Let me clue you in on a secret that not many ministers will tell you.  We also have the occasional Sunday when we have a tough time getting it all together.  Some of this may be due to a hectic week where the preparation doesn't come together.  We may even have personal issues lurking behind the scenes that drain us of our fire.  There are even the times when conflict, problems and other stuff just leave us feeling down about church.  Our hope is you will not notice those experiences.  Part of being professional in this job is not allowing the negative to influence us too much.  It is obvious that we are more successful on some Sundays than others.  How we develop a stubborn streak can be as significant as any other theological training. 

Today wasn't quite one of those days for me.  Even the hectic pace of last week didn't stop me from being ready.  Now it may be there was room to prepare more but I still got my study done.  Events that happen in other places now seem local with cable news along with the Internet.  A bombing in Boston now seems local especially when it dominates the news.  Explosions in central Texas now become immediate with our access to information.  My guess is such disasters weave their way into sermons across the country today.  I didn't talk directly about these events but it did serve as illustration or story.  Perhaps something said here today was helpful to someone.  But it is also true that I had help today.

My youngest was a huge help during our service.  He decided to go with me today mostly due to us eating lunch after church.  He did not mind at all digging into the meal we had at church.  I asked him to come up during our welcome time.  He talked and helped me read announcements.  We put on our comedy show as I set him up for the punch line.  No minister could ask for a better assistant than him.  There was no way my day would go bad after that.  My gratitude goes to those who allowed us to do our thing this morning.  It did indeed make my day.

Not every week in church is almost heaven.  Most weeks can seem routine to be honest.  What we have to discover is how God speaks even on a casual day.  He can talk to us through the songs we sing and hear.  He speaks to us through His word being taught.  He relates to us what we need to know as we reflect on Him.  My encouragement today came through an autistic teenager who shows me more than I could imagine possible.  Don't limit God on how He talks to you.  Just be sure you are listening when He does.

Bro. Trey