sermon

So i decided not to post my sermon but if you would like to read it I will e-mail it to you

My first sermon

Sermon number one has be preached, and I will never have to preach my very first sermon ever again. There will be plenty more firsts that is for sure, but never will it be my very first sermon. It went really well. I would like to say that I wasn't nervous at all, but we all know that just isn't true. A large portion of my family was there so that was very helpful. I started off a little shaking but as it got going I felt more comfortable. It actually felt really really good. At the end I got a standing ovation, which I'm pretty sure was lead by one of my aunts, but it was certainly unexpected.

I think part of my nerves during the week were a concern that I wasn't going to like it. That I would feel awful about preaching. I know it was by no means perfect and that there won't be standing ovations at the end of every sermon. That not everyone will be so supportive, but it still feels good. I still feel like part of God's plan for me involves me preaching. :-) I have to say that I was worried that this was going to be a big wake up call from God saying you are hearing the wrong thing, but I'm pretty sure so far I'm hearing things correctly and I'm really excited about it!

In a few days I'll post my sermon here

Service preparation

This post is going to be short, but I just have to write. My sermon is finally done. It now just has to be practiced. I can't believe I'm preaching in 8 days.

Right now I'm working on the visual presentation (my church has a very cool projection system where we put up the hymns lyrics, prayers, etc with images to go along) and the search for imagines is ridiculous. I'm looking for pictures of people or hands united together and in every single one the "united" people are segregated. In the drawing races are intermixed put in the actual photographs the people are segregated. It's the oddest thing. There was even one web site that was about being inclusive and the white people where in the front and the minorities were in the back. How inclusive is that?

Anyway, back to searching....

Sermon Writing

Well sermon writing has been a very interesting experience. I didn't really know what to expect when I started. Luckily once I got started the ideas just kept coming. It is just a matter of getting into a format/language that the congregation will understand. I don't want to give away to much of my the sermon cause I'm still two weeks away from preaching, there is a big focus on being inviting. Something that I really want to focus my ministry on.

As for preparation for the rest of the service, I never realized how much goes into it. It makes the great church services I've been to even more impressive.

I GOT IN!!!!!!

I GOT INTO DREW!!!!! I am so relieved to finally have and answer. I am on the probation for the first semester,because my undergraduate grades were not shall we say stellar. But I got in. I am so happy!!!!

Thanks for all the support and prayers. Now off to work on my sermon :-)

My generation and the next

I absolutely love reading blogs. Blogs of all kinds, but in particular I like reading what other Methodist blogs have to say. I read the Wesleyblog daily. Honestly Shane is much more conservative in both his theology and his political views then I am, but he does write some really great stuff and he definitely sparks debate. Today he wrote about his frustration on Easter Sunday with the lack of excitement and lack of Christian commitment by youth to Christianity. To be honest, I agree with him. Not so much that I'm frustrated, I'm just really sadden by it.

Like I said before, Michelle, my pastor, gave a great sermon. However, up until that point the congregation was a little lack luster. We had no excitement in the call to worship, no umph in the hymns. Even me. I was so excited for this Easter. Easter has always been my favorite holiday, and this year I thought it would be even more special since I had decided to go into the ministry, but until Michelle preached it didn't really feel like Easter. Where has the excitement in Christianity gone? Where has the excitement in worshiping God gone?

Then we have my generation and seemingly the generations after me who either don't want anything to do with Christianity and/or don't want anything to do with the church. For whatever reason a lot of my friends lately have been saying if they did have a religion they'd be Buddhist. Now, I have nothing against Buddhist, but where is this coming from? Most of them were raised in Christians homes and even went to church as children. Where as a church have we turned so many people off? Left so many people behind? I was almost one of the ones who was turned off. I know it was God who didn't let it happen. God working through other people. My fear is that my generation and possibly the generation after me doesn't even want to see it if God is trying to get to them either personally or through another person.

As I go through this journey of entering the ministry I have to ask myself what are we doing wrong and how can we change it? I pray that God gives us an answer and we listen.

Easter Weekend

Well a weekend that started a little crazy on Friday turned out to be a great weekend. It was a weekend filled with time well spent with my friends and family. I have the most amazing friends and family anyone could ask for. It seems to me each time adds another person to either of those categories in my life, my life becomes even more rich.

Pastor Michelle's Easter message was great. Most of the time when she preaches I think to myself, I'm never going to be that good. I try to remember what everyone tells me: I just have to find my own style. My preaching date has been moved to th 14th. Which is Mother's day. It means reworking my sermon a little, but I still think I'm sticking to the basic premise. My parents still aren't going to be able to make it, but I think the rest of my family will be there.

I never realized how much work went into writing a sermon, and I never realized how much I would enjoy preparing one. Reading different interpretations and looking at how other people presented the same text is really interesting!

I still haven't heard from Drew yet. My feelings on this go up and down. Somedays I know that I just have to wait it out and I will get an answer one way or another, and other days I really want to know! I'm not so worried about not getting in. Not because I definitely think I am but, because I have to remember God is in this. And Michelle and I had a conversation about it last week and she reminded me there will be Nos along the way, but the those nos are really not nows. Plus, I have a couple of backup plans so it will be ok. I'm still hoping though that I won't have to use those backup plans.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my bolg. The goal of my blog is to give you insight to my journey into and through the ministry, and really about my life in general. I'm 23 years old and currently reside in Newtown, CT with my godparents, but next month I will be moving back to my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY
:-). Right now I'm waiting to hear rather or not I have been accepted to Theology school at Drew University and I'm preparing to give my first ever sermon.

I wanted to keep this post short and sweet as I'm sure you will be getting to kmow me as I write ;-)