My Saturday mornings at Panera Bread have almost become a habit. After I drop Ruth off at work I make my way next door, order a coffee and find my regular table. I open my laptop, check my email and then spend some time tweaking my sermon for Sunday. (Let's be honest - sometimes it is actually finishing my sermon - thankfully it has never been starting my sermon.)
I find that the buzz of humanity around me is a great background as I think about presenting my message to real people with real lives. I'm sure every person who presents regularly - teachers, preachers, motivational speakers - all ask this question from time to time; Do my words make any difference in the real world where our people live?
As I sit here this morning, I'm over-hearing a group of guys sharing together in an accountability group. They are talking about their failures to regular have a devotional life, one dad is struggling with help his son to learn to save money, another talking about his job difficulties.
A few tables away a ladies study group is winding up and the ladies are involved in friendly chit-chat. Apparently they are all from different churches but once attended the same church - one where a friend of mine is on staff. There's a story there I'm sure, but I don't really care to know.
Around the room are friends quietly talking over coffee and a bagel, others (like me) are lost in their laptops and some even hold a real honest-to-goodness book as they sip their beverage. Saturday mornings at Panera are just a cross section of this community - not that different from the folks who I will stand in from of tomorrow morning.
As much as I would love to keep spilling my thoughts I really need to get back to my conclusion of 1 John. There will be a bunch of real people hoping that I have found a way to bring a practical application of truth to their lives, or at least that's what I think they're expecting.
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