The Priority of Preaching: Making the Most of Sunday Sermons, Part 3

 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV)

We have reached the third installment of this brief blog series on making the most of Sunday sermons. Click here to review the first post and here for the second. In this post, we will consider what to do with a sermon once it has been received. 

Let's just stop right here and consider what we typically do once a Sunday sermon comes to a close. Do we discuss it on the way home with family and friends? Do we forget most of it come Monday morning? Do we ask God throughout the week to use the truths learned to create in us greater affection for and obedience to Christ? I will admit I am often guilty of not maximizing the effectiveness of God's gift of an always-needed sermon. I am often guilty in leaving sermons in seed form in my heart. But what could be if we prayerfully and daily tilled the soil in which the seed lay! In other words, we need Sunday sermons to affect our Monday through Saturday lives. Every day. Every moment.

To this end, then, let us consider...

4 Ways to Respond to a Sunday Sermon

1. Express gratitude to the Lord and His messenger.

Gratitude does our heart good, no matter if we think the preacher hit a "home run" with his sermon or not. We need to be intentional about expressing gratitude to the Lord for the spiritual food provided and for using His messenger to stir up our love for Christ. In terms of thanking the preacher, a simple "I was helped by today's message" is sufficient. If possible, though, consider specific ways in which the Lord used the message in your heart and encourage God's messenger with details. ("I was helped by _____, which by God's grace will look like _____ in my life moving forward.") Being specific is a great way to inform God's messenger how he can pray for you. When it comes to expressing gratitude to the Lord, be intentional about offering a prayer of adoration. Make much of the Lord by telling Him how glorious He is and how you plan, by the Spirit's enablement, to walk in greater obedience in the upcoming week.

2. Engage the content with others.

If you're not in the habit of taking notes during a sermon, you might consider doing so for the sake of post-sermon conversation. (I'm sure there are some among us, however, who can file away scrolls of mental notes. If you are that person, please share with me your strategy!) In any case, we want to listen well to the sermon so we can be helpful in assisting others make the most of the message. Each Sunday, try approaching someone older in the faith and someone younger to interact with the message's content. Dig deep theologically, but never forget to tunnel into the realm of application. We need each other to help each other strategize how to live godly lives. This type of discussion should include how believers should apply certain truths corporately (in community).  It should also entail what specific action points look like for a believer in a specific life context. And don't forget accountability! We need others to prayerfully keep us on track in terms of following through with established application points.

3. Entertain the message for further encouragement and equipping.

I know of several individuals who make time at some point in their week to re-listen to the previous Sunday's sermon. This is a fantastic routine to begin. Such a practice keeps the content fresh in our minds and hearts, as well as keeps us focused on Scripture. In fact, it might even be helpful to listen to the sermon while you're examining the Scriptures that informed the message. (Are these things so?) In addition, think of the opportunity we have to revisit the realm of application. Maybe there is something you missed the first pass through the message that would equip you to love the Lord with greater affection and serve Him and others with greater accuracy. Continually look for ways to mature in knowledge and practice.

4. Eagerly anticipate the next message.

We are blessed at Providence to systematically go through books of the Bible on Sunday mornings. Doing so allows us to see how biblical authors, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, crafted their texts. This leads to greater awareness of how verses connect to other verses, chapters other verses, and books to the full canon of Scripture. Though sermons serve us well as stand-alone units, we would do well to not only view sermons as stand-alone units. Intake a sermon's content well so that you are positioned to receive the next message with greater understanding of the flow of rationale. Anticipate making connections. Anticipate having questions from the previous week answered. Anticipate dwelling on the magnificence of the Holy Spirit's crafting of the Word. 

There are likely many more ways to maximize a sermon's efficacy after hearing it, but I hope the brief points above serve you well. If anything, they should assist in starting a helpful discussion. As we gather on Sunday mornings to learn of our gracious Lord, let us be those who receive the Word well and live dependently resolved to do what is necessary to live lives worthy of our calling.