I’m preaching this Sunday at Anchor. I’m talking about keys and ownership and Jesus at the home of Simon. Just try to put all of that together.

There was a time when I swore off preaching. I had had occasional occasion to preach, but it’s not something I felt comfortable doing. I’m a seminar guy. I love teaching settings with small groups. I like to get people interacting and to guide discussion. I feel at home in small groups. That’s my genre.

Sometime in the early 1990s, I did a series of seminars during a weekend retreat for a church in Indiana. That was fun. But they also asked me to stick around and preach on Sunday morning. I went long, felt unorganized, didn’t think I was connecting, and told Pam afterwards, “Okay, that’s the last time I preach.” There had also been an unsatisfying experience before that which I no longer recall, no doubt for good reason.

Then in 1998 I got roped into doing a missions-related message at the Colwood UB church in Michigan. It went half-way good. In both services. I wasn’t anxious to do it again…but I wasn’t totally against it.

Then last summer I volunteered to preach one Sunday at Anchor while our pastor was taking courses at Trinity seminary. I spoke on “Lessons from My Cats,” and showed lots of pictures of Jordi and Molly. I kept telling myself, “Think of it as a seminar. It’s not, but it’s a somewhat small group and therefore similar.” And it worked. I enjoyed myself. Which is why I didn’t hesitate to volunteer again this summer. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. But ever in the back of my mind is the thought, “Steve, you’re a seminar guy. Push your luck, and you’ll crash and burn.”

So yeah, I’m real positive about Sunday.