The Making of a Preacher -Prep

Outline Revision #3

I. Matthew Marks Starts the Sermon, "Faith Comes by Hearing The Word of God." (Romans 10:17, KJV)
----A. Matthew Marks is the pastor of Leaning Arms Fellowship.
----B. Matt describes his childhood as the son of a Baptist preacher.
-------1. Matt starts life at a very early age.
-------2. Matt is befriended by Lazarus Watyudid.
-------3. Matt's public school career is a series of good and bad events.
----C. Matthew Marks meets Jesus and is saved at age six. Jesus is the Seed of Hope, the Foreshadowing of Confidence, and the Subject of the Big Reveal in Matt's Life as The One, Who orchestras both good and bad for Matt's ultimate Good & the ultimate Glory of God.
-------1. Being saved is far from being perfect.
-------2. Being saved makes the pain of doing wrong, acute.
-------3. Being saved is a life of hills and valleys, literally & figuratively.
----D. "Hearing The Word of God" started for Matt at birth with John 3:16 & "Jesus Loves Me."

II. The Internal Battle Between Good & Evil Gets Physical.
----A. Lazarus weaves a web of sins throughout Matt's first two decades, making him feel unfit for the ministry.
-------1. Lazarus Watyudid becomes Matthew Mark's "Friend" That Never Goes Away.
-------2. Lazarus introduces himself as the very dark child in the bushes when Matt is three.
-------3. Lazarus prompts Matt to steal a nickel off his dad's dresser when Matt is five. Dad catches him. A sermon ensues.
-------4. Lazarus prompts Matt to kiss a cute girl on the cheek in the first grade. The teacher didn't see, but the other kids laughed.
-------5. Lazarus prompts Matt to another student in the seventh grade. He was rebuffed. It left him feeling ashamed.
-------6. Lazarus prompted Matt throughout high school to make overtures to love toward classmates. He was often rebuffed. He was left feeling ugly.
-------7. Lazarus prompted Matt to look at lewd pages on the internet throughout college. This seemed safer than having to deal with women face-to-face. Now, he felt not only ugly but shamed and spiritually guilty before The Lord.
----B. Matt's battles with Lazarus become so physical that he breaks his arm, hitting a block wall.
----C. Matt's parents become alarmed that he "sees" that they can't see, taking him to see a counselor.
-------1. Matt's Parents Seek Help for Their Adult Son.
-------2. As a senior in a Christian college, Matt becomes so frustrated at his life of sin, that he hits a block wall with all of his might shattering the
bones of his hand and breaking his arm in two pieces.
-------3. Matt's parents become alarmed to the extreme, regarding Matt's mental state. The seek counseling for him after the doctor visit to repair his arm and hand.
-------4. Matt realizes that it is best to "not see" Lazarus when his parents express shock that he can see Lazarus.
-------5. Lazarus manifests as a new kid in town, Andy Attelpate, in order to befriend Matt in a way that his parents would find acceptable, but who still plays mind-games with Matt and others around him.
----D. The conclusion of Matt's counseling sessions is that he would do well to find a more constructive outlet for his considerable talents of
research and speaking.
----E. Cleaning up his life, refusing to sin anymore, and answering the call to Gospel ministry seems to Matt the best way to return to his parents
good graces.

III. Matt Starts His Career of Ministry on Earth at the Church of His Youth.
----A. Matt Answers the Call to Preach, and he ascends the pulpit of his first pastorate, based solely on the character and subsequent death of his father.
-------1. Carlos Marks urges the Pulpit Committee to make Matt his Assistant Pastor. Matt becomes close to Paul Letras, one of the elder statesmen on the Pulpit Committee.)
-------2. Matt's Dad, Carlos, dies on the way to invite a local farmer to a revival meeting, due to a train accident.
-------3. Matt becomes the lead pastor, due to his father's untimely death. Paul Letras steps in as a substitute father and lifetime mentor for Matt.
----B. Matt married Artista Carpenter, and they start ministry together.
-------1. He meets and falls in love with Artista Carpenter.
-------2. He sings famous Carpenters songs to her during the courtship and throughout the marriage.
-------3. Ultimately, she is wooed and they are married.
----C. Matt is accused of impropriety in counseling by three women in the church. Too late he realizes that he was set-up by Lazarus & Andy.
----D. Matt apologies for spurious intent and for crossing the line by counseling the opposite sex, one-on-one, realizing that his wife would have
been better suited for such counseling sessions.
-------1. Rather than damage the reputation of the church any further, Matt apologizes to the women as best he can.
-------2. He knows in his heart-of-hearts that his intention was different than their perception.
-------3. He says as little as possible, allowing them to retain their dignity.
-------4. He willingly bears the shame in order to help, not harm those he was called to serve.
----E. Matt's character has been so blackened that he jumps at the chance to start over on a new planet.
----F. The Lord steps in on ZoNed4 to bring Matt to the end of himself, which is, also, the end of Lazarus Watyudid & Andy Attelpate, Matt's very
confusing alter egos.

IV. Matt Receives The Lord's Call to a New Planet, a New Life, and Final Transformation. "A Man May Change His Address, but His Character and His Problems Remain His Bedfellows." (Winston Middlesbrough) (Numbers 32:23, KJV)
----A. ZoNed4 needs a pastor for it very first Baptist church. Matt's Mom urges him through tears to take the opportunity for a new start in life.
----B. Matt & Artista board the interstellar airplane for ZoNed4 along with Matt's brother, Straitway, and his friend/mentor, Paul Letras.
----C. With a great deal of time on their hands for Bible study and other enjoyable pursuits, Matt & Artista become the parents of twins enroute to
ZoNed4.
----D. By the time the new little family arrives on its new home planet, it is quite obvious that the twins, Pansie & Aurora, are precocious little girls.
----E. A new planet plus being a new parent, while realizing that his self-inflicted problems were not left on Earth all adds up to mental, spiritual and physical collapse for Matthew Marks.
-------1. "A man can't outrun his problems because his problems are his shadows. They match him stride for stride." (Winston Middlesbrough)
-------2. "A man must be honest with the man in the mirror before he can be honest with God." (Winston Middlesbrough)
----F. The Lord walks Matt through his life, during his coma in which he is very much along with The Lord for a time of clarity that changes
everything.
-------1. "Saving faith is only possible when a man stops and gives up trying to save himself." (Winston Middlesbrough)
-------2. "Admitting who I am as a flawed human being, forsaking my reliance on self, and falling into the arms of God, redeems me both now and
forever." (Matthew Marks)

V. Matthew Marks Ends the Sermon, "Faith Comes by Hearing The Word of God." (Romans 10:17, KJV)
----A. "Would you like to The Lord to change your life like He changed mine, for now, and forever?" (Matthew Marks)
----B. "Stop running. Fall into this altar. Admit, who you are to The One, Who already knows. Accept the Salvation that He offers as a Gift." (John 3:16) (Matthew Marks)
----C. "From the point of Salvation throughout the rest of your life, Life will not be perfect, but The Lord Jesus Himself will be transforming the
person you are in reality into the eternal person that you already are in His Eyes." (Matthew Marks)
----D. "Perfection is not required to be perfect in God's Eyes. Admission of imperfection is." (Winston Middlesbrough)

VI. The Making of a Preacher is the Transformation from a Person, Who Lives for Self, into Someone, Who Lives for Others in
Agreement with The One, Who Made Us, The Almighty God.
----A. Love of Self is the path to destruction.
----B. Love of God leads to the greatest love of others, that expresses the best love for Self.
----C. The love for others urges them to prepare their hearts, their minds and their lives for Eternity, the Final Place and Ultimate Existence, which
will forever be a place of Blessing or a place of cursing.
----D. Matt is given the final victory over Self, making him to finally express the existence for which he was created by The Lord. The fullest measure of giving returns as the fullest measure of receiving. The gift of Love given without reservation to others changed by Love is the same gift we receive from those, who are changed by Love.