The Fear Of Preaching-dj

“Let’s Welcome Our Keynote Speaker, [insert your name]!”

We’re talking about what it means to find your voice as a Christian, what it means to be so comfortable with who you are in Christ that you are prepared to speak, verbally and nonverbally, in a way that encourages others to consider how knowing Christ could change their life.

And we can take lessons from Jesus Christ Himself.  After all, there’s no better way to learn than to sit at the feet of the Master Speaker Himself.  But now we’re talking about you being a keynote speaker at the banquet of life.  That’s right—you’re on!

“Me, a keynote speaker?  But I have to work just to get my spouse and kids to listen to Me!  Who in the world wants to hear what I have to say?”

I know exactly how you feel, my friend.  As I step in front of groups of people several times a week, for most of the fifty-two weeks of every year, I pray, “Lord, please help me say something that will encourage these dear folks.  They’ve come here seeking You, but You’ve given them me!  Did you get the schedules mixed up, Lord!  Isn’t there somebody more eloquent, more powerful, and more entertaining that You could give these people?”

And God always speaks to my heart:  “No, you’re right on schedule.  I haven’t sent you to speak on your own.  I have sent you to represent Me so that I can speak through you.  Together, you and I will encourage these people.  I am going to bring everything I have been doing in your life these past six decades to bear in this moment, in this place, for the benefit of these people.  This is a divine appointment!  I have arranged the banquet, I have prepared your voice, and I have paid the price to get you here.  Now walk to the podium.  You’re on!”

I go through that though process every time I speak.  But I also have to go through it in all the same places you do:  When I am talking with a neighbor, visiting a friend in the hospital, helping one of my children think through a problem, talking to a stranger on an airplane, or working with someone at the office.  Every one of those situations is a mini-banquet, and you and I are the keynote speakers God has called to convey what is on His heart.

David Jeremiah, Signs of Life, p.  56