My First Sermon Long Ago

September 25, 2017 (Tuesday)
Yesterday I celebrated by 86th birthday. Three weeks ago, on September 5, I celebrated the sixty-ninth anniversary of my first sermon. The date fell on a Sunday in 1948 and that that was the day I preached at church for the first time. I was in the Liberty Road Baptist Church, which was located near the intersection of Liberty Road and Jensen Drive in Houston, Texas. The text of the sermon was Philippians 2:5-11, and the topic was, “Living as Jesus.”
The Biblical text began, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..” Quite a challenge the Scripture lays down for us: “Have the mind of Christ!”
Further reading of the verses after that one show us that “the mind of Christ” was His determination to empty Himself of Divine prerogatives to become a human being and in that form to humble himself in his birth (born in a stable), his life (had but one possession–his robe), his death (crucified–a horrible death), and his burial (in a borrowed tomb). In contrast, after 3 days, he was resurrected from the dead, for forty days continued to minister to the crowds of believers, ascended to his Father in Heaven, where he once again occupies a place of power as the King of kings and Lord of lords. The description of his work as Savior concludes with these words: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 KJV).
I had been attending church only two months, was not quite 17 years old, and the choice of so rich a text was a bold undertaking for me, although I did not realize that at the time. I presented a simple sermon on living for Jesus and all the folks who were there had encouraging words to offer after the sermon.
And with that first step, a life’s journey began..