Be engaged Friday night, March 7th, 2014, I heard a young man preach on lessons he skipped out on when he was younger. His father is a preacher and he made the point that it was not that he snuck out of the building or anything like that but there were sermons that he just did not pay attention to. He gave various reasons for doing so and these might be the same reasons we could come up with. The reasons might have been the thought that “I have heard this before,” or “I know this already,” or, “This is a topic I am not interested in.” Do you get the drift of his thinking when he was 16 or so? Some of those same thoughts have gone through my head, too, at one time or the other. Todd was talking about not being engaged in the sermon, letting his mind drift, not concentrating on the words or not letting the words have an impact on him. Dee Bowman says that a preachers job is to storm the will of the listener. That will be really hard to do if the listener is indifferent to the sermon. I would like to extend Todd Banning’s point to the level that we should be mentally engaged in the whole worship service. Announcements – are we really listening to what is going on in the church? Are we paying attention to those who may be sick, injured, or hurting somehow? Do we make a list and take it home and use it as a guide to call, text, email, visit, pray and/or deliver food? I don’t always know all those who are not doing well and those might be added to what is in the bulletin. Did you copy them down? BE ENGAGED! Singing – remember that we are supposed to sing to the Lord and teach and admonish one another and sing with thankfulness to God (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16) when we are singing. How can that be done if we are not paying attention to the words? Are you thinking while you are singing? BE ENGAGED! The Lord’s Supper – we take of the bread and the fruit of the vine as a remembrance of what Jesus did for us (I Cor. 11:24, 25). What are you thinking of as you partake of this? Do you consider that he died for you while you were a sinner? Do you think about the fact that this was God’s plan since the beginning? Do you remember that He was God and came to be a man to suffer for the world and save the lost that want to be saved? BE ENGAGED! Think on these things. The Contribution – What are you thinking of as your money goes into the plate? Are you resentful? Are you prepared beforehand? Are you thankful that you have the money that allows you to do this? Are you generous? (I Cor. 16:1, 2; II Cor. 8, 9; Mk. 12:41 – 44) BE ENGAGED! Prayers – the translation of the word “Amen” is “so be it.” This signifies you agree with what the person said. How can you do that if you check out during the prayer? What if the person says something wrong, WHY would you say Amen? What if there is something that the person praying leaves out? Maybe you can slip in some words that help your heart. And, we have already spoken of the sermon in the introduction but I would like to add one more thought. You need to stay engaged to make sure that the preacher speaks only from the word of God, not from the traditions of men. How can you do that if you don’t know the Scriptures yourself or are not following along as the preacher or teacher is preaching or teaching? BE ENGAGED! STAY ENGAGED ALL THROUGH THE SERVICE! How can anything done during the service have an effect on you if you are checked out mentally? Think on these things!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:35:38 +0000
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