But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God, and not from us.

2 Corinthians 4:7

There is nothing in my life that humbles me more than preaching the word of God. How anyone can preach before others week-in and week-out and not feel ill-equipped and insufficient in the work is beyond me. I have read about and even met some cocky preachers, yet it seems to me one of the great oxymorons in human experience. “Proud” and “preacher” simply do not go hand-in-hand.

Every week in the pulpit is a new opportunity for me to be humbled. I say some things I wish I had said differently. I forget points I want to make and occasionally find myself expounding on points that I never meant to expound upon. At times these realities can be attributed to the work of the Spirit, and in other instances to the work of a mind that needs to be trained more diligently. Sometimes I preach out of a dry spirit and sometimes out of a full spirit, but either way, it never seems to be a perfect indicator of how the message will be received. What I occasionally feel are my best prepared sermons prove to be less than effective and do not drive home to the listener the application I hoped they would receive. Sermons that I would like to immediately assign to the trash are met with emails telling me how God used them to change a life. Preaching is unpredictable and sometimes uneventful. It is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. It wears me out like almost nothing else I do, yet fills me up like almost nothing else can.

For some reason, in God’s economy, even in the 21st century, preaching is the primary means by which people hear the gospel, are challenged by the Scriptures, and are confronted by both the seriousness of their sin and the absolute sufficiency of God’s grace. It is not the only means God utilizes to get ahold of people, but it can at times be the most effective.

My preaching/teaching causes some to come to LifePoint and some to leave. Some like it, and some tolerate it. Some wonder why I’m not on the radio, and some wonder why I gave up a good career in higher education. I cannot speak for any other pastor, including Pastors Nate, Tony, and Matt (our other preaching pastors), but I assume it is very similar for them. As talented as Pastor David is, some find they like his worship style and some do not. Some rave about our Children’s Ministry under Mary’s leadership, and some wonder when she will be stepping down. Pastors AJ and Jared work extremely hard to minister to our students—and doing so is a very time-consuming task. They both have their fans and their detractors. All these concepts can be extended to virtually every staff member at LifePoint. By God’s grace, the vast majority are pleased with our ministries, but we would all be naive to believe that everyone loves everything we do. As the apostle Paul lamented about his own ministry: “Who is equal to such a task?” (2 Cor. 2:16)

Why am I telling you all of this? I tell you this so that you can be praying for us and the lay elders, deacons, and support staff around us. If God’s work is going to flourish at LifePoint, we need God to be the only one worthy to receive the praise. We need to be weak so that he can be strong. We need to let God be God so that those who come will say, “God is truly among you” (1 Cor. 14:25)!

Will you commit to praying for the leadership at LifePoint Church? I will speak for the others on this matter and say, “We need it,” and “Thank you!”

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jym

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