Weekly Meeting with Tommy #2

Another big chunk of my weekly meetings with Tommy consists of sermon preparation and feedback.  This year I have prepared and delivered nine sermons.  Each sermon requires numerous hours to prepare, and it is extremely helpful when Tommy can be an integral part of the process if I need additional help.  For example, this last week I preached in Genesis two on God’s design for sex and marriage.  As one can imagine, this topic is difficult to teach on in general, but is especially challenging trying to teach on marriage and sex to junior high students in a way that is faithful to the text and easy for them to understand.  Tommy looked over both my outline and my manuscript to give me pointers on how to format my words and main points to have a more lasting impact on the junior high students.  When preaching to this age, the word choice is incredibly important for getting across the message in a way that is understandable.  At one point in the preparation process, I used a phrase similar to “God’s Word teaches us to have a holistic understanding of marriage.”  Tommy sat down with me and said something along the lines of “Daniel, I understand what you are trying to say, but the students are going to have no idea what you mean.”  He then offered a much better wording.  It is times like this that I look back on and reflect on how Tommy has been a great mentor to me.  The feedback he offers me in always constructive, whether it be positive or negative, it is framed in a way that is uplifting and encouraging me to hone my skills in homiletics. 

            I know it will be hard to find a mentor to replace Tommy in this next season of life after I graduate, but even still, I hope to stay connected with Tommy for the rest of my life.  I trust that he will continue to offer me faithful advice and wise counsel I forge onward down the path of pastoral ministry.  Even if Tommy and I fall out of contact, the skills I have learned from him will surely help me find another mentor that can relate to me, but also instruct and encourage me.  I look forward to seeing where Tommy and I will both be in ten years.  Hopefully we will have an opportunity to reflect together on what we have accomplished in that time frame, as well as how we have grown.  I am hoping that I can finish the huge reading list he will leave me after I am done interning under him next week.  But even if I do not finish all of the theology and biblical studies books he recommends, I can still hope that I will have finished the Wheel of Time fiction series by then.  One can hope.