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 my first sermon 40 years ago.

So if you are in conversation with other preachers,

at some point that question is going to come up,

do you remember your first sermon?

And it causes us to

to facepal palm when we think about our first sermon.

We often remember the day and the text and the occasion, and then we try to forget pretty much everything else about that first sermon.

For me personally, it's kind of hard for me to forget about my first sermon.

I'm often reminded, even though at this stage of my life, I'm 51 years old, but I'm often

reminded in settings that I go to that I was a boy preacher,

and I'm asked about my boyhood ministry.

So it's not too far I can get from thoughts or talk about my first sermon,

but it's particularly on my mind these days.

First of all, because of the date.

This podcast is being published August 26, 2024, and today marks the 40th anniversary of my first sermon as a boy at the age of 11 years old.

I'm blown away. I'm blown away by that. I was saying to a friend recently, you know, his life, like most people, their lives are divided up in seasons and chapters and etc.

Basically, my entire life has been centered around the pulpit even before I started preaching.

I basically spent my life in the pulpit preaching the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I was converted. At the age of six, I made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. I was converted.

...