Preaching is important, and I believe hearing preaching should be a central part of Christian life. It is also important to place preaching in its proper context, which is as a part<\/i> of Christian life, and in particular as a part of Church life. Preaching does not sit alone and isolated from the other aspects of being a Christian, and it doesnt stand above the rest of Church life, untouched by it.<\/p>\n
This works in both directions, the life of the Church must have an impact on the preaching, and the preaching must have an impact on the life of the Church. As a Church you might be in the process of moving buildings, or perhaps working through planting a Church elsewhere, or maybe are involved in merging with another local Church. Maybe you are growing rapidly, maybe slowly, maybe not at all, or maybe even you are shrinking in size. Perhaps its the middle of thesummer and your congregation has halved due to everyone being away. Maybe youre just approaching Christmas or Easter and the Church typically swells for a few weeks.<\/p>\n
All of these things should have some impact on your preaching, because they are all having a significant impact on the people who are listening. This doesnt mean pandering to the itching ears of the congregation (2 Timothy 4:2-4), we still need to preach the truth that people need to hear, not the niceties they want to hear. This does mean though that when the topics and Bible passages are being chosen, and when the sermon is being prepared, we need to take the audience into account, we must consider those who will hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Preaching is important, and I believe hearing preaching should be a central part of Christian life. It is also important to place preaching in its proper context, which is as a part of Christian life, and in particular as a … Continue reading