Learning To Listen!

Listening to a sermon can be a daunting task. There can be major distractions, everything from screaming babies to snoring neighbors (don't laugh-this really happened to me). Granted, there are many things that occur during a sermon that we simply can't control, including the preacher himself. But there are many things that we can control, at least to a point. This is the first in a series of posts concerning how to listen effectively to a sermon. For a more complete reading on the subject, find a copy of Christopher Ash's booklet Listen Up! He has some great ideas and thoughts, some of which I will cover in the coming posts. I hope these are a help to you. Enjoy.

L2L (Learning To Listen) Point #1:
PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. This one is so simple, yet probably the most overlooked aspect of listening to a sermon. And it might be the most important.  Honestly, how often do you ask God to allow you to hear the things you need to hear? And after you hear them, how often do you ask God to let those things be received into your life and applied in tangible ways? How do you deal with those things that are shared with which you initially disagree? How about those things that are particularly tedious/challenging/convicting? I cannot effectively listen apart from communicating with God. The quality of my listening, and the results that should follow, are contingent upon prayer. So...start praying now for Sunday's message, lifting up both speaker and listener to the Lord. Praying people make better listeners.

An Upside-Down World!

Tomorrow I am going to begin a short posting series that centers on the topic of learning to listen effectively to your pastor's sermon. For today, here is another excerpt from the book Die Young: Burying Yourself In Christ. In the upside-down world of Christianity, everything is different. Less is more. Death is life. And weak becomes the new strong. Consider:

"In the Christian life, unlike the world around us, weakness, not strength, is a valuable commodity. We have access to the throne of God, not because of our brute strength or steady determination to obey every minute detail of the law, but because of the confession of our inability to do any of it on our own. It is through weakness that we first utter the words, 'Dear God, save me.'"

Not Intimidated!

I recently completed a seven-week sermon series taken from Paul's letter to Titus. From our inferences from Paul's writing, coupled with historical accounts, we can safely say that the people of Crete were quite the challenge to disciple. But Paul reminds us that the gospel is truly sufficient for all things...and for all people! We may have tendencies to be become intimidated by others, particularly by those that we view as, well, intimidating. The gospel, however, is "God's power for salvation to everyone who believes." And Paul instructed Titus in relation to the gospel. The Cretans, as hardened as they were, needed the message of Jesus. Paul was confident that this message was sufficient enough to do all that needed to be done among the Cretans: establish and care for local churches, ensure sound teaching, correct wrong doctrine and behavior, lead people into good works, keep a godly focus, and support the cause of the gospel elsewhere. So what do we learn from this? If the Good News was all that was needed for the people of Crete, that is all that is needed for the people of today. Whether they be the people of our own churches, the people that live across town, or the people a thousand miles away, the gospel is all-sufficient in saving them and supplying their needs. Unleash it and let it do its work. 

Desiring Less to Have More

"Part of the death that leads to righteousness (Romans 6:16) as you die young is learning to die to your desire for stuff-the definition of stuff being anything other than God. And while stuff isn't inherently evil, the position we give it in our hearts can be. Face it-less isn't something most of us are excited about getting, unless it's less of something bad. 'Dear God, give me less good stuff' has probably never been your prayer."

Hayley & Micheal Dimarco, Die Young: Burying Yourself In Christ

Prayer Challenge: Ask God to reveal something that exists in abundance in your life. It may be clothes, shoes, tools, money, toys, furniture, books, etc...Anything, really. Then ask God what He would have you do with those things that you could be a blessing to someone else. Remember: Having less is actually more! Learn to let go of "stuff".

Christ Changes Everything!

We recently began a new session of Discipleship Study at our church, using the book by Haley & Micheal Dimarco Die Young: Burying Yourself In Christ. I love the chapter titles. Among them: Death Is the New Life, Less Is the New More, Slavery Is the New Freedom, and Red Is the New White. The authors continually challenge the reader by reminding him/her that Jesus really does bring about a radical change in life. Our reasoning is to be different than that of our worldly counterparts. Our speech is to be different. Our attitudes are to be different. Our motivations are to be different. Our behavior is to be different. While some changes may be sudden and dramatic, and others subtle and painstakingly long, make no mistake: Christ is at work in the life of a believer! How is He working in you? Do you notice Him leading you on the "road less traveled"? Consider these words from the Dimarcos:

"When you die to everything that this world suggests is necessary for a 'good life', when you reject everything that they say is essential for happiness, peace, or even life, you choose the road less traveled by natural man but well-traveled by the spiritual man. It is a narrow road that leads to life and few will find it (Matthew 7:14) because few are willing to accept the paradigm shift that faith requires. This shift says that life isn't about you but about your God. This may mean taking the worst seat at the table (Luke 14:10), going the extra mile (Matthew 5:41), or forgiving someone for the same thing over and over again (Matthew 18:22). All of these the world would consider a step down in life and most definitely not a step up."

Considering the World to Come!

"How then, should we view this world and our existence in it? The Puritans would answer, sub specie aeternitatis- 'in the light of eternity': we must 'consider' (Romans 8:18) things as they will be rather than they are now: I see a world in decay and trouble. I consider a renewed, perfect world to come. I watch my body deteriorating. I consider my new body. I can make no sense of things here. I consider a world where all is integrated. I am tempted to sin here. I consider a world of perfection to come. I see in part now. I consider a time when I shall see Jesus. This is our calling: to gaze deliberately and see things as they will be rather than as they are. Did you notice that Paul suggests that this deliberate gazing is what creation itself is doing? Creation 'waits with eager longing' or, as J.B. Phillips so marvelously rendered it, 'The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.' Creation stands on tiptoe. Are you?"

Derek W. H. Thomas, How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home

Say What?

In this month's edition of Christianity Today magazine's Quotation Marks segment, you will find a hilarious flub from noted atheist Richard Dawkins. When asked publicly for the full title of Charles Darwin's famous book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, Dawkins struggled. His exact reply:
"On the Origin of Species...uh...with...oh God." Sounds like a confirmation of Romans 1, but I'm sure Dawkins would disagree! Maybe he should stick with books that have simple titles, like, say...the Bible.