Over the past year or so, I have watched from my window or the creek on Sunday mornings as cars speed by, heading to the small church down the road, which I have attended a few times. Five minutes till ten means it's time for Sunday school. An hour later, those who prefer morning worship to Sunday school will pass by. A few minutes after noon, the same vehicles pass by, indicating that the morning service is complete. The adage is true, I can set my watch by the predictability of the vehicles passing my place.
Rushing to church, rushing home, or rushing to the nearest restaurant is part of a Sunday ritual for many. It's called going to church. And if you don’t go every time the doors open, you might get a quick familiar quote from a dear old saint and most assuredly from the minister, a quote from Hebrews 10:25 about not forsaking the assembling ourselves. Then there is “You need to be in church”.
Then some ask me what church I attend. I tell them I am a minister, and then, where do you go, pastor or minister? When I give them my response, they are quick to give me their opinion. Sometimes, I ask them if I told them I was an evangelist, would that make a difference in their response? They say, of course, that evangelists normally travel from church to church or wherever the Lord leads them.
The conversation will always lead to an offer from them to attend their church. They will give their glowing reasons for attending: great worship, friendly people, wonderful fellowship, great outreach, and, of course, an incredible minister who preaches the truth. It is with the last response that a real litmus test for me comes to light.
So here it is. But before I delve into this, let's give you a fact. Over the years, I have asked hundreds of Christians who attend church on Sunday this one question. It may be on Monday or towards the end of the week. Can you tell me what the minister's message was on Sunday? Sermon title? Scripture references used? Now, for the shocker, 9 out of 10 cannot tell me what the Sermon title was, or do not remember what the sermon was about at all. Maybe a few can give a general scripture reference that was used. Now, if a pastor is on a theme or series, they can tell me that, but cannot tell me any major points. One lady told me that she didn’t remember, but it was really good.
Wow…so let's break this down. So you love going to church on Sundays. There is no Sunday night service, and it's all about the morning service. And you really love worship, especially the preaching of the Word. Suppose you attend every Sunday for one year. Let's say the minister’s sermon lasts 30 minutes; that is a total of 26 hours of sermons for the year, or 11 days over ten years. Now, if 9 out of ten can't remember week from week, what does that say? There is either a problem with the hearer or the one presenting the message. Granted, some are note-takers and may have a notebook full of truths (The Word of Faith Movement was an example of this), but most who do, without looking at their notes, still cannot give me more than a few examples of the sermons delivered over the course of the year.
What if the disciple never remembered anything Jesus said, or Luke couldn’t remember what Paul had to say? I think the reason was that they remembered it was all about Jesus. The message was anointed because it was all about HIM. They needed no sermon outlines or PowerPoints, videos, or help from AI. Christians had anointed ears because they wanted to hear the words of LIFE.
Today, I don’t need to visit a church to see if I like it. Since 92% are on Facebook or YouTube, I click through to watch the minister's services and previous sermons. I challenge anyone to point to a church where the message from the pulpit is all about Jesus, being filled and led by the Holy Spirit, and living a life of holiness for a whole year.
No iPads, sermon outlines, or catchy videos, just anointed preaching that will change lives and produce hearers of the word and doers.
Anointed preaching and teaching come from spending time in the prayer closet, coming out with a word that says, “THUS SAITH THE LORD.” And so it is with the hearers, in the same attitude of prayer, saying, “Open my ears, Lord, let my spirit receive so my mind can understand.”
Listen up… 26 hours a year, 11 days for 10 years… We must redeem the time.
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