Pastor’s eNote: Weekly Update

My preaching professor in seminary was a Scotch Presbyterian named Ian Pitt-Watson. As students, we learned so many things from him, but this one phrase has always stuck with me. Dr. Pitt-Watson would say, “The sermon is for the preacher first and then the congregation.” His words were a reminder that the process of crafting and sharing a sermon does not exclude the preacher from the sermon’s application.

When I was preparing the sermon last Sunday on the temptation of Jesus (Luke 4:1-13), I was mindful of how easy American culture can make life. After all, I am writing this on a device which does not use ink, typesetting, Liquid Ink (IYKYK), or deep technical knowledge. My life is made easier with the use of a computer.

The sermon on the temptation of Jesus is not about always avoiding ease and simplicity. The avoidance of pain and struggle is naturally part of being human. All this is to say that “easy” does not equal “bad.”

For Jesus, the temptation he faced was more about taking his focus away from his goal. Calling, vocation, purpose, or whatever else we might call it, should become as central to us as it was to Jesus. He prevailed over the Devil, in every expression, through his own clear-eyed purpose of redeeming the human race.

Temptation often comes to us in the form of ease, apathy, and avoidance. Why? To keep us from God’s work in our lives.

Perhaps we can consider all these tools we have at our disposal in the 21st Century as means to do God’s work in the world. Even the use of AI (which is now included in my Bible software) can help us be more fruitful for God’s work. While tools of ease and simplicity have their downsides, they are at their best when used to make God’s Kingdom in us advance for our sake and the sake of the world around us.

Grace to You All,

Pastor Craig Brown
(March 11, 2025)