“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
- Luke 12:11-12
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
- Matthew 10:19-20
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
- Mark 13:11
A few Sundays ago, I was listening to a sermon that was part of a seven-sermon series on Bible Stories from Genesis. It was very good since looking at the old stories from an adult perspective, you might not get the same ideas about the story that you received in Sunday school when you were five or six years old.
I started thinking about how this particular pastor loves a themed series of sermons.
I could not blame him. At the present time, with 13 and a half posts each week, there are basically only two that are not series, usually four but I am using the book by Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses that Made America, twice each week, at least for a while.
To explain the half post per week, I am doing a Bible study on the Gospels, done Chronologically, but that is every other week.
I have written about God inspiring me, but when I am thinking of a non-series topic, I might spend half the day praying about what I should write. That cuts into my writing time a bit.
So, I can understand how the pastor feels about these mini-series. He can go five to ten Sundays in a row and he can immediately start putting the sermon together instead of praying for an idea on what to speak about.
Jesus promises that when accused, we will have the Holy Spirit there to give us the right words to say. My wife and I both experienced that. But the key in those promises is that the enemy makes the accusation and then God helps us with the answer. And to clarify, my wife was calming down the mother of a troubled child while working as a teacher’s aid at an elementary school. I was calming down an irate local contractor who thought he should be the skills training supplier for a NASA site that was being built. Neither one of us were being dragged into court on a false accusation.
But in writing a blog or preaching a sermon, there is no accuser sitting there accusing us of something that we must defend. We have to provide that impetus or do a lot of praying. At present, I have a list of things that I might use in those non-series time slots. But sometimes, my ideas fall flat before I start writing.
And it seems that if my mini-series is well-liked, I get a lot more comments and likes. Writing about quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Corrie ten Boom seem to be the most enjoyed mini-series.
Presently, I have the following schedule:
Sunday morning: Stinker’s Sunday school Class – presently looking at seeing Jesus in every book of the Bible. The members of the class are fictional, but the Bible Study is real.
Evening – Dorothy L. Sayers, seeing aspects of the Christian life in her writings (just a few weeks left)
Monday morning: Chronological Gospel Bible study – Every other week
Evening – presently 100 Bible Verses
Tuesday morning: Philosophy Discussion, presently looking at John Calvin Aphorisms
Evening – non-series topics, often Old Songs
Wednesday morning: A Short Story, main focus is Deviled Yeggs Mysteries, Pink Lady Projects, and an occasional Pauline Niblick Misadventure or Jemima and Easter Yeggs Adventure
Evening – Vespers Service, presently going through the Heidelberg Catechism
Thursday morning: Bible studies, presently in the Minor Prophets
Evening – presently 100 Bible Verses
Friday morning: Babs and Harold Conversations, a conversation between these two people and their friends at times, and Bible verses are used to illustrate their points in the conversation. Again, Babs and Harold are fictional characters, but the “Bible study” is real.
Evening – “with a little help” presently taking quotes about getting old that my wife wrote into a notebook.
Saturday morning: A Bible Quiz
Evening – non-series topics
Now some of my series topics are all over the place. The short stories take the most time, followed by the Monday and Thursday Bible studies. But I think I enjoy writing those three the most. Dreaming up what Babs and Harold are going to talk about is sometimes harder than writing about them. And the quizzes have a double trouble – the topic and the style of quiz.
Of course, once you complete a series, it can be a nightmare trying to think of the next mini-series to start.
But in the end, God helps a lot. Once I know the topic, I just start typing.
And that is why I cannot get upset with the pastor’s series sermons. If he is the same way, once you know the topic, the rest is a flow covering procedures and processes that you are familiar with.
God works in mysterious ways, and I rely on Him every day as I sit down to pray and then tap the computer keyboard.
And those hours at the computer are the most joyous and meaningful hours of my day.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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