Comments on: lessons learned from a red stapler

By: dave

dave — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:39:28 +0000

Hi all, thanks for your encouragement. When I’m preaching, I tend to go from a word-for-word script to avoid this kind of thing - service leading is a good time to remind myself why I do that.

B1: look forward to the info
A: glad I don’t live in Corinth!
B2: thanks for the perspective
George: it was good to catch up, and thanks for the reminder that it’s not about flawlessness.
Tristan: for once, I’d had plenty of sleep, so it wasn’t that!
Tom: it probably was taped, but you’re not likely to hear a podcast of it any time soon.

By: tommo

tommo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:44:00 +0000

Hey Dave, didnt hear it but was it taped? Your first mistake was you should have used the electric pencil sharpener or hole punch. Im a paper clip man myself and dont like staplers that much. You’ve really opened up yourself here.

But seriously, thankfully it was only an introduction (not that I think it’s not important) and used in a sermon. If you feel its too much, just keep it simple (speaking from experience). Im sure your next turn at leading will be much improved. Keep up the good work!

By: tristan

tristan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:08:45 +0000

I haven’t had that experience with the opening of a service, but I definitely have with the ‘Pastoral Prayer’. I tend to write down bullet points too, and sometimes it works brilliantly and other times there’s a lot of ‘uhm’s in there between sentences, and he flow is completely ruined. Strangely enough, the two times I have lead a service after less than three hours sleep, the words have flowed the best!

By: barbara

barbara — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:15:21 +0000

I too encourage you to carry on. As you know I don’t even need a public forum. It happens automatically. I was told the other day to learn from yesterday, live for today and pray for tomorrow. God uses and will continue to use those who are faithful to Him.

By: Georgina

Georgina — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:11:14 +0000

Wanted to comment it was good chatting on Saturday!
Also, when we stuff up (and we all stuff up) let’s just rejoice, that “God uses the lowly things, and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are!”

I think stuffing up up the front is very helpful for everyone - helpful for the person up the front (keeps our pride in check) and helpful for everyone else (reminding all that we’re all under grace).

26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”[d]

By: Adriaan

Adriaan — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:07:25 +0000

Dave -

If you were a rhetorician in 1st century Corinth, then you would be howled down for what happened last night. It was unprofessional, poorly planned and terribly executed.

And it was a wonderful moment for grace and freedom to triumph. You did something that fell flat, AND you had the courage to admit immediately that it had failed. You stopped pretending that you could get it all together, and you gave us an opportunity to show grace.

So I didn’t go home thinking, “What a disaster.” Instead, I will remember for a long time your willingness to just say, “Guys, this is not working. So cut me a little slack.” Most of us had a little chuckle about it, and that’s good for us.

So don’t go beating yourself up about it. Your introductions will always be ‘Dave-ish’ and that’s all they ever should be. You are not someone else; you are the person Jesus made you to be. And sometimes you make mistakes - like me. And you need grace - as we all do. Without it, we’re sunk. With it, we’re gloriously free to try our best, and to dust each other off and encourage each other when things don’t go quite as we’d planned. Go the mighty red stapler!

By: Barb

Barb — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:24:13 +0000

I don’t reckon you are alone by any stretch of the imagination! The likelihood of things jumping out of your brain is as likely, if not more so, in front of a group of people as in a less public conversation. I’m sure I’ve had similar occasions, although can’t think of specifics right now. On the holiness topic, we’ve done quite a bit of thinking around holiness and thinking much more of it as “fit for the task”, “something that is whole”. I’ll send you some stuff on it.