Without Notes...

That is how I had to preach yesterday for my Preaching Lab class. Let me also add that this is really the first time I've preached a message without the use of notes in front of me. For those of you who have never done it, let me just say it is quite a scary experience.

One of my struggles in life is memorization. That is by far the main reason why learning Greek is so difficult. I can't stand having to take a test that is based on total recall (and no, I'm not refering to the movie). I've been off and on throughout the past twelve years memorizing Scripture verses with their addresses. More times than not I'm like, "There is a verse that says so and so (I remember what it says), but I can't remember where it is." I'm gradually improving because I've been practicing that discipline more.

Let me get back to preaching without notes. Once I started the sermon, the rest flowed quite nicely. There were certain things that I wanted to say, but somehow they were omitted from my memory at that critical point in my class experience. Regardless, the sermon got mostly good reviews from my classmates, and my professor, Dr. Steven Smith (highly recommended), gave me a B+. I'm definately not going to argue with that grade.

While a scary experience, I also feel it was an extremely helpful one. Now I know the two or three aspects that I really need to work on, like trying not to pace back and forth or making the introduction stronger. Perhaps one day I will post the sermon, but I want to develop it some more first.

I would like to thank those who have recently prayed for me and encouraged me. You are deeply appreciated!