It Does Not Go Unnoticed …

Maybe you are like me, maybe not, but I suspect at times most of us who stand before others and teach and preach wonder if it really matters. Is anyone listening, applying? Do those hours of study and agonizing over the Word, a word, how to approach, how strong to be, how tender to be, when to speak on a matter and when to let it rest - do they make any difference?

I want to assure you these words from the Word, do. People do remember, and apply. People are looking for a word from the Lord. People need guidance, balance to their daily lives, and wisdom that is “first pure, then peaceable” - from Above.

Last week I got a call from a, now, business executive. He said: “You preached a sermon when I was growing up at Granny White and you talked about the importance of margin in our lives. I’ve remembered it all these years and I would like to know if you can send me a copy of it.” A few months back I got an email from a dad. He and his wife are remodeling and in the process are repurposing the room their daughter grew up in. She’s well past 40 now. He said: “I thought you’d like to see this.” And he copied a picture to me of an outline from a sermon on Joy in Challenging Times from over 30 years ago. A friend who is high up in the state education system sent me an email not too long ago. She said: “I wanted to send you a list of all the sermons that made a strong impact on me when you preached in Hamilton.” And under her note were about 20 titles of lessons that had affected her life.

Please know, I don’t tell you this to brag, God knows I rarely walk away from a lesson feeling that it was special for anything I did. I’d add that the three contacts I mentioned above are rare, so rare that in over 40 years they’ve not been repeated. So, it may be years till you hear from someone of the impact you made. And you may never hear it. But God knows, and God trusts you so much He put His message in you as one of His earthen vessels.

Just know. Teachers touch the future, but preachers touch eternity!!