Sermon Reflection

Well, Sunday was my first sermon and thanks to the two weeks of preparations it went well. My idea for how to approach the scripture came several weeks earlier when I first read through the Lectionary text for the day. I was reading through Mark 4:35-41 and the last phrase jumped out at me, "They were in absolute awe, staggered. 'Who is this, anyway?' they asked. 'Wind and sea at his beck and call!'" I decided that I wanted to write my sermon on "The Awe of Jesus." I then proceeded to not worry about it for a week, or rather the worrying that I did was unproductive brainstorming on how I would make that into a complete sermon. After much thinking, I sat down to actually begin writing the Monday before. After several false starts the words came to me and I hammered out a rough draft between Monday and Tuesday mornings. I ended up using five or six different commentaries, two text books, and three different translations of the Bible in my writings. Most of what I read was not useful for my purposes, but what I did find useful made it into the text. My most important discovery during the process was how completely different it was from doing exegesis in the form of a written paper. I know that I put more thought and effort into the flow that I do in a typical paper and the phrasing was very different. It is such a different median of transmission and one that I am not used to or completely comfortable with that it took much more preparation that a paper or even a regular speech. The real turning point of the week for me was when I received the comments and suggestions from Sarah and Jamie. They were very affirming and positive which gave me a comfort level that I did not previously have. I heard lots of positive responses from church members and have been thinking to myself, "How the heck am I going to follow this one up?" I'm just kidding, I'm not worried about it, but the positive feedback did get me thinking about some of the reading that I have done, and what exactly defines a "good sermon." I think that it must be a combination of many different factors that are different for each individual listening. To be able to please so many people feels like an accomplishment that I hope I can repeat.
For those of you who weren't there and would like a copy just let me know and I can email it to you.
Peace,
Daniel