Sermon Writing....I'm exhausted!

         I preached in Spanish on Sunday, June 9.  This was be my first time preaching to an all immigrant congregation, and an all Spanish-speaking one at that.  My first Spanish sermon is quite a landmark on my personal, professional, and spiritual journey. 

        A few things I discovered last week: it is soooo hard to write a sermon in one’s second language!! Yikes!  Now I may understand a bit better how difficult it is for 2^nd language speaker & writer to compose a written document, paper, letter, etc. in Spanish!  It takes so much brain power to write in a second language that after even just 30 minutes of sermon-writing in Spanish, I was mentally exhausted!  But what a great exercise this is for me! 

        Another part of my pastoral identity I’m starting to embrace with more open arms than arms crossed over my chest in self-defense….(drum roll please)…sermon writing!  It’s actually kinda nice doing the deep digging into the text.  It’s a fabulous spirit discipline that I wish I made time for more often.  Maybe that will become a weekly goal of mine, just to spend 30 min-1 hour with a scripture passage, making notes, questions, comments, reading commentaries, etc.  Just to learn more & grow closer to God!  I enjoy preparing what God puts on my heart to share with the congregation, a particular part of the body of Christ who needs a specific word from the Triune God.

More to come on how the sermon went!