Article: How to hear a sermon

NEW ORDER VOICE

A good sermon, like a good column in a magazine, should both challenge and uplift.

Alas, too many messages err on the side of entertainment (an obvious temptation for charismatic types). Or they offer too much irrelevant information (a temptation for the highly educated). Some sermons repeat the same message over and over, and others are just plain boring.

Let's not leave the fate of our minds in the hands of lack-lustre preachers. We, the listeners, can create our own mood, our own healthy mental environment. We can use the sermon time as an occasion to reinforce a message of hope, even if it's only in the congregation of our own thoughts. After all, the church experience ...

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