{"id":1410,"date":"2020-05-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/what-if-i-preach-a-bad-sermon\/"},"modified":"2020-05-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T04:00:00","slug":"what-if-i-preach-a-bad-sermon","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/what-if-i-preach-a-bad-sermon\/","title":{"rendered":"What if I Preach a Bad Sermon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every preacher has preached a bad sermon.\u00a0 If you think you haven\u2019t, then you\u2019ve probably preached a bunch<\/u> of bad sermons!<\/p>\n

It will happen to all of us.\u00a0 Sometimes it won\u2019t just be bad, but a disaster!\u00a0 When a sermon doesn\u2019t go well, most of us get very discouraged \u2014 and if the despair is great enough, we might question whether we should keep preaching at all.<\/p>\n

But I bet no one can top the disaster of John Newton\u2019s first sermon, as he described it to a friend in a letter he wrote the next day:<\/p>\n

I set off tolerably well, though with no small fear and trembling \u2026. Before I had spoken 10 minutes I was stopped like Hannibal upon the Alps. My ideas forsook me; darkness and confusion filled up their place. I stood on\u00a0a precipice and could not advance a step forward. I stared at the people and they at me. Not a word more could I speak but was forced to come down and leave\u00a0the people, some smiling, some weeping. My pride and self-sufficiency were\u00a0solely mortified.<\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine if John Newton, one of the most celebrated pastors, preachers, hymn composers,\u00a0and letter writers in the past 4oo years, took that one bad sermon as proof that he should not preach? How tragic would that have been?\u00a0Most of our first sermons were bad, and most\u00a0pastors \u201clay eggs,\u201d even after years of preaching.\u00a0 But take heart! Our Sovereign God doesn\u2019t\u00a0use perfect preachers and sermons, but imperfect, broken, jars of clay to proclaim His perfect word \u2014 and the Spirit uniquely works\u00a0through this design.<\/p>\n

So, if you preached a bad sermon recently, welcome to the club! God\u2019s mercies are new every morning \u2014 and that includes your preaching ministry.\u00a0Embrace your brokenness and need to grow.\u00a0Trust that you have not ruined your church because of one bad sermon (or several for that matter).\u00a0 Allow the grace of God in Christ to pick you back up and help you saddle up for next Sunday.\u00a0God used John Newton in amazing ways, despite this terrible experience\u00a0,and he will continue to use you in your ministry.<\/p>\n

If you are just testing your gifts to preach, embrace any opportunity you get to preach and listen to feedback from others.\u00a0Even if it is hard to hear, God will use that to help you grow.<\/p>\n

Newton didn\u2019t allow a really bad sermon to cause him to give up.\u00a0 Nor should you.<\/p>\n

This post originally appeared on Practical Shepherding\u2019s blog.<\/a><\/em>,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every preacher has preached a bad sermon.\u00a0 If you think you haven\u2019t, then you\u2019ve probably preached …<\/p>\n

What if I Preach a Bad Sermon?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1411,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[53],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-1410","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-replanting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat if I Preach a Bad Sermon? - Church Replanting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/what-if-i-preach-a-bad-sermon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What if I Preach a Bad Sermon?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every preacher has preached a bad sermon.\u00a0 If you think you haven\u2019t, then you\u2019ve probably preached … What if I Preach a Bad Sermon? 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