Unexpected Blessings

Sometimes being a pastor is interesting.  Indulge me a moment as a share a short story and what I learned from it.

I am generally not a very techie person.  And so when I came across a video I thought was awesome I knew I wanted to use it in a sermon.  I checked it with my wife to see if she liked it and she did and so I was ready to use it.  I emailed it to our media desk and double checked Sunday morning to make sure they had it and even had the sound guy make sure he could hear the sound.  I had thought about this moment for at least a week and was so excited about what people would think on the first Sunday of a new year about my new media-savvy sermon. 

I think at some point I became hopeful that the media instead of the Word of God would do some good.  After all, it was Piper speaking and He and His ministry always do such a good job.  And then I built up to the video in the sermon and sat down to watch. 

The video played and you could hear the music, but you could not hear the words of John Piper to save your life.  The sound was terrible.  And the point of it all was lost because you could not hear the voice behind it!  And that was the conclusion of the sermon.  And so the conclusion became lost in a failed attempt at media-savvy. 

As I dwelt on this later I realized that I had lost myself in the attempt.  I had lost sight of the truth that the power is in the Word of God, not in our attempts to make it relevant or snappy.  I had grown fascinated by my own attempt at personal growth and development and forgotten that if something is going to change the hearts of the people to whom I preach it is going to be the Spirit of God and His Word. 

I share this lesson because I think that all of us at some point lose sight of what is really important and trust in something less than the perfect work of God.  Be encouraged by the fact you are not alone and let us work together to trust the hand of God that much more.