Each week I spend about 16 hours
on sermon preparation - two hours each on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
evenings (Wednesdays are usually reserved for my mid-week bible study group
meetings) and eight hours on Saturday mornings. The first two days are usually
spent reading, understanding and most importantly, memorising the
passage. I open up a Google Doc document and type out each verse, line by line
and then try to memorise it word for word in the NIV (which is the version my
church uses). In the mornings, on my way to work, I will read the ESV version
on my Kindle. This really helps me to look out for differences in the textual
translations and formulate questions I might have on the text.
Digging deep
In past months when speaking from
the New Testament, I would also have done some language work, and time
permitting, have memorised at least the key verses in Greek. This hasn’t been
possible with my current series through Isaiah. Not only is the genre new to me (rhythmic prose, oracular speech) but also
because my Hebrew is pretty rubbish. I am having to rely on an Interlinear
Bible for now, but will resolve to put aside time to do some memory work and
build up my vocabulary. I have long since learned that knowing the actual
material well means I am able to meditate on it and understand for myself
first, to let it sink in, before attempting to teach others. This translates
into confidence in God's word and application of his truth in my personal walk with Jesus. Added bonus: It allows me to look out for illustrations from everyday occurences!
Getting ready
Things really start to pick up
only from Thursday onwards. That’s today, which I call, Day One.
By today, I want to have either a draft overall outline of the passage or/and
have composed an introduction to the message (which I often scrap by Saturday
morning). This doesn’t always happen but I still try (you can see below, what I
scribbled down as my initial thoughts). My bible study was postponed last
night, so I got a chance to read the commentary (J Oswalt, NICOT - Very
helpful, though I wish I had my copy of Barry Webb’s BST) on this passage. To
be honest, not much of it sunk in (not surprising, as I was still trying to
learn the passage), so I taped myself reading it aloud and listened to it again
on my iPod on the way back from work (lots of buzzing in the background). Will
listen to it again tomorrow.
I think I’ve spent enough time on
this blog post, so will leave you with my diary for this evening. Over the next
couple of days, I will post up my progress as God willing, he guides me in
preparing to speak from his word. Do pray for me.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
●
0800 - Woke up
●
0900 - Work
●
1800 - Dinner with friend
●
1945 - Home
●
2000 - Read Isaiah 2 aloud. Recorded MP3 for playback
tomorrow for bus journey.
●
2100 - Watched Olympics on TV (Usain Bolt won the 200m
sprint!)
●
2140 - Ready for bed
●
2205 - Basic outline of passage
○
The Mountain of the LORD
■Many nations streaming to God’s temple
■Illustration: Crowds at Olympic stadium
○
The house of Jacob
■Filled with idols of the nations
■Filled will wealth (symbolic of pride)
■Illustration: trophy stand, sports cars, bling,
degrees - symbols of achievement
○
The Day of the LORD
■God shows up; shakes things up (the earth)
■Man flees
■Idols are thrown away (they can’t help when the real
thing is here)
■Don’t trust in man (idolatry is a reflection of man’s
faith in his own strength/ability)
○
The fulfilment
■Hebrews 12:22ff - You have come to Mount Zion... you
have come to thousands of angels in joyful gathering.... You have come to
God... to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant
■Began with Jesus
■Seen today in the church - we are the nations
○
But the Day will come
■God will show up
●
2220 - Prayed for wisdom, understanding and God’s help
to prepare.
●
2230 - Wrote this blog entry
●
2330 - Devotional and prayer
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