Wednesday’s Verse:
From Acts 20:9 ESV
And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.
I made a promise to myself during seminary that when I made it into the pulpit as a pastor, none of my sermons would EVER go close to 20 minutes. Why? Because if I can’t say what I want to say in 12 minutes or less, then I can’t say it and should start over and write a new sermon. I never envisioned being Paul, a great orator who, on one occasion, preached so long that a man sitting on a windowsill fell asleep and dropped three stories down to the ground.
That would not be a good reputation to have - “He preached so long, he almost killed a guy.”
While the words of Acts 20 could bring laughter that Paul lost the audience during his sermon, allowing the man to fall asleep, it tells us something, doesn’t it? Even the greatest preachers can lose an audience. Whether preaching a 12-minute sermon or a 25-minute sermon, a congregation can get tired.
That is why praying that pastors' weekend messages hit home with the congregation is a nice prayer to bring to God. I know that sometimes my messages get lost in the stories I tell or the theology that I’m trying to explain. All Lutheran messages are to be grounded in the grace of God, the importance of seeing our sinfulness, and holding onto the forgiveness won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.
So today, during Pastor’s Appreciation Month, take a moment and pray for your pastor. May his messages touch your heart with the love of God.
Today’s Prayers
Merciful Father, bless the pastors of Your church. May they preach Your Word truthfully, grounded in Your Son, Jesus Christ. In Your Son’s name I pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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