We were looking forward to getting back to our home in Indiana for the Christmas season. As an evangelist, I look forward to those times spent off the road with family and friends. Our last meeting was in northern Wisconsin the second week of December. Snow had already covered the ground, and temperatures were well below freezing. It was easy to get into the Christmas spirit.

Christmastime may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also pass in a flurry of frenzied activity, with no time to enjoy the significance of the season.

I received a wonderful little handmade card earlier this year from “Kelly.” She is a little girl who has started coming to our children’s ministry on Wednesday evenings as a result of our summer Open House Outreach BBQ. I always enjoy cards and notes from kids—they really help to encourage a preacher and keep him focused on the work of God.

On a hot summer day in 1975, God answered my mom’s prayers, and my dad was saved from a life of alcohol addiction. At a service station, my parents picked up a church tract which resulted in our family attending Fairfax Baptist Temple. After hearing Pastor Bud Calvert preach the gospel, I received the Lord as my Saviour.

In the midst of one of the greatest works for God in the Old Testament, Nehemiah reminded God’s people, “…the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Why the reminder? Because God’s people need joy, and one of Satan’s first line of attacks to weaken our hands in the work is to take our joy.

No one likes confrontation. And yet, the Bible tells us that the reproofs of instruction are the way of life. All of us face situations in our ministry where we must deal with a situation, but we know that when we do so, it is quite likely to cause trouble.

In the last two articles we have seen how to preach Bible stories by using running narrative, and why preachers should be transparent in their sermons. Let’s see another tip that can transform your delivery:

Over the years, I’ve often told our church family here at Lancaster Baptist Church, “I’m Baptist born and Baptist bred, and when I die I’ll be Baptist dead.” At times, this has been a fun, catchy phrase, but in reality I fully mean these words because I believe in my Baptist heritage, and I hold it dear.

Philippians 4:11 reminds us to be content in every season of life, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “Tomorrow, life will be better.” Sometimes we stew in discontentment over today, while we think things like this: “The kids will be older; they will do more for themselves; I won’t have to worry as much; or we will have more money.”

Do you know the single greatest enemy of gratitude? It’s not poverty. It’s not stinginess. It’s not mistreatment. It’s expectancy. That’s it—expectancy. We don’t often recognize the expectancy in our own hearts, because it seems so normal—so right—to us. But we can see it in others.