:35:08,090
well I'm tired, you're tired why don't we

759
00:35:08,090 --> 00:35:08,450
go to bed?

760
00:35:11,910 --> 00:35:15,050
and the place broke out in rapturous applause

761
00:35:16,770 --> 00:35:19,210
and everybody went to bed and the word

762
00:35:19,210 --> 00:35:21,470
went round that this man is fresh he's

763
00:35:21,470 --> 00:35:25,290
original he's not scared of George and was

764
00:35:27,820 --> 00:35:29,940
there with expectancy the next night which was

765
00:35:29,940 --> 00:35:37,560
tremendous you see original other problems I mean

766
00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:58,000
no quite

767
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:03,480
often when I have felt so it's been

768
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,540
so bad I wanted to flee and the

769
00:36:06,540 --> 00:36:09,840
ground opened up I have on a number

770
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,120
of occasions come off feeling God I'm not

771
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,160
going to preach ever again you're going to

772
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:17,180
have a job persuading me ever to preach

773
00:36:17,180 --> 00:36:22,420
again and then the stories have come of

774
00:36:22,420 --> 00:36:24,760
the blessing I mean it happened this summer

775
00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:28,020
I preached and I felt that was the

776
00:36:28,020 --> 00:36:30,820
worst message that an OM conference has ever

777
00:36:30,820 --> 00:36:33,340
had to endure I said that was excruciating

778
00:36:34,180 --> 00:36:36,500
and Peter Maiden came up to me and

779
00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:38,300
said oh that was powerful you ought to

780
00:36:38,300 --> 00:36:39,400
have made an appeal and got everyone to

781
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,680
stand up I said I don't believe you

782
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,660
my apprehension of it was quite wrong and

783
00:36:47,660 --> 00:36:49,200
I must confess I've had occasions when I

784
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:50,800
thought oh I got them then didn't I

785
00:36:51,700 --> 00:36:53,520
and my wife comes to me with criticism

786
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,540
and I've miscommunicated with someone else and it

787
00:36:56,540 --> 00:36:58,900
hasn't worked and I've said stupid things not

788
00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:02,460
aware of it I once in St Andrews

789
00:37:02,460 --> 00:37:06,260
University in full floods in evangelism said to

790
00:37:06,260 --> 00:37:07,960
become a Christian you don't have to be

791
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:09,860
a nun and live in a monastery you

792
00:37:09,860 --> 00:37:12,020
see I didn't know what I was saying

793
00:37:13,740 --> 00:37:15,480
and people were sort of sniggering all over

794
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,160
the place the thought of this nun living

795
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:23,790
in a monastery I just didn't you know

796
00:37:23,790 --> 00:37:28,090
you sometimes come out of things there are

797
00:37:28,090 --> 00:37:31,070
all sorts of struggles but your your sense

798
00:37:31,070 --> 00:37:32,590
of whether you're getting through or not can

799
00:37:32,590 --> 00:37:38,230
be quite unreliable there are times when I've

800
00:37:38,230 --> 00:37:40,210
known and they've known that God has been

801
00:37:40,210 --> 00:37:47,240
doing something unusual touches of real revival in

802
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:53,110
the meeting you know and I've almost been

803
00:37:53,110 --> 00:38:01,030
shaking times when you feel almost like a

804
00:38:01,030 --> 00:38:09,100
king raining from the pulpit I love them

805
00:38:09,100 --> 00:38:15,880
but they're rare much more often you preach

806
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,960
as best you can the message that you

807
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,900
feel God gave you and you commit it

808
00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:24,240
to him and you know that there are

809
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,900
going to be good and bad reactions and

810
00:38:26,900 --> 00:38:28,340
it doesn't matter anyway because you did your

811
00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:31,760
best that is very very common