For years I worked alongside a pastor who made this claim about his own preaching: "I have only two sermons - maybe three - that I preach."
He did not say this as a confession.
It was a boast.
I wanted to tell him that I had noticed this.
That everyone noticed this.
I loved the guy. His heart was in the right place. But preaching the same two sermons over and over? What a missed opportunity.
(I hesitate to say "dereliction of duty" only out of friendship.)
It is not as though a preacher ever lacks material. God's word contains more wisdom than a person could grasp in a lifetime.
And there's no time for slacking. Paul's command to Timothy is meant for us as well: "Train yourself for godliness". (I Tim 4:7)
For the sake of the believers in their care, preachers must enter the pulpit each week with fresh teaching.
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