Yesterday, as we continued to explore a very critical spiritual disciple that we call Going on a God Hunt—learning how to look for evidences of God making His presence known in our everyday worlds—we looked for evidence of God giving us help to do His work in this world. I began giving you a more contemporary illustration from a 1991 issue of the Leadership Journal. It was written by Arlin Schrock. He is telling the story of a school counselor faced with a student who needs help. If you missed yesterday’s blog post, I suggest you scroll down and read it before going any further
“You like to fish?”
“Love it.”
“Really?” Thank you, Lord. “Been fishing lately?”
“Naw, not since we moved to town. But when I was a kid, we lived next to the Tensaw River, and I used to go every chance I got. It’s better to go when the water is high, where you can use a boat and set a trout line overnight. Most of the time I caught catfish that way, and once I caught a fifteen pounder. But if the water is down, you wanna go for bream or bass that hang out around the stumps—course, you hafta know what you’re doing ‘cause the water is hot and the fish are sluggish …
On he went for ten minutes and wasn’t even winding down when I interrupted, “It’s been a while since I’ve hung a fish myself. I’ve got a good mind to fool some catfish in the morning. Would you go with me?”
“Are you serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack.”
“I’ll go. What time?”
“Let’s make it seven-thirty, unless that’s too early.”
“Not for me. I’ll buy the wrigglers.”
The next day, we threw the little ones back and kept seven. The net scales tipped seventeen pounds. Jeremy was beaming.
“I’ll clean ‘em for you,” he said.
He cleaned the first one, and I the next, tentatively curling my fingers around those dreadful spines.“Sometime we should go hunting together,” he offered.
Who would have guessed—all this prompted by a picture on a wall calendar! And just two weeks earlier or later, that picture would not have been there.
I knew a Fisherman bigger than both of us was maneuvering the boat.
Help to do God’s work in the world. Do you think God was helping the counselor make a connection with Jeremy? I do.
Tomorrow, I will take a break and give pastors one of my “Preaching Tips.” But, I urge you to come back on Thursday, as I continue to explore this critical spiritual discipline of looking for God’s hand on our everyday lives.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
