Don’t Just Listen to the Sermon – Part Three

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Mid-week: peak or bleak?

It is Wednesday, do you remember what this past Sunday’s sermon was about? Maybe you don’t remember all that your pastor said, but hopefully there is something that is still sticking in your mind from the text of Scripture that was preached.

To assist you in this spiritual exercise I’ve been posting my list of suggestions on how to get the most out of the message. The first post offered suggestions to help you engage as a listener during the sermon. The second post listed some ideas on how to further mine and apply the message. Today I offer the final three suggestions that might help you take your journey in the Word a bit deeper.

Follow along with a commentary or study Bible.

No passage of Scripture can be fully exhausted in a morning service. For those who want to dig a little deeper into the discussion and study of a passage there are some great tools available. One such tool that can be used is a Bible commentary.

In a commentary the author studies the passage in greater depth and brings out much of what is behind some of the words, phrases, and ideas the biblical authors use. Like Bible translations, some commentaries are better than others. When you are ready to select a commentary it is wise to seek out recommendations. One resource that I have found helpful especially for moving from text to application is the NIV Application Commentary series.

A similar but less in depth resource is a good study Bible. I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible from Crossway. The NIV Study Bible and NLT Study Bible are also very good. The study notes can add to your understanding of the passage of Scripture and may even offer some guidance as to how to make personal application.

Keep a list of key words or phrases.

When you look at an entire book of the Bible in sequence you will begin to notice words, phrases and themes that appear again and again. Many times these repeated ideas are key to understanding the message of that book of the Bible as a whole. Some people like to underline or highlight these words directly in their Bible; others will simply keep a running list of things that stand out in their reading. Whatever method works for you, consider keeping some record that will add to your study and understanding of Scripture.

Keep a journal of your responses.

The most important thing for a Christian is not to learn more about the Bible; the most important thing for a Christian’s study of the Bible is to apply it to his or her life. For some this step is aided by keeping some sort of a record of how they have chosen to apply what they are reading and hearing on a week to week basis.

This may take the form of an actual journal where regular entries are recorded. But this could also be something as simple as writing a reminder on the back of a bulletin: “In light of this passage, this week I plan to…” Again each of us knows what works and does not work well for our own personalities. The key is to find something that works for you to help bring what we are hearing into practice as believers growing in Jesus Christ.

Suggestions?

I hope that you have found these suggestions to be helpful in your study of Scripture. As a pastor my prayer for my congregation is always that they would not just hear what I would have to say, but that they would hear clearly what God is saying to them by the Holy Spirit through the reading of His Word. If you have other suggestions for moving from sermon to application I would love to hear from you.

May God bless the preaching and the hearing of His Word.

Don’t Just Listen to the Sermon – Part Two

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22, NIV)

In yesterday’s post I discussed the first three of ten suggestions on how to get the most out of the pastor’s sermons. Today we explore four more ways that you as the listener can better engage the message that you hear.

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Doing these things will not make the transition from hearing to application automatic. However, the way we listen to sermons can sometimes prove the old adage to be true: “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

Read the passage before coming to church.

Does your pastor publish a preaching schedule? Many times the following week’s sermon passage will be noted in the worship bulletin, in a monthly newsletter, or on the church calendar.

Why not take advantage of this by simply reading through the passage once or twice prior to coming to worship? You would be surprised how much this can enrich the whole worship service when you have had a chance to preview what’s in store for that morning.

If this information is not currently available to you, be sure to encourage your pastor to publish his preaching texts ahead of time. You and your congregation will be blessed for having it.

Read the passage in a different translation.

Most of us have been reading from the same Bible translation (if not from the same copy of the Bible) for many years. We tend to stick to what we are used to. However, the Lord has blessed English speakers with some great versions of the Bible that can enrich our study of his Word.

In many evangelical churches the sermons are typically based out of the New International Version (NIV). Personally, I also keep a copy of the English Standard Version (ESV) on my nightstand, and I often read other versions in my personal Bible study such as the New Living Translation (NLT), the New American Standard (NASB), and the Holman Christian Standard (HCSB). Some translations are better than others, but simply reading a passage from another version can open your eyes to what is being said in the text that you might otherwise have missed.

Make a list of questions.

As you read your Bible and listen to the messages, keep a list of questions that arise in your mind. If you are reading the passage before the sermon, write down any questions you have that you hope to have answered as a result of hearing the message. If you don’t get those questions answered, seek out the Pastor or someone who can clear up anything you might be wondering about.

As you listen to the message preached, there may also be new questions that are raised in your mind. Be sure to write those questions down and seek the answers. You can do this either through your own study of the Bible or by asking someone else for insight. Whatever you do, don’t settle for leaving your questions unanswered.

Join a group discussion.

A great place for seeking answers is in a group setting. More than likely your question is shared by someone else who might just be a little too afraid to ask. While sermons tend to be more one directional, groups allow dialog and learning from one another.

If discussion groups aren’t available through your church, see if you can’t invent your own. All you need is at least one other person that will think out loud with you about what you are hearing and reading from God’s Word.

Dig Deep

Tomorrow I will conclude this three-part series of posts on getting the most out of the messages. Until then work at digging deep into God’s Word. You won’t be disappointed by what you find there.

Don’t Just Listen to the Sermon

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Engaging the Message

My guess is that few people other than the pastor are thinking much about tomorrow’s sermon. In fact most people will probably not begin to think about the sermon until the preacher speaks his first words.

It is the pastor’s responsibility to engage his hearers, but it is also the hearer’s responsibility to engage what he hears. To help my congregation to become more engaged hearers I put together a list of ten suggestions which I called ‘How to Get the Most out of the Message.’

Not everyone will adopt all ten suggestions into their Sunday routine. But making an effort in one or two of these areas to become more engaged before, during, and after the message will go a long way.

I am going to present this list in a series of three posts. Use what you find helpful and be sure to comment with your own practices.

1. Bring your Bible to church.

That may sound like an obvious suggestion. Many people already bring their Bible with them to church. Others will use the pew Bible or will read the text printed in the bulletin or projected on the screen. The reason that we need to bring a Bible with us is so that we are able to see with our own eyes what we are hearing with our ears.

We are not only learning what the Bible says, but we are also being taught how we are to use the Bibles we have. Since the sermons we hear are (hopefully) based on what the text of the Bible says, we need to be able to verify what we hear with what is printed on the page.

2. Take notes during the sermon.

Taking notes is more than just filling in the blanks. In many churches what is provided in the bulletin is merely an outline. On some occasions there may even be no outline provided at all. What we need to be writing down is what we need to be taking home with us from what we’ve heard.

It’s not about getting down the right answer; it’s about what God is saying to me through this text of Scripture. For some that may be a single word, a phrase, a specific verse, an illustration, or some specific recommendation for application. What you write down is what you need to take home.

3. Get a copy of the sermon when you are gone.

We all get sick, go on vacation, get called away for work, or occasionally just can’t be in church on a particular Sunday. When this happens take advantage of the resources available so that you can stay on track with what is happening. This is especially important when the sermon series takes listeners through a whole book of the Bible. Often times what we hear on any given Sunday will build off of what has come before.

Hopefully your church offers ways to hear the sermon when you are gone. Some churches provide the opportunity for listening online or downloading the message from the website. For those who do not have access to the internet, messages may also be available on CD. If these resources are not available a written transcript or copy of the pastor’s notes may be upon request. The point is be proactive.

Don’t Delay, Start Today!

Depending on when you read this post there may still be time to adopt some these practices as your own for this Sunday’s worship. In my next post I will offer the three more suggestions for getting the most out of the message. Until then don’t just listen to the sermon, engage it!

Back from Chicago

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I feel like I just got back from the All-Star Game. Even though I did sneak in a visit to Wrigley Field the real event was taking place at the Rosemont Convention Center. I'm talking about this year's Gospel Coalition Conference. If you missed it, then take the time to listen to the messages posted online. When do you ever get to hear an entire book of the Bible preached through by some of the best evangelical preachers of our time?

What stood out to me was that although no two messages or preachers were the same, each one tied in so well with the others. Can I pick a favorite? I'm not sure, but a front runner would have to be K. Edward Copeland. Talk about preaching with fire!

Another highlight apart from the messages has to be the freebies. I walked away with a free ESV Study Bible, a smattering of book courtesy of the various publishers represented there, and bag full of books thanks to the Band of Bloggers Not too shabby.

Best Dressed?

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I read this post (John MacArthur on Respect in the Pulpit) this morning, and while I understand his point, I tend to disagree on the "why". Now, granted I wear a tie on Sundays about 90% of the time. But I've often wondered if our "best dressed" is necessary to come to worship. We've had at least one person come to our church where their Sunday best was the only thing they had. I wonder if part of my role as pastor isn't to communicate that all are welcome to come and worship with us. Perhaps that message can even be communicated in how we/I dress.

What do you all think?

A place to dump my unused thoughts

I suppose I created this thing to share what's on my mind with anyone willing to read it. I've been reading enough blogs over the last few months to know that its really hit or miss when it comes to various entries. Some things people write are down right pointless. Other things tend to be quite thought provoking. God only knows what my entries will amount to.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the same way with my preaching. For a while I never imagined that I would ever be standing behind a pulpit one day. Now for the past 2 1/2 years I've had the opportunity to deliver a message almost every Sunday (yes, even pastors go on vacation once in a while.) There have been countless Saturday nights when I've been scared to death about what might leave my mouth the next morning that would be passed off as a sermon. The strange thing is that no matter how I feel before a sermon, most of the time I feel pretty good after a sermon. I'm usually exhausted by mid-Sunday afternoon, but I'm often at peace at what I've said. That's because I've learned to trust the Holy Spirit. I can never tell how the Spirit will communicate with another person's spirit in cooperation with the message I've given. Its weird that the points I intend people to walk away with may not come up again, but something I don't remember emphasizing does.

Preaching (and pastoring) is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Right now I can't imagine doing anything else. Some times I can't believe that I'm getting paid to do what I love to do anyway, that is to read and study God's Word daily and to share the Scriptures with others who need to hear it too.

If anyone out there in blog land ends up reading this, I suppose I would want to encourage you to let your pastor know what spoke to you from his latest sermon (that's assuming you have one; maybe a topic for another entry.) Not that he (I) needs his ego rubbed, but its always nice to know that what you've spent the week preparing for others to chew on was actually digestible.