2000 Sermons, 25 Years - Some Observations (Part 2)

Dean Taylor

Having reached, by the grace of God, the milestone of 25 years of pastoral ministry and 2000+ sermons, I am writing here a few things I have learned along the way. The first post was things I have learned about preaching.

My pastoral ministry has included serving in three different churches over a 25 year period. In the first I served as a youth pastor for 4 years. I served in the second as the senior pastor for 9 1/2 years and have been senior pastor at my current church for 11 1/2 years. Here are some things I have learned about ministry and churches. There are many observations that I could make. These are some that stand out to me, with minimal explanation. Each paragraph is a separate observation, in no particular order.

Discussion

2000 Sermons, 25 Years - Some Observations (Part 1)

Dean Taylor

My filing system shows that I recently preached my 2000th sermon. This year I will complete 25 years of pastoral ministry. Praise God for His grace. I want to write down some of the things I have learned along the way. I think I’ll do it in 3-4 separate posts, including what I have learned about preaching, about ministry and churches, about people, and about God.

Here are some things I have learned about preaching, in no particular order.

Preparing and preaching a sermon is like having a baby. You labor over it for many hours, sometimes right up until the minute you start speaking, and then it is born. If you’ve prepared diligently, something good will come out. It isn’t always pretty, but it has potential.

Discussion

"It seems strange to say that a missing element in much preaching is Jesus Christ and His gospel of grace, but I believe it is so. "

SI Filings

“I have found that I can preach on Christian living, worldliness, the decaying culture, church growth, or a host of other topics and gloss over the power of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection! God has convicted me… that preaching this gospel must be included as the ultimate motive for everything we do and the power behind all we can be for Him.”

Discussion

Should a Pastor Look at Giving Records?

SI Filings

“I can only imagine the kind of business meeting we would have when I suggested that we consider allowing me to review all of our giving records.” SBCVoices

Discussion