Preach the Word.

Last night my Pastor called and told me he was sick and was thinking he may not be able to preach on Sunday. I told him I could get something ready to preach if he was not better by then. 2 Timothy 4:2 came to my mind after our conversation.

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)

As a preacher of the gospel I should always have a message ready to share whenever the opportunity arises. I immediately started going through my sermon files to see what I could preach . My eyes quickly went to a sermon I had first preached over 25 years ago! I then remembered that it was the sermon I had preached as part of my ordination service on Mother's Day, 1982. Now I have revised, updated, and added to it several times over the years, but the outline is still very similar to the one I used in 1982. My Pastor e-mailed me this morning and told me he thought it best that I preach tomorrow. Although I wish Pastor could preach tomorrow, I look forward to the opportunity to "Preach the Word"!