My first time Preaching...

Well the Lord allowed me to get behind the sacred desk to preach during a regular church service. I had other opportunities in the past like, King's Kids each Wed. Night at our church and VBS nightly. The last night of which we had well over one hundred people in attendance. I was pretty nervous!!!

This was different. This was primarily my brothers and sisters who I sit in the pews with. It was thrilling. It was something that I never will forget!!! Most of all it was short!

Two things I noticed about this opportunity; one is the preparation. You can never prepare enough. I studied and studied. Went over it in my head fifty plus times. I went to church early just to preach the sermon to the empty pews. Through all this I was concerned that I would be WAAAY to long. I felt I would be hard pressed to fit it all in an hour. Once I got up there it was a different story. I finished in 24 minutes! I guess time slows down when you are having fun.

The second thing I noticed was how much the other preachers I have listened to affected the sermon. I listen to a lot of sermons, and I mean a lot. My favorite is my preacher, Ken Whitt. That is how it should be. If your preacher at your local church is not your favorite, then you should figure out why he is not your favorite. The preacher I have listened to the most over the years is James Knox of BBC Deland,FL. After listening to my self I could pick out a lot that I got from him.

I thank God though, for putting plenty of fine preachers that I can learn from in my path to help me grow in Him. Folks, there is plenty of good preaching out there, they are just to many luke warm "Christians" who don't want to listen.

If you are interested in listening to my first sermon go to:
http://www.biblepreachingarchives.org/William%20Caudle/
I still have not got up the nerve to post it to my site as of yet, but I haven't ruled it out either.

Pray for us as we endeavor to train our children in the things of the Lord, and that God would bless my wife and I with the strength we need to serve Him!

ybiC, William