As a retired pastor, my relationship with sermons has undergone a profound shift in recent months. Instead of writing and preaching God’s Word to others, a role I hope to resume in time, now I’m more focused on listening to others preach it. I’ve always said that believers should be active hearers of the Word and not mere spectators, and now I’m finding out what this means.
My new vantage point has also helped me realize that I don’t look at sermons the same way others do. When I hear a sermon that’s meticulously rooted in God’s Word, buttresses its points by other Scriptures, is delivered with clarity, practicality, and a clear focus on Jesus, our only Savior, my heart leaps with joy. But others, listening to the same sermon wonder why I find it so captivating. The inverse is just as true. Sermons praised by others often leave me perplexed. When I ask them what resonated with them, their responses revolve around the preacher’s personality, style, and enthusiasm, not a faithful exposition of the text or a presentation of Jesus Christ.
With all of this, I’ve come to wonder how many Christians even know what to look for in a sermon anymore. They seem to be moved more by the feeling they get from it than by its content. Yes, they hear the preacher, but I wonder if they hear Jesus? Do they hear the call to faith? I’m sure that a lot of the disconnect stems from our modern tendency to elevate subjective feelings and experience over objective truth, thanks, Schleiermacher!, but this only underscores the importance of knowing how to listen to sermons.
Read the full article at: https://rcus.org/article/how-to-listen-to-sermons/
