Dear Church Family,
               Lynn and I are in Minneapolis this week attending the annual Festival of Homiletics (a fancy word for preaching).  This is a conference I have attended for many years which features nationally acclaimed preachers and worship leaders both talking about and demonstrating their craft.  We have also seen some friends while there. 
               It is not that I learn so much new at this event (although I do hear some great new sermon illustrations!).  My preaching style is rather set by this time in my life.  But what it does is give me great encouragement for the importance of preaching in the life of the church and the value of giving it good effort.  Many of the speakers are reflecting seriously on the increasingly secular context of preaching in this time, and challenging us to counteract some of the toxic religious talk in our culture with life affirming Christocentric God language. 
               In some ways, sermons might seem an antiquated form of communication.  Worship requires attentive, sustained listening and following a train of thought for 15 minutes or so in a culture which is so visual and which seems to get its information in 30 second sound bites.  Despite this, it is remarkable that God continues to use this form to bring good news.  I constantly marvel that people will sometimes mention something I have said in a sermon I’ve long since forgotten.  So, I continue to be thankful for the opportunity to preach, and your ongoing commitment to listen. 
               We will be exploring Paul’s preaching this week.  The sermon is “Evangelists All!” based on Paul’s farewell sermon to the Ephesians found in Acts 20:13-38.
See you in church,
Peace and Joy,
Rich