One of my students preaching for the first time
As a missionary I get asked to preach quite frequently when I go to visit a church. In the past I used to accept these invitations to preach to encourage the church members. However, these days I almost always politely refuse. I would rather help the members themselves develop their own preaching or give an opportunity for my students to be trained in their preaching. I don't know how long God will have us serving in Thailand, but when that day comes, I don't think any of the sermons I preached will have as much effect as the training I provided to others.
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2 comments:
Hi Rich,
I agree that it is great to give students and others an opportunity to develop their preaching skills instead of doing it yourself, but don't you think that they need to see a good model of preaching? On the one hand, the missionary can't be doing all the preaching, but on the other hand, don't we need to do at least some preaching in order to provide an example of the kind of preaching that we are trying to teach them?
Hi Karl, I agree that it is good to give them a model of good preaching. However, my experience has been that missionaries and pastors don't know when to stop modelling and train others. Also, if your preaching is modelled at a level they can never attain, then it discourages them, "I could never preach like that missionary or pastor so why should I embarrass myself trying". Good modelling without subsequent opportunities and training doesn't serve the church. People won't start most of the time unless they see you are serious about them doing it.
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