Yesterday morning's scheduled guests did not show...
Maybe they had car trouble? This particular group comes from a church in New York City. It's more than a two-hour trip to the prison. But in their absence, I was asked to give the sermon.
The Lord came to my rescue, however. That He bailed me out would be a better way to put it. This is because I wasn't prepared at all.
After the inmate pastor realized that our guests weren't coming, he turned to me and said, "Dave, I need you to preach." I was nervous. So I immediately began to pray, "Lord, help!" He did.
Desperate for a message to give the congregation, I quickly began to thumb through the pages of my Bible. But when my eyes settled upon the apostle Peter's first letter to the church, it was as if the Holy Spirit said, "Right here!"
By this time I had about ten minutes to get ready to preach. I ended up giving a simple sermon from the second and third chapters of Peter's letter on the importance of maintaining good behavior and conduct if we are declaring ourselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It was a message I'd given many times before. How we have a tremendous responsibility to display to the world the reality of our conversion. They need to see it, not just hear about it.
D.B.
The Lord came to my rescue, however. That He bailed me out would be a better way to put it. This is because I wasn't prepared at all.
After the inmate pastor realized that our guests weren't coming, he turned to me and said, "Dave, I need you to preach." I was nervous. So I immediately began to pray, "Lord, help!" He did.
Desperate for a message to give the congregation, I quickly began to thumb through the pages of my Bible. But when my eyes settled upon the apostle Peter's first letter to the church, it was as if the Holy Spirit said, "Right here!"
By this time I had about ten minutes to get ready to preach. I ended up giving a simple sermon from the second and third chapters of Peter's letter on the importance of maintaining good behavior and conduct if we are declaring ourselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It was a message I'd given many times before. How we have a tremendous responsibility to display to the world the reality of our conversion. They need to see it, not just hear about it.
D.B.
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