Before starting at Unidos por Cristo, I had only preached three times in a church. Each time I wrote out a full manuscript of what I wanted to say because I wanted to make sure I had the right words and had already wrestled with the Spirit to say the right thing in the right way.
From when I started at UPC June 27 until Sunday, February 6, I wrote out my sermon (in Spanish) for each Sunday and had it proofread almost every single Sunday, especially for vocabulary and verb usage. There were times during my sermon when I'd deviate a little from the manuscript like add another example or intentionally omit a sentence. My husband thought I did a good job preaching from my manuscript without seeming to read it (a skill I've developed simply because I make it a point to make eye contact).
On February 6, I got some feedback from the congregation (beyond the one lay leader who always tells me her opinions): the sermon content is good, but they'd rather hear the Holy Spirit moving than hear the right words come out of my mouth. I needed to make sure I talked about salvation and invited people up to the altar to accept Jesus and pray afterward. They didn't want to hear me read; they wanted to be told the "so what?" - given this Scripture, how then should we live each day?
Sunday, February 13, I gave my testimony of what God has done for me and how I have seen God move in my life. I wrote notes ahead of time and practiced in my head, but at the beginning of my sermon, I took the microphone and stepped in front of the lectern to preach. It went all right. When I got stuck on a vocabulary word or pronunciation, someone helped me out. At the end, I invited folks to come pray at the altar: only one person came up, which happens sometimes.
Sunday, February 20, went better. Again, I wrote out an outline ahead of time and practiced in my head what I felt called to share based on the lectionary readings (Leviticus 19:1-18; Psalm 119:33-40; 1Corinthians 3:10-23; and Matthew 5:38-48). This time I kept the microphone in my hand but stayed behind the lectern - easier to read the appropriate verses in the Bible that way. I don't know that I said everything I'd thought of and I think I repeated myself a couple times, because I didn't know yet what to say next. To begin, I asked them to think of someone who is their enemy, because Jesus talks in the concrete, and then to hear Jesus' words: LOVE that person and pray for them (Matt 5:44). We are the temple of Christ (1Cor 3:16) and there is no room for hatred and bitterness in this temple. You want to know how to live? The list in Leviticus is a good start: don't lie, don't deceive, don't steal, don't swear in God's name, don't slander, don't hate, don't be partial but love everyone. Don't know how to pray for God's help to do that? Try the prayer in Psalm 119:33-40: Lord, teach me, give me understanding, guide me in your paths. Again I sometimes got stuck on a word and someone would help me out. Mostly I stuck to the words and verb tenses in the Scripture passages.
Afterward, I invited folks up the altar to give Jesus their hatreds and bitternesses. I knelt down to pray briefly, as I always do in case no one comes up, and when I looked around, I realized I needed to get up to make more room at the altar rail. As I went around to the other side to pray with each person who came up, I realized I'd never seen it so crowded - the altar rail was FULL. Gloria a Dios!
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