Theology

the·ol·o·gy: the study of God; to think in an ordered manner about God and related issues; the application of the scientific method to God and/or spiritual issues.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

A New Year...Getting Started


Who am I?

My name is Jon Herrin and I am a United Methodist minister. I began serving God's Church when I was in my 20's, back in the early 1990's. After several years as a 'part-time local' pastor, I completed the requirements for ordination and in 2005 I was ordained an 'Elder in Full-Connection' in the United Methodist Church – North Georgia Conference.

After serving the US church for 12 years, my family and I moved to Venezuela to help with the birthing of the Methodist movement there...and then to Mexico to train pastors and leaders for the well-established Methodist Church of Mexico (Iglesia Metodista de Mexico).

In the summer of 2011, we moved back to the US...sort of! We located in the border city of McAllen, Texas, where we live and work in the community...and from where we travel back as able into northern Mexico to help in ministries we were involved in when we lived there.

While I have often wrestled with what it means to be an ordained minister in the UMC, I have determined to remain in this dynamic, growing movement of God's people. God has called me to be a instrument of His grace through teaching and preaching of the Word, administering the Sacraments, providing leadership and order for God's Church, and serving all People in the name of God.

While all four of the pastoral responsibilities mentioned above remain very important, this blog focuses on the teaching and preaching of the Scriptures.


Presuppositions:

The sermon-time in the local church is the most important moment of the week.
The sermon-time is when most parishioners are together; this is one block of time when the preacher/teacher has the attention of the people; because more people are present and are giving most attention, more pastoral care can take place at this time than any other. Because of this, sermon preparation is the most important part of pastor's week. One Saturday evening, I was with a young pastor in Venezuela and I asked him, “So, what are you preaching about tomorrow?” He looked at me for a moment and then responded, “I'm thinking I'll do something about God's love....” Really? On Saturday night? If we really and truly take seriously our call to proclaim the Good News of God, we cannot be scrambling on a Saturday night to find a sermon. Oh, I've been there on a very few occasions. But, my habit and practice is to begin sermon preparation on Tuesday morning. I work hard for five days on my sermon...because the sermon-time is the most important time for the church each week.

Time in Scripture is Primary
If we are going to preach and teach the Bible, we better be IN those words day after day, week after week.
Some pastors and teachers will read through a book of the Bible and allow that book to teach, guide and shape their lives.
Some pastors will follow the RevisedCommon Lectionary or some other guide and will allow those readings to teach, guide and shape their lives.
Some may employ a combination of personal Scripture readings with lectionary readings. My own practice is to follow the Revised Common Lectionary during the special times of the Church Year (Advent, Christmas, Holy Week—Easter, Pentecost Sunday) and then follow personal readings during other times of the year.

The Text Determines the Sermon
Too often, preachers get ideas...and then go find a bunch of verses or pieces of verses to support their own ideas. Not good. We should allow the Text to guide us in the direction we should go...we should allow God's 'living Word' to actually live and guide our preaching.
Because of this, you'll find that I am a proponent of 'expository' preaching—I focus on one primary passage of Scripture, unpack that passage and discover the application of that passage to our lives and situations.

Preaching IS a Response
While there is a resurgence of the idea that we should “preach for response,” I believe that we should preach AS a response. A study of the Book of Acts will reveal that in almost every instance of preaching the preacher is responding to a situation or issue or emergency. Since Acts remains the 'Book of the Church,' I believe the pattern is set there that our teaching and preaching should respond to the real and perceived needs of the faith community.

If we can accept the absolute importance of the sermon, if we spend time in Scripture daily, if we allow the Bible to speak to us and to guide us, and if we realize that our sermons need to help people to respond to the very real situations of their lives—civic, moral, spiritual, then I believe we will have effective sermons that reveal that we are channels of God's love and grace for the people we serve.

In this blog, I invite you to journey with me each week as I develop sermons that speak to the lives and situations of those around us. I invite you to read and to respond along the way. Each week, I'll begin a sermon and edit it throughout the week. You may take anything you wish from what I write or from whatever is shared here. It's all here for you, for you to use and to share. Enjoy!

(I will attempt to parallel this blog with my Spanish-language blog: Teologia Practica)