Preaching hard work if done right, pastor says

Spencer Strickland was not thinking about becoming a preacher until he visited the East Tennessee School of Preaching in Knoxville, Tenn. The then-19-year-old visited the school when his best friend and their preacher planned a trip. He was impressed with the students' dedication and commitment and decided that was what he wanted to do with his life. After graduating the school, Strickland went on to get bachelor's and master's degrees at Freed-Hardeman University. After preaching in Dillon, S.C., for several years, Strickland and his wife, Amy, came to Cape Church of Christ, 328 S. West End Blvd., a little more than a year ago.

Question: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Answer: No doubt the most rewarding part of the work that I do is teaching someone what he or she must do to be saved and helping them carry that out. Once a person has understood that he or she must believe that Jesus is the son of God (John 8:24), repent of his or her sins (Acts 17:30), confess that Jesus is the son of God (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), it is rewarding to be able to baptize that person into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). There is no greater joy than to see that take place because it is then and only then that a person can say that he or she has done what is necessary to be saved and that the Lord has added that soul to the church we read about in the Bible (Acts 2:47; Matthew 16:18; Romans 16:16).

Q: What's your favorite verse and why?

A: It's difficult to pick just one favorite verse. However, one of my favorite verses from the Old Testament is found in Genesis 32:10 when Jacob said to God, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies." A favorite from the New Testament is, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Q: How long have you been a member of the church?

A: That should be an easy question to answer, but it is not. When I was 8 years old, I expressed an interest in obeying the Lord's commands to be saved (Mark 16:16). I wanted to be baptized and so I was, but years later I began to question whether I understood what I was doing at that age. So several years ago, I asked my best friend to baptize me for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), knowing that in order to be saved, one must be baptized for the right reason. So, to answer the question, Lord added me to his church (Acts 2:47) when I obeyed the Gospel around 7 or 8 years ago.

Q: What is the most difficult part of your job?

A: I find that the most difficult part of my job is time management. Every week I know that I have at least four deadlines to meet. I have two sermons on Sunday (morning and evening services), one Bible class on Wednesday evening and a bulletin article. It takes work and time to study and prepare lessons to teach and preach God's Word. In addition to that, I have responsibilities as a Christian and as a husband. Sometimes folks may think that a preacher only works three to four hours a week (when he is preaching and teaching), but folks don't think about the hours of study that a preacher puts into his sermons and classes. Preaching is hard work if it is done right.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Cape Church of Christ?

A: The kindness, helpfulness and genuine love that the members exhibit.

Q: What would you like people to know about your church?

A: I would just want people to know that we love God, love people and want to go to heaven. We believe that the Bible makes Christians and only Christians. We follow the Bible as our only Guide and so we do not follow man-made traditions, creed books, etc., since we will be judged by what God has written in his book (John 12:48; Revelation 20:12). We hope that any who might read this would be interested in visiting with us and desire to come learn more about God and his Word as we strive to do the same.