"And a young man named eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer." (Acts 20:9)
You can almost sense in the tone of Luke's voice as he penned these words that he thought Paul went a little long in his message. Putting Eutychus to sleep wasn't the worst of it, because the young man fell from a third story window and died. I don't remember ever killing anyone with my preaching, although a few might have longed for it. LOL.
A church member commented on the sermon from our first service this past week, and she said, "It seemed a little blah." Thanks for the honesty. So it generates some questions for discussion today, and I hope the debate will be lively and challenging to all of us. Is the preacher the only one responsible for the quality of the sermon? Yes, we need God's annointing, so how much responsibility do the attendees have for that? God has promised to "show up" where two or three are gathered, but He hasn't promised to "show off" under those conditions.
The scripture says that God inhabits the praise of His people. So if two or three or two or three thousand show up in His name, but do not genuinely worship, do not come with receptive hearts, does God always manifest Himself with an annointing on the preaching. Is it only dependent on the "preacher".
Here is one more thought? Is the worship celebration of God's people about a performance by the band, the choir, the preacher, or someone else, or is it a stage for the person of God to be exhibited? If the point of our lives is to point to Him, how well are we actually doing that? Can you offer some solutions, not just point at the problems today? Can you shoulder some responsibility as well as just pointing the fingers at how bad the "church" has become? Let's hear it.
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I feel that we are all responsible for our worship experience. We should pray before worshiping God that He will prepare our hearts in a way to bring honor to Him and that He will show us the way to incorporate the sermon into our lives. As you say, we can show up, but we have to show up prepared to truly worship and to me, that comes from each individual. It is a personal thing.....the pastor cannot worship for us...he can only let God speak through him....
ReplyDeletejust my thoughts and wanted to share.....susan caughman
Just going through the Motions of attending a service where We expect God just to show up, does not mean He will. If We go and Fully Believe and Feel His Presences I think He will. I have felt Many times that God is sitting Right beside Me, it's such a joy just knowing that He is always Walking, Hearing Or Making His Presence known is such a joy to Me.
ReplyDelete1) To answer the question on Is the preacher the only one responsible for the quality of the sermon, I would say "No", I think We as a Person, needs to Want to Hear the Word of God and feel His Presences in the Bldg. We need to come with a Open Heart, Mind and Hear What God is wanting Us to Hear each Person, not just 1
2)We are there to offer Praise and Glory to God, and Him alone.
3) That is Where Commintment comes in, We need to Commit to God, with all Our Hearts and Soul. Like Rick Warren says It's not about "Me" it's about "God" and God "ALONE"
Actually last Sunday as I drove home I thought "I
ReplyDeletealmost feel sorry for the late service, it seems as thought he puts so much into the 1st service I wonder how much he has left for the 2nd."
Blah - naw!!! Not try to pump you up Brad just
it's funny how 2 people sitting in the same church, different pew can have 2 seperate observations. If the Holy Spirit had not spoken to me via the preaching of the word then you would not have had the conversation with me afterward.
David, that is so true, I have often thought that myself, but We need to remember, that Brad is saying the words God Himself has put there for Brad.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts: Worshiping is GIVING, not RECEIVING. In Listening to a Sermon, we RECEIVE information that we can use in GIVING to God the Love, Honor, Praise, Devotion, etc. that we feel for HIM. My greatest worship experiences have often been without a sermon, or a choir. How can a sermon be "blah" (to a Believer) if it comes from the Bible? Mason
ReplyDeletePS: Brad: I have never heard a "blah" sermon from you.
Good point, Mason, very good point.
ReplyDelete