Will Vaus

I well remember the first time I preached. It was in my home church, La Jolla Presbyterian in California. I was in eleventh grade and it was Youth Sunday. The young people of the church did everything in the service that day and it was all organized by the youth pastor. He picked one middle school student, one high school student, and one college student to deliver the sermon. Thus, the three of us had to coordinate our messages. We each had ten minutes and, as I recall, I was the only one to go overtime. We had two services in my home church with about seven hundred people in each service. I remember that I was a little bit nervous and so my throat got rather dry about halfway through my message in the first service. Thankfully, there was a glass of water in the pulpit. I took a sip of water and said something funny about it. Everyone laughed. Therefore, I did the same thing in the second service. However, some of my friends from youth group were in both services, so they

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat    to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.   22  Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet   23  and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”   24  So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.   25  Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.   26  She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.   27  She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,   28  for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”   29  Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.   30  Immediately aware that power had gone forth from