I don’t know why, but I usually look forward to preaching to the deaf congregation of my home church. It is less stressful. The people are receptive. Their faces give me a clear idea of whether they understood what I was preaching or are inspired, convicted, or clueless. I like to engage them and get their input. It keeps them attentive, and their response gives me an idea of whether they are with me or lost.

I usually start with a straightforward outline of the topic. Currently, I am using my book, The 26 Gifts of Christ’s Finished Work, as a prolonged sermon series. I preach there a few times a year, so it will take some time to complete it. On Sunday, I preached the third chapter, “Church”. It had to be adapted and furnished with more stories, analogies and applications.

While I sat down during the songs of praise, the Spirit inspired me to add an analogy about the church as the body of Christ with many parts. The Lord must really love these people, for though I have prayerfully prepared outlines and many slides, the Lord gave me more analogies and illustrations to use in the message. I was thankful for the additional material and the available whiteboard on stage, because it helped them to understand.

I usually don’t preach with slides unless I anticipate that the audience may get lost without them, or when pictures are absolutely necessary, but with the deaf congregation, slides are an absolute necessity each and every time I preach. The slides were done after the outline was settled, and then I used an Apple pen to add the notes on the slide (for my eyes only).

It went well. I felt gratified, thanked the sign language interpreter, gave God glory, and left a happy man.