Is the traditional pastor's sermon sufficient?
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:45 pm
This article (https://www.christianitytoday.com/edste ... cture.html) asks some thought-provoking questions about the tradition of churches and their sermons. Of course, the sermon is very important. But is the focus not often too much one-way?
Looking back, while growing up in church, I can see that I had a lot of key, nagging questions that were not getting answered during sermons. Of course, many of my questions were common ones other people - youth and adults - often have. Wouldn't it be cool if pastors solicited for attenders to write down their most burning questions, and maybe once a month or every so often, put aside some time service time to briefly respond to them. Even if only one or two key questions are answered, on whatever designated service, and even if the focus of the the rest of the sermon portion has nothing to do with answering the questions - wouldn't this likely be of significant value? It just seems to me that it pretty presumptuous to assume that a church's attenders wouldn't have many questions that are not being answered. So, how would a pastor know unless they poll their congregations. Even if it's as simple as having a "Questions" box where people could anonymously pose their questions - at least then pastor's would better know what questions weren't getting answered.
Thoughts?
Looking back, while growing up in church, I can see that I had a lot of key, nagging questions that were not getting answered during sermons. Of course, many of my questions were common ones other people - youth and adults - often have. Wouldn't it be cool if pastors solicited for attenders to write down their most burning questions, and maybe once a month or every so often, put aside some time service time to briefly respond to them. Even if only one or two key questions are answered, on whatever designated service, and even if the focus of the the rest of the sermon portion has nothing to do with answering the questions - wouldn't this likely be of significant value? It just seems to me that it pretty presumptuous to assume that a church's attenders wouldn't have many questions that are not being answered. So, how would a pastor know unless they poll their congregations. Even if it's as simple as having a "Questions" box where people could anonymously pose their questions - at least then pastor's would better know what questions weren't getting answered.
Thoughts?