By the time you read this, I’ll have finished writing my first new sermon in three months. On Monday, I officially ended my preaching sabbatical and found myself climbing back in the saddle of preaching preparation. 

I can honestly say I felt eager to get back on. At the end of breaks like these, it’s easy to feel some pressure to tell others the rest was better than it actually was. And honestly, I was a bit scared that this past Monday would come and I’d immediately wish I had another month off from preaching. But I didn’t. I was ready to start. And God was gracious to me in letting the sermon writing process go really well. (No promises on the sermon delivery though!)

As I reflect on these past three months, “gratitude” is the word that first comes to mind. I’m thankful to be in a church that, by and large, is healthy, and I didn’t have too many worries about stepping away from the pulpit for so long. I’m thankful for all our elders, pastors, and guest speakers who preached for us. I’m thankful that I was fed by their being here as much as anyone else was. 

I’m thankful for how many of you asked how I’m doing and expressed your support for this sabbatical. I’m also thankful that many of you have said you’re eager for me to return to the pulpit!

I’m also thankful for all I got done these past few months. It was a slow start, but by the final month I finally felt like I’d found a good rhythm. You may remember I had three primary goals. First was to submit an article for publication in an Chrisitan academic journal. This article proved to be the hardest part of the sabbatical. It was more work than I anticipated. I’ve finished a draft that I sent out for feedback, which was encouraging but also showed I’ve got a decent bit of work to get it ready for publication. But, even though it’s been a lot of work, I’m thankful for the opportunity to deeply explore a topic. 

My second goal was to make progress on a book on training elders and deacons. I’m happy to say this was easier than I expected. I’d hoped to get about half of the words written. I actually got about 90% of it written; I’m at 42,106 words. It has been a joy to synthesize and flesh out a number of ideas I’ve had. I hope to finish the writing in the next month or so. 

My last goal was to spend some time working on personal and spiritual development. Just having extra time to write out and examine certain weaknesses and flaws in my character was incredibly helpful. I’m not sure I’ve grown a lot, but identifying some areas where I need to grow and thinking about ways to do so was surprisingly beneficial. 

I still have some fears. I started Monday with a renewed zeal for my sermon writing, but I know I won't always be so eager. I know there will be days where writing the sermon feels like trying to find water in a desert. But God is faithful, even more so in our weakness. He can bring water out of desert rocks. I’m thankful this is the God we serve. And I’m thankful to be your pastor. There’s no place I’d rather be.

In Christ,
Pastor Jong