Today there was a funeral for me to officiate. Wanted to say that to anyone hoping that it was mine. It went well as far as I could tell. The family was very gracious to me. Last night was spent pulling thoughts together for my time. Thankfully, God directed me to some verses with thoughts to match. The message was brief and to the point. Guess it was the stereotypical funeral weather with grey skies. It's my honor to do such services for people. Even if there are a limited amount of ideas for funeral messages my hope is to keep them fresh. Sometimes our words do matter. My prayer is that God miraculously takes those words to use them.

This set my mind to more thinking on the subject of sermons. Since this is my time to finish up my preparation for tomorrow it will be wise to keep this short. Every preacher that you hear is wired differently. There is no one right method to sermon delivery. Some guys are able to sweat, scream and still get the message across. Some guys are quieter while almost reading their words. Some preachers tell lots of stories in their sermon. There are some preachers that are almost like seminary professors in how they get the message across. Just remember that like the different approaches to preaching there are various ways we prefer to hear sermons.

You may like being screamed at while the preacher pounces around the platform. You may enjoy hearing a story teller who mesmerizes you. You may even want the deep, theological preaching. Again, there is no one wrong or right way to approach this. But let me encourage you to just let your preacher be himself. He will best do God's work by using his gifts or talents. If your preacher is not quite your cup of tea then ask God to give you the "ears to hear." My first preacher was not powerful or eloquent in his sermons. My next preacher was dynamic. He still preaches all over the country. Both spoke from the heart. Both used their gifts to speak to us each week. It isn't about style. It's about being open to God.

Tomorrow just let your heart open wide to what is said. Listen to both the words as well as the application to your life. God speaks to your preacher. Let Him speak to you.

Bro. Trey