In the eyes of the world and the worldly, preaching makes little sense. Preaching doesn't really register as a means of affecting society. Yet, preaching is THE ordinary means God uses to sanctify people and to change the world.1 Corinthians 1:21 tells us "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The fact is we often don't remember what we heard, just like we don't remember what we ate. But what is amazing is that God has already taken that into account. HE knows the weaknesses of humanity. He knows we have broken memories. He knows we get easily distracted. He knows our file cabinets are filled with a bunch of useless or harmful junk. Yet, I would bet that nearly all of us have heard sermons where we thought the preacher was speaking directly to us, and the very answer, the very truth we needed for that moment, God provided. The essence of my sermon is quite simple. You will not grow, if you do not go. And you will not go, if you do not love. And you will not love, if you are not loved. |
