[Listening 101] A guide to getting the most out of a sermon

Transcription

1 [Listening 101] A guide to getting the most out of a sermon

2 Listening 101 A guide to getting the most out of a sermon

3 Purpose of this Book So what is the right way to listen to a sermon? With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action. - Phil Ryken Over the past few years, Missio Dei Church has provided study guides for Acts, Nehemiah, and Revelation (chapters 1-5). The Elders decided that going through Sunday s sermon as a Missional Community would best for the church as well as our Missional Communities. Pastor Paul Vroom spends hours upon hours doing research while writing and rewriting his sermon week in and week out. We wanted our people try and get the most they could out of the sermon. These study guides worked for a while. They were a great tool and served their purpose. However, these study guides took a lot of time to create (content, design, printing, folding, etc ). These study guides, especially Acts, were produced far in advance as they had to be produced in booklet form which meant that the content needed to be written ahead of time. That meant that Pastor Paul was writing content about sections of Scripture in which he was not entirely sure where he was going to be going with that particular sermon. As we were gearing up for our Exodus series, we began to see our study guides as a type of a crutch. They were helping people think through a sermon after it was taught, but people were still able to go through the motions of listening to a sermon and simply reading aloud the study guide questions within a Missional Community. Pastor Paul and I realized that what we really needed to do was teach people how to listen to a sermon. Instead of cranking out study guide after study guide, I decided that I would take the time to write a booklet that would help the church listen to sermons more effectively. This booklet is a reulection on some of the practices I take in preparing for a sermon and what I do during a Sunday morning as well as talking to other members of our church. I also used books like What is a Healthy Church Member by Thabiti Anyabwile and Listen Up! by Christopher Ash. This will not be an exhaustive resource on listening to a sermon nor does it plummet the depths on why we all struggle to listen to a sermon. However, my prayer is that this booklet will give you some tools, skills, and ideas to best hear from the Word of God on a Sunday morning. We want you to not just be informed by the Word, we want you to be transformed by the Word of God. This all starts with careful listening. Together for the Gospel, Todd Paben pastoral assistant to Missio Dei Church

4 Table of Contents We All Have a Listening Issue... 5 What Is Our Remedy?... 6 [Humility]... 6 [Preparation]... 7 Actively Listen... 9 Taking Notes... 9 Leave Your Bible Open... 9 Appendix A: General Sermon Questions Appendix B: For the Parents Appendix C: For Further Study Questions for the Gospels and Acts Questions for Old Testament Narrative Questions for the Epistles Questions for Hebrew Wisdom literature & Poetry Questions for Prophetic Literature Questions for Apocalyptic Literature... 22

5 We All Have a Listening Issue Whether we want to admit it or not, we all struggle to listen. Ever since Genesis 3, we have struggled to listen and obey, to both God and man. With the fall came confusion and chaos and this aided in our struggling to listen one another appropriately. We are often quick to stop listening to someone as soon as they start talking because we don t have time, energy, or affection to listen to this person. Our listening deuiciency, as I will call it, is in part due to the fact that we are on sensory overload. We have meetings and deadlines that require our attention at our work or for church. We have families that require our attention. We have phones, tablets, and computers that are going off with reminders and alerts all day long. No wonder we struggle to listen because we spend our day trying to Uigure out what to listen to. This listening deuiciency that we all have affects us throughout our whole life, but in particular, a Sunday morning. When we come to sit under the word of God, we are often distracted. Cars are driving by, sirens are going off, children are singing downstairs, the Pastor is preaching on something that you are not interested in, etc. Whatever the case maybe, just because we are in a church does not make us perfect listeners. We need to work hard at actively listening to what a Pastor has to say because they are speaking for the voice of God from the Word of God. Page 5

6 What Is Our Remedy? [Humility] There are numerous ways in which we need to humble ourselves. However, the two areas I want to focus on, as it pertains to listening to a sermon better, is our humility to Scripture Uirst and our Pastor second. To Scripture: Over the years, our church has become very familiar with 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and proeitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. The purpose of our listening is to not put another tally mark on our list of sermons we have sat through. Rather, a purpose of our gathering and coming hear the word preached and expounded on - is for our competency and our equipping so that we can respond with good works as God s servants. We need to humble our agenda, our wants, our desires, and our self- righteousness to the very word of God. God is the one who knit you together in your mother s womb (Psalm 139:13), who breathed life into your lungs (Genesis 2:7), and who knows the hairs upon your head (Matthew 10:30). We have a God who intimately knows us and since he knows us so well, he also knows what s best for us. What is best for us is contained in the good news of Jesus Christ. To the Pastor: I could think of no better words to use than these words from George WhiteUield: Come to hear them [pastors], not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unproeitable to ourselves. Come eagerly, come expectantly, come excited. 1 1 Challies, Tim. Informing the Reforming. Page 6

7 [Preparation] An analogy that is often used when talking about listening to and digesting a sermon is putting your mouth on a Uire hose and trying to drink from it. This way of drinking just does not work. The same goes with our preparation on a Sunday morning. If you come into church without having prepared or read the sermon text for the morning, you are going to have a lot to process and digest. When you take this approach to a sermon, you have so much to listen to that your brain cannot keep up. You are hearing the Scripture text for the Uirst time and you are trying to Uigure out where the pastor is going while he gives his opening thoughts to the text for the morning. As he lays out the sermon points for the morning, you are distracted because you have no clue where he is getting these points. Your husband or wife leans over to you to deuine a word the pastor has just used, and because you are so distracted, you did not listen to the word you were asked to deuine. Have you been here? If you are anything like me, this is often when you give up, tune out, and start to think about your Sunday nap, the football game, the chores you have to do later, or your upcoming work week agenda. However, your can better prepare for the Sermon with the following steps 2: 1. Meditate on the Sermon Passage During Your Quiet Time Outline the text in your own daily devotions and use it to inform your prayer life. You can use your outline as a listening aid; compare it to the preacher s outline for new insights you missed in your own study. 2. Invest in a Good Set of Commentaries Add to your quiet times some of the greatest mind in Christian history. Study the Bible with John Calvin, Martin Lloyd-Jones, or Matthew Henry. If you need suggestions on who to read for the current series ask your pastor. 2 Anyabwile, Thabiti. What Is A Healthy Church Member. Wheaton: Crossway Books, Page 7

8 3. Talk and Pray About the Sermon in A Community For us at Missio Dei Church, this is part of what happens at a Missional Community gathering. It is during these gatherings where you can ask questions like, How did the Scripture challenge or speak to you today? or, What about God s character most surprised or encouraged you? 4. Ask Questions About the Text What would it look like if we were more like Jonathan Edwards when he resolved that he would never let a day end before he had answered any questions that troubled him or sprang to mind while he was studying the Scripture? Be like a dog gnawing on a bone. Go after questions until you have answers. Page 8

9 Actively Listen Taking Notes 3 Invest in a good notebook, one that will last from being used everyday as you prepare for Sunday (and your own personal daily devotions). During the sermon, write down things that stand out to you. Write down things that resonate with you. Write down things that don t sit well with you. Write things down that confuse you or that you don t understand. Write down words, phrases, and ideas that trouble you. The list of what you can write down could go on and on. As you listen and take notes, be thinking about how this sermon is going to impact you. Be thinking about how you and your spouse can process this sermon. Be thinking about how this sermon applies to your family, your workplace, or your neighborhood. Leave Your Bible Open One of the many temptations we face during a sermon is the desire to close our Bibles once we have read the sermon text for the morning. Try leaving your Bible open on your lap during a sermon. Allow the Word of God to be seen easily. If you get confused on where your pastor is going within a text, re- read the text for the morning to catch up to where he is. While there is no direct Scripture reference to what I am about to say, I think the idea holds true. When we sit with our Bibles open on our lap, it indicates that we are open to letting the very Word of God penetrate our callous hearts and shows that we want to be more like God. When we close our Bibles instantly that communicates that we have heard what we wanted, we are content, and that we do not need the Word of God. 3 Please see Appendix A for some sample questions that you can answer during each sermon. As well there are also questions to help parents process a sermon with their children. Page 9

10 Appendix A: General Sermon Questions Here are some questions that you should be able to answer by the end of any sermon: 1. What was new to my understanding of God? 2. What was reinforced about my understanding of God? 3. What bothered you this week? Why? 4. What encouraged you this week? Why? 5. How did this sermon help me understand the Gospel better? 6. The Gospel/Word of God exposes us for who we are. What was exposed? 7. Main idea of the sermon? 8. What struck me about the nature of man? 9. What struck me about the nature of God? 10. What is it that I need to repent of? 11. What does this sermon do to us as a community of believers? 12. What are ways you can apply this sermon? To say it another way, how can your response to this sermon help bear fruit as an act of worship? a. At home or work b. At church, c. Anywhere else you may go? Page 10

11 Appendix B: For the Parents Here are some questions that parents can be asking their children after a sermon: 1. What words were new to your kids? 2. Do they have any questions about the sermon? 3. What was one thing they learned today? 4. What did you learn about Jesus today? 5. What other Scriptures were used? 6. How can you apply what you learned today? Page 11

12 Appendix C: For Further Study The following questions come from David Helm and his book One- to- One 4. These questions provide a framework for walking through the different literary styles we have in the Bible. Questions for the Gospels and Acts Context What has happened so far in the narrative? Have there been any major events, characters, or themes? What has happened just prior to the section you are reading? Observation What do you learn about the main characters in this section? How does the author describe them? How do they describe themselves? Is time or place signiuicant in the events that happen in the passage? Is there a conulict or high point in the passage? Do you think there is a main point or theme in this section of the story? What surprises are there? 4 Matthias Media and Holy Trinity Church From One-to-One Bible Reading by David Helm. For more one-to-one Bible reading resources, or to purchase the book from which these pages were extracted, please visit Page 12

13 Meaning Are there any editorial comments from the author about the events in the narrative? How do these comments illuminate what is happening? Does someone in the narrative learn something or grow in some way? How? What does this person learn? What does the passage reveal about who Jesus is and what he came into the world to do? How could you sum up the meaning of this passage in your own words? Application How does this passage challenge (or conuirm) your understanding? Is there some attitude you need to change? What does this passage teach you about being a disciple of Jesus? Page 13

14 Questions for Old Testament Narrative Context What has happened so far in the narrative? Have there been any major events, characters or themes? What has happened just prior to the section you are reading? Observation What do you learn about the main characters in this section? How does the author describe them? How do they describe themselves? Is time or place signiuicant in the events that happen in the passage? Is there a conulict or high point in the passage? Do you think there is a main point or theme in this section of the story? What surprises are there? Page 14

15 Meaning Are there any editorial comments from the author about the events in the narrative? How do these comments illuminate what is happening? Does someone in the narrative learn something or grow in some way? How? What does this person learn? How does the passage point forward to what God is going to do in the future? Does it prophesy or anticipate Jesus Christ in some way? How could you sum up the meaning of this passage in your own words? Application How does this passage challenge your understanding about who God is and what he is like? Is there some attitude or behavior you need to change? Page 15

16 Questions for the Epistles Context What can you learn about the person or situation to which the letter is written? What clues are there about the author and his circumstances? What was the main point of the passage immediately before this one? Are there logical or thematic connections to the passage you are reading? Observation Are there any major sub- sections or breaks in the text? Are there key connecting words (for, therefore, but, because) that indicate the logical Ulow of the passage? What is the main point or points? What supporting points does the author make? What surprises are there in the Ulow of the argument? Page 16

17 Meaning How does this text relate to other parts of the book? How does the passage relate to Jesus? What does this teach you about God? How could you sum up the meaning of this passage in your own words? Application How does this passage challenge (or conuirm) your understanding? Is there some attitude you need to change? How does this passage call on you to change the way you live? Page 17

18 Questions for Hebrew Wisdom literature & Poetry Context Are there any clues about the circumstances in which the passage was written? What has happened so far? Observation Are there repetitions or multiple instances of similar ideas? Do these repetitions make a particular point, or point to the structure of the passage? What images or metaphors does the author use? What do they indicate about God or the other people in the text? What might they indicate about modern readers? What is the tone of the passage? What emotions is the author arousing? What is the main point or points? What surprises are there? Page 18

19 Meaning Are there speciuic instructions/commands given to the reader? Does this passage mention any consequences for not following God s commands? How does the author motivate the reader/audience, or make his appeal? What does the passage teach us about God, and his people, and life in his world? Does the passage point forward to Jesus? Is the gospel anticipated or foreshadowed in some way? Application How does this passage challenge (or conuirm) your understanding? Is there some attitude you need to change? How does this passage call on you to change the way you live? Page 19

20 Questions for Prophetic Literature Context Are there any clues about the circumstances in which the prophecy was given or written? Are any people or places mentioned that you aren t familiar with? (Chase them up in earlier parts of the book, or refer to a Bible dictionary or commentary.) Are other bits of the Old Testament mentioned or alluded to in the passage? What part do these memories play in the text? Observation Are there repetitions or multiple instances of similar ideas? Do these repetitions make a particular point, or point to the structure of the passage? Paying attention to when the prophet is speaking and when God is speaking, what does the passage tell us about God s plans? What does it tell us about God s character? What kind of human behavior, if any, is condemned or rewarded? What response is called for (if any)? What is the main point or points? Page 20

21 Meaning Are there speciuic instructions/commands given to the reader? Does this passage mention any consequences for not following God s commands? Does the text have a sense of expectation about something happening in the future? What is to be expected and when? How should this motivate action in the present? Does the passage point forward to Jesus? Is the gospel anticipated or foreshadowed in some way? Application How is your own situation similar to or different from those being addressed? How does this passage challenge (or conuirm) your understanding? How does this passage lead you to trust God and his promises in Jesus? How does this passage call on you to change the way you live? Page 21

22 Questions for Apocalyptic Literature Context Are there any clues about the historical circumstances the literature is addressing? Are other bits of the Bible mentioned or hinted at in the passage? What part do these memories play in the text? Observation What images are used in the passage? What effect do they have? What emotions does the passage arouse (e.g. fear, expectation, awe)? How does the passage seek to reveal what God is like? Where in this passage might we Uind hope for men and women? Is there a crisis in the passage? What is the tension/conulict about, and how does it relate to readers? Page 22

23 Meaning Are there speciuic instructions/commands given to the reader? Does this passage mention any consequences for not following God s commands? Does the text have a sense of expectation about something happening in the future? What is to be expected and when? How should this motivate action in the present? Does the passage point to Jesus? Is the gospel foreshadowed or looked back upon in some way? Application How is your situation similar to or different from those being addressed? How does this passage challenge (or conuirm) your understanding? How does this passage lead you to trust God and his promises in Jesus? How does this passage change the way you live? Page 23

24 [Listening 101] A guide to getting the most out of a sermon

25 [Listening 101] A guide to getting the most out of a sermon