This is the on preaching podcast with H.B. Charles Jr.

The podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.

Good day and thanks for listening to the podcast.

In this episode, I want to talk to you about time needed to be an effective preacher.

As a young pastor, I was invited to do a week-long meeting at a historic local church. I was grateful for the invitation and excited about the opportunity. It was a rare occasion that I left my pulpit

on a Sunday morning to start this meeting that would go from Sunday morning through the Friday night. I think it's like

nine or so sermons I ended up preaching over the course of that week. But what I remember about

that week, more than anything else, is that I basically never spent any time with the pastor. We knew each other. We had close connections. It was because of those connections that he had invited me to preach, and I was really looking forward to spending time with him. But throughout the week, I had one lunch meal with that pastor.

He was not being rude or insensitive or uncaring about the guest that he invited to town to preach.

He was just swamped.

I remember he was working a second job to help make ends meet for his family.

And throughout the day, he was running to and fro to do sick visitation, to do pastoral counseling.

One of those days, he had a funeral.

He had certain meetings he had to attend at the end of the week he

expressed his frustration to me about it all as he apologized for literally not spending any time at

all with me in that week except the times that we were in worship surfaces together.

During that week, one of the deacons of that church stopped me after the sermon and said,

boy, we ain't never heard preaching like that.

And I took great offense.

I was 20, 21 years old, and yet I had been preaching around the country long enough to know that when a congregation

loves its pastor, they don't think anybody can out preach their pastor, even if their pastor

can't preach.

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