Out of respect, I’ll not name him. But when I was a kid growing up in church, one of the men in our church fell asleep during the sermon almost every Sunday. He was so obvious because he sat in the back row of the choir, the highest point in the church. He fell asleep with his head tilted all the way back and mouth wide open.
Now that I am a pastor and preach every Sunday, I know how our pastor felt about sleepers. I take preaching very seriously, though I try to have fun with it. I want my sermon to be moving, educational, inspirational, motivational, challenging, encouraging, and yes, to some degree even entertaining. I understand my preaching style is not everyone’s cup of tea, and I am OK with that. That doesn’t stop me from working towards the goal of being the best that God wants me to be.
As preachers, we bear the responsibility to prepare and deliver sermons prayerfully under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We are SO dependent on HIM for everything that we do. The moment we begin to believe that we have anything of ourselves that makes us good preachers, we are DOOMED.
However, listeners also have a responsibility. I have heard too many people say (about my preaching as well as others’), “I just don’t get anything out of it.” Granted, we preachers are apt to have a “bad day” from time to time, and some who stand to preach do so consistently unprepared and under-prayed. Yet often the fault of a boring sermon may fall upon a listener who is not prepared to hear what God is saying.
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