On Worshipping Well [Part 1]
Hearing the Word of God
Reading: The Reformed Pastor: Lectures on Pastoral Theology (Princeton Theological Monograph) ed. Sam Hastra, Jr.
Enjoying: cho-co-la-te
Listening: Evanescence and SOAD
Seeing as how tomorrow is the Lord's Day, one of the better things to occupy a Saturday evening with is preparing for the next day. To that end, here is a helpful post on dealing with listening to the sermon.
How you can stop sermons being boring
We realize that the link above seems to put stock in whether something is exciting, and the title of the post (and hopefully, series) of "worshipping well" probably sounds pragmatic, but just actually read the linked article and see if you still think so (and if you still do, send hate mail in the comments).
From the article:
It would be odd if your pastor turned up one Sunday with no notes, and simply asked, “Has anyone got any ideas what I should preach on this morning?”. But is that our attitude when we come to hear a sermon?...What are your thoughts? Does he capture all the elements of good sermon listening? Try employing what he suggests tomorrow morning or the next time you sit under God's word. (How well did it work for you? How did it make you feel? What were the benefits? < /end sarcasm>.) Leave your reflections, responses and opinions in the comments. If the sermon is truly God speaking through the mouth piece of the minister, we need to give the sermon its due.
A sermon is served like a Sunday dinner, not like an intravenous drip. It has to be chewed, digested and swallowed. We cannot simply sit back and expect to be fed...
Too often we equate worship with singing. Certainly our singing ought to be worshipful, but the whole service is a worship service. Everything that we do during a Sunday service ought to be worshipful, and that includes listening to the sermon...
So how do we stop sermons being boring? With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.
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[worship] | [listen] | [sermon]Labels: the long war
