Trying to Keep it Real, Radical, Relevant, and Reverent

That was my task for preaching at the Luther Seminary Chapel this past Friday.

Keep it Real - Preach the Gospel, proclaim the forgiveness of sins, and do this through a style that stays true to who I am as a pastor-to-be and to my own passions when it comes to preaching and worship. In other words, incorporating all the things I love into a 20 minute worship service that I could be proud of. This meant choosing the proper text (John 11, the raising of Lazarus), the music that I felt would be a good fit, and calling in some favors from friends inside and outside the seminary.

Keep it Radical - This is in terms of the Luther Seminary Chapel. Now, worship here tends to be very traditional. Let me say straight up that I am not knocking traditional worship. I think traditional worship done well can be wonderful! It can be uplifting and can convey the Gospel in a very compelling way. But, I think there is also a place in the church for "contemporary" worship as well (and of course, well done contemporary worship, there is definitely some bad contemporary out there). And truth be told, I often prefer "contemporary" praise and worship services. It's just who I am and it's my style and I think worship done in the contemporary/alternative style can go a long way for outreach. Anyway, I digress. There hadn't been much contemporary worship done in chapel this year so I decided that in order to stay true to myself and my passions as a worship leader I would do something "radical" and use contemporary music and a band for worship.

Keep it Relevant - In this sense, I mean keep it relevant to the community. I wrote my sermon with the Luther Seminary community in mind. Now, you will generally never have to preach before a more difficult crowd. I knew I would have some wonderful theologians and preachers not necessarily critiquing me because they want to cut me down but that's just what naturally happens. This is not a message I will necessarily ever give anywhere else but it felt like the right message for this place.

Keep it Reverent - And, of course, this is not about me. This whole thing has never been about me. Instead, it is all about God, what God is doing in our lives, and what God has to say to us through the music, the worship, the preaching and the prayers. It's all about what God has done for us through is Son Jesus Christ. So, that is the center of it all.

All in all, preaching in Chapel was a wonderful and affirming experience. It gave me a chance to proclaim the Gospel to some of the closest friends. It also showed me that yeah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. There was something that was so energizing. It felt right on every level. Granted, it does feel good to be over this hurdle and have one less thing to plan. But when it came down to it, stuff like this is what I really do want to be putting my energy into. And that means that I'm on the right track which is a nice feeling.

Check out the video for the service if you want. Thanks again for everyone's support through this process! I couldn't have done it without you!