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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Hear / Here (01/26/23)
"I came tonight and heard the girls singing. I wanted to get here early, but I'll hear some more tomorrow night," Brother Billy confessed to Brother Hinds, the girl's dad.

Brother Hinds nodded and said, "I'm glad that you reach here safely. You will hear them sing again tomorrow night."

Brother Billy was an evangelist and was preaching that night. He was a little late for the meeting because of the traffic on the highway. He loves to hear the girls sing before he preaches, and their songs encourage him and give him a boost to preach the Word of God.

It was the first night of the camp meeting; surprisingly, the campground was crowded. The people heard about Brother Billy and wanted to hear him preach. Brother Billy was a well know evangelist who preached all over the United States of America.

His sermon that night was 'Faith cometh by Hearing and Hearing the Word of God.' After he announced his sermon's name, some people shouted, "Amen." Some did not know why they shouted Amen, so they looked amazed and uncomfortable, wondering whether they were in the right place.

Brother Billy felt the pull to say what Amen means to clear the atmosphere. So, holding his Bible, he said, "Amen here in the Bible means, "So let it be." Then there was a hush among the people as he continued, "Somebody here is going to hear the Word of God and believe it. And again, some of the people shouted, "Amen."

Brother Billy read from his Bible, John 21:1-14. He spoke on the disciples who went fishing all night and caught nothing.

Here is an excerpt from Brother Billy's sermon: "Discouraged and distraught, the disciples decided to leave when Peter Simon looked and saw a man standing on the seashore. One of them recognized that it was Jesus and said to Peter, "Isn't that Jesus? He is here!" Peter Simon said to them, "Let us go and meet him and hear what he has to say to us." Then they ran to meet Him.

And Jesus said to them, "Friend, have ye any fish?"
Peter answered, "No my Lord, we have toiled all night here and have caught nothing."
Jesus replied," Cast your net into the sea."
"But master, we have toiled all night. There is no fish in the sea!"
Jesus looked at him, and one of the disciples cried, "Peter, did you hear what the master said?
Peter turned to Jesus and said, "At thy word, we will cast the net into the sea."

And when they did, they could not pull the net in because of the large number of fish.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Bonnie Clarkson
02/03/23
I'm always thrilled to see scripture used in a story because of its truth. His word never comes back void. I liked that the story encourages evangelism.
How about including a description of the weather at the camp and if the seating was comfortable?
How about saying "Brother Billy's reputation preceded him, so people came to hear"?
A good preacher changes course when led to do so. Obviously his was effective.
The saying is "show, not tell". Did the songs go along with the sermon? Were the girls teenagers who had a choice in the songs?
The ending of the story was not satisfying. There is no tie in between the story of Jesus and the camp meeting. Don't leave assumptions to the reader.
Keep writing.
Barbara Culler 
02/07/23
I agree with the above statement, How did the sermon tie-in with what the people were experiencing?


You would do better to not submit your entries on the same day. Write it, let it sit, and frequently go back and rework it. Read it aloud several times until you have no more revisions.

Keep on writing!