I just wrote a sermon for NaNo 8D
20442/36674/50000
“If you feel like you are wandering, don't lose hope. You're certainly not alone, in any sense of the word. If you feel that your freedom was not worth the work or wait endured to gain it, look to the hills and remember where your help comes from. Remember Who has freed you, Who has redeemed you, and remember that you were not freed for nothing. There are lessons to be learned, there is growing to be done. When you need reprieve, call on the Lord your God, and He will lead you to an oasis and feed you with manna until you are strong enough to continue.
“There is a goal. 'Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' There is a goal,” Pastor Carson repeated. “The desert does not stretch on forever. Let us pray.”
And we prayed, with eyes closed and heads bowed, while the pastor led us aloud.
The prayer was followed by more singing, so upbeat in its tempo that it seemed almost inappropriate after the somber hopefulness of the pastor's message. Nevertheless, the congregation sang and clapped and swayed, and I wondered if the cause for their celebration was freedom.
“If you feel like you are wandering, don't lose hope. You're certainly not alone, in any sense of the word. If you feel that your freedom was not worth the work or wait endured to gain it, look to the hills and remember where your help comes from. Remember Who has freed you, Who has redeemed you, and remember that you were not freed for nothing. There are lessons to be learned, there is growing to be done. When you need reprieve, call on the Lord your God, and He will lead you to an oasis and feed you with manna until you are strong enough to continue.
“There is a goal. 'Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' There is a goal,” Pastor Carson repeated. “The desert does not stretch on forever. Let us pray.”
And we prayed, with eyes closed and heads bowed, while the pastor led us aloud.
The prayer was followed by more singing, so upbeat in its tempo that it seemed almost inappropriate after the somber hopefulness of the pastor's message. Nevertheless, the congregation sang and clapped and swayed, and I wondered if the cause for their celebration was freedom.