After a while I could not
listen to a sermon in a PCA church without wondering which parts did and didn't apply to me, since I'm female.
Not exact matches
Listening to them speak, I sometimes wonder if they've ever read the bible or actually paid attention
to what was written instead of just using talking points, propaganda and rhetoric
in their
sermons.
And yet, familiar disappointment
in the Church rises
to the surface as Helene says, «Enough that I don't
listen to what the priests blabber
in their
sermons.
In a small, steepled church, people sing a few old hymns backed by an organ, listen to a sermon, share in Communion and have bad coffee as they laugh and catch up in the church basement afterwar
In a small, steepled church, people sing a few old hymns backed by an organ,
listen to a
sermon, share
in Communion and have bad coffee as they laugh and catch up in the church basement afterwar
in Communion and have bad coffee as they laugh and catch up
in the church basement afterwar
in the church basement afterward.
Just a few years ago, I
listened to a
sermon where the pastor put the word «consent»
in air quotes: «The world says that as long as there's «consent,» it's alright, but we know better than that, don't we?»
What Thom Rainer doesn't seem
to understand or recognize is that just because someone stops sitting
in a pew on Sunday morning and
listening to a
sermon, this does not mean that they have left church.
Thankfully, Jesus is using people like me (and millions of others
in the same boat)
to show these people who have stopped attending church that there is wonderful way of following Jesus as part of His Body, the church, which does not involve sitting
in a pew on Sunday morning and
listening to a
sermon.
Look, being a church member has nothing
to do with sitting
in a pew on Sunday morning,
listening to a
sermon and praying for your pastor, giving your money
to support a local church budget, and making commitments
to serve on a church ministry program.
But I think that if you re-read the entire post, you will see that I am not saying that Jesus calls people
to leave the Church (His Body), but rather, that Jesus might be calling some members of His Body
to be the church
in a way that looks different than the Sunday morning activity of sitting
in a pew and
listening to a
sermon.
At a leadership conference
in Oslo, Norway, where I was speaking, a pastor there shared how a well - respected businessman
in his church was healed while
listening to one of my
sermon CDs.
So I
Listened to all of his
sermons read all of his blogs and than decided
to leave my number
to see if he would really call as he says on his web site, With
in 2 hours I recieved a call and DR. Collins never rushed me off the telephone answered all my questions, And After just that one call you can tell he loves and believes
in what he does, He wont be for everyone, Because he does talk about damnation and what it takes
to get
to heaven, And its not from giving ministers our money > I watched the you tube videos of many and he is just for me, everyone has a choice but
in listening to his
sermons and reading his blogs and than the telephone call this guy is the real deal.
he cautioned us
to be ready and alert for His coming, not dreaming of escaping
to an out of body place and not fussing over whether we have ticked all the theological boxes while we sit slumped
in the Sunday pew
listening to yet another
sermon on how
to be saved (when we are already saved).
While it is not possible
in most situations
to sit all day
in church and
listen to seven
sermons, we can give the majority of our time
in church
to the study of God's Word.
I still think we should still go
to the church... or maybe a meeting where all the believer can learn from each other, strengthening each other, pray for each other etc, and of course,
to worship God together... It is true that sometime I feel that I do not learn many thing from the
sermon, but, many times, I learn by going
to the church, knowing that I will not learn something from the preacher, humble myself
to still
listen to God and worship Him,,,, it is such a blessing
to hear others testimony about how God works
in their life, it is such an encouragement
to see people open up their problem, then, we can pray about them..
Nothing magical happens by sitting
in a pew on Sunday morning
to sing a few songs and
listen to a
sermon.
I don't think it necessarily has
to be
in a building on Sunday morning where they sing, sit
in pews, and
listen to a
sermon.
One Sabbath service as the congregation
in Newbury
listened to the
sermon of their pastor, the door burst open and
in walked a young woman stark naked.
I was once
listening to a
sermon and the pastor said this from the pulpit: «Children are dying of starvation
in Africa, and most of you
in the pews don't give a shit... But you know what is the saddest thing of all?
We can not «get credit» for church by showing up
in some building for an hour on Sunday morning, singing a few songs, smiling a few smiles, and
listening to a
sermon.
They are still part of His Church, but there might be something else He has
in store for them that does not involve singing songs and
listening to a
sermon on Sunday morning.
So far as we can tell, Sunday mornings will remain the same, with America's silent majority sitting
in the churches,
listening to silent
sermons
I lived near St. Louis for a number of years and had about an hour commute each way so I would
listen to a couple of
sermons or programs usually on the way
in and a couple on the way home.
But this is only true when we think of the church as a building that people enter and sit
in a pew
to sing and
listen to a
sermon.
Recently as I was sitting
in church
listening to a rather good
sermon on the importance of «working for justice and peace.»
I was raised
in a Baptist home and spent the first twelve years
listening to their
sermons about peace & love.
I taught and used WOTM
in one of the churches I pastored, have
listened to several
sermons by Ray Comfort (Hell's Best Kept Secret, etc), and have
listened to numerous evangelism encountered on «Way of the Master Radio.»
Sunday will remain the same: the American silent majority sitting righteously
in the pews
listening to silent
sermons.»
I go
to church throughout my childhood, sometimes reluctantly, but my mother has such control over us that we dress up each Sunday and sit quietly
in a row, my brothers and I,
listening to the adult
sermon.
Learn what the Shield of Faith is and how
to use it
in Spiritual Warfare by
listening to my new
sermon, The Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16).
There are lots of ways
to assemble with other believers that do not involve sitting
in a pew on Sunday morning
to listen to a
sermon.
I got
to the point where I didn't think I could
listen to one more
sermon, one more «praise report,» one more prayer request (that I knew would never be answered), one more «message from the Lord»
in the form of speaking
in tongues and interpretation, or one more «prophecy.»
Jesus didn't find Levi
in the Temple
listening to the priest's
sermons.
I
listened to a
sermon this past week
in which the pastor was explaining the progress his church was making on their new church building.
It's so much easier
to spend an hour each week sitting
in a seat
listening to music and a
sermon, and once a year packaging a box of food
to send
to poor people
in another country, all the while ignoring the guy we drive by every day who lives under a bush.
Also,
in light of the previous point, this sort of makes pastors and preachers the dealers
in this transaction, which is why you will very often find the most Bible addicts
in a church where the pastor and preacher places an heavy and constant emphasis on attending church,
listening to sermons, daily Bible reading, and going
to Bible studies.
Notice that those who decry the lack of biblical literacy
in the church often say that the solution
to this problem is
to come
listen to their
sermons, buy their books, and attend their schools.
But if you really want
to laugh your head off, get the original cast album of the British satirical revue Beyond the Fringe» and
listen to the track called «Take a Pew,»
in which Alan Bennett absolutely skewers the type of
sermon that Anglican vicars used
to make.
The familiar statement of Hermann Diem, «The congregation is born
in preaching» is also true
in reverse: «Preaching is born
in the congregation».10 One has only
to listen to sermons prepared for a homiletics class with no congregation
in view
to realize how vital
to preaching is the concrete situation.
As she
listened to podcasts of Greg Boyd's (Senior pastor at Woodland Hills Church
in Minnesota)
sermons, she heard another view expressed which she calls the «warfare view».
Those who follow teachers who give them what their itching ears want
to hear are those who are content
to gather more and more teachers,
listen to more and more
sermons, gaining more and more knowledge, and being so busy with Bible study, theological learning, and the accumulation of knowledge, that one never has a chance
to put any of it into practice
in the world.
But here's the real question: Did Jesus die so that people could show up and sit
in a pew on Sunday morning and
listen attentively
to a
sermon?
Rob, With respect, is the church just a hall where people sit
in pews
listening to sermons.
Why did Obama sit
in the hateful Rev Wright's church for 20 years and deny he didn't
listen to his
sermons.
In order
to become a «speaker» at the site designated for the performance of the
sermon, the preacher must first stand at many other sites where «voices» are heard and «presences» are embodied and there learn how
to listen attentively.
A group of our ministers had attended a nearby church where they
listened to a
sermon on love as that theme is presented
in I Corinthians 13.
The ministry of the congregation during the preacher's
sermon is
to listen, not passively, but actively out of their own meanings, and
in their very
listening to challenge and encourage the preacher
in what he is trying
to say.
We sat next
to each other
in church one Sunday
listening to a
sermon on the wrongs of getting angry.
Those who are really mature were encouraged
to take copious
sermon notes, study the Bible on their own for an hour or two every day,
listen to sermons on the radio while driving
to work, download
sermon MP3s from the internet for
listening while jogging or weeding the garden, read Bible study books and theology books
in their spare time, and attend one or two Bible conferences or retreats every single year.
Anything that makes people actually think for themselves, while
listening to the strange things spoken
in sermons, can't be bad.
For many years I sat
in a pew on Sundays,
listening to occasional
sermons about the poor, giving
to special offerings and looking appropriately sympathetic and concerned about poverty.