I'm sitting out back today enjoying some 70-degree North Texas weather. It doesn't come every day, so I'm chillaxin' on the back porch with a cup of coffee and a book, enjoying it as long as I can.
College football starts today. I'm trying as hard as I can not to get swept up in football fever this year, so I spend more time outside and hanging with the family on days off rather than cooped up in front of the TV. Maybe I will catch a few games as I come in and out of the house.
I preach my first sermon tomorrow at Grace Presbyterian Church, Plano, TX. Kind of nervous and relaxed all at the same time. It's been about 2 months since I preached my last sermon, and of course I want to get off to a good start in the pulpit at Grace. I'm preaching on the healing of the royal official's son, starting in the last part of John 4. In the message, I wrestle with how the royal official was able to take Jesus "at his word" and believe that he would heal his son. This is hard for us, to say the least. We have a lot of baggage about previous prayer requests that have gone "unanswered," and I think we are very gun-shy about taking Jesus at his word today. I will share some of my prayer "busts" -- prayers that I poured my heart and soul into, prayers in which I have taken Jesus at his word, and prayers that have come up "empty."
How do we get the courage to walk again into the realm of openness to the miraculous, brought about by the grace of God and our prayers?
These are some of the things I will explore and challenge us to wrestle with.
Other than that, I will just be stone-cold chillin' today with the family, and an occasional trip to the TV for Alabama and Penn State football updates.
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