Every once in a while I get asked how we do it. Preachers. How do we come up with a different message every week? How do we know what to say?

I don’t have an easy answer for that. We are writers, communicators, teachers. And we are passionate about what we have to share.

But how do I (or how do any of my colleagues) sit down in front of a blank screen and come up with message? Sometimes with fear and trembling. Sometimes with agitation and frustration. Sometimes with a whole lot of wasted time. Sometimes with ease.

But the real answer? We are able to do it because the word of God is alive and powerful.

What we have to talk about isn’t just an idea, or a story, or a hope. It is all those things, but it is also so much more. We’ve seen it change lives. Sometimes in subtle ways and sometimes in complete-180 ways. We’ve seen it bind up broken hearts and bring hope to the hopeless.

And the chance to share it in a way that make a difference in someone’s life, is the great privilege of the preacher. It drives us. It keeps us up at night. It has us (is it just me?!) talking to ourselves.

And when our prep is done, and we stand up in front of the people God has given us…we know we haven’t done it on our own. It is only the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that makes any message meaningful.

We do it because the word is alive. The word is powerful. And the word does not belong to us, we are only entrusted to pass it on.

This Lent, may you encounter the life and power of the word of God. May it change you. May it heal you. May it bless you.