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Opening Remarks
I've got to tell you, I cannot hardly take anymore of these long drawn out opening remarks to sermons especially at special meetings like camp meetings, conferences, etc. I am all for giving honor to whom honor is due, but these long diatribes honoring EVERY SINGLE OFFICIAL and friend of the preacher that goes on for 10 minutes drives me up a wall!!!!!
Protocal is important. Thank the pastor, the Dist. Supt., the Dist. Board, sincerely and genuinely. But these long drawn out ego stroking volumes of flattery are just plain stupid! If an official is going to get their feelings hurt that they weren't mentioned, if the pastor is so shallow he needs to be praised in front of his people, if you have to feed everyone's fragile sense of self worth with a few tokens of praise or you won't get invited back, then its probably not worth it anyway.
Again, if you are truly expressing sincere gratitude and appreciation for the pastor and the leaders, that's one thing. Its easy to listen to those kinds of words. But to the listener who wants to hear the Word, to the hard working saint who is running on six hours of sleep the night previous because of overtime, to the family who has to drive 45 minutes to get to church, GIVE 'EM WHAT THEY CAME FOR---------THE PURE, UNADULTERATED WORD OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep the puffery and the bootlicking to a minimum---keep the focus on the LIVING WORD!
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When a newspaper posed the question, "What's Wrong with the World?" G. K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: "Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton." That is the attitude of someone who has grasped the message of Jesus.
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deacon blues 
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