I wonder how many actually think about this. The sermons are nice, but the applications are often missing from our lives. How do we take what we hear and make it part of our lives after we leave the fellowship of believers? How many actually make any application of what they hear to their lives at all? It appears, from what we see in our communities, that we aren't applying the word to our lives and situations at all! Sunday is a day for some good music, a nice sermon and off we go to do what everyone else does...no different for the experience. How have we come to this? How do we move from nice words on a Sunday morning to life change on Monday morning? It's a heart thing, it's individual, and it's a problem that each church family, each individual in the family must deal with. I do wish we were better at taking the word we hear and making it part of the life we live, but we're all still working on that.....Thursday, May 07, 2009
Application
I wonder how many actually think about this. The sermons are nice, but the applications are often missing from our lives. How do we take what we hear and make it part of our lives after we leave the fellowship of believers? How many actually make any application of what they hear to their lives at all? It appears, from what we see in our communities, that we aren't applying the word to our lives and situations at all! Sunday is a day for some good music, a nice sermon and off we go to do what everyone else does...no different for the experience. How have we come to this? How do we move from nice words on a Sunday morning to life change on Monday morning? It's a heart thing, it's individual, and it's a problem that each church family, each individual in the family must deal with. I do wish we were better at taking the word we hear and making it part of the life we live, but we're all still working on that.....
When people say to me, "Good sermon pastor", I'm always tempted to respond, "We'll see".
ReplyDelete...(I've actually said this a few times)
It does no good to simply hear the Word and not do what it says. - James 1:22-25
Good reminder Mike - thanks.
I think it was Howard Hendricks who said that you abort the Word of God when you fail to apply what it teaches. A really good reminder. I'd better go apply some of what I already know.
ReplyDeleteKris - What kind of responses have you received after saying, "We'll see."?
Brandon & Jenny,
ReplyDelete(I've only said this maybe 3 times) The response I've gotten is, laughter... because they think I'm kidding. When they find out I'm not kidding they immediately think the sermon was for someone else and they say, "Good point. I hope people were listening."
Seems like many people think that the sermon is for others and not themselves.
I attend Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and a few years ago, the lecture leader said something that helped me and I have maintained it ever since. She said it isn't possible to remember everything from a message, but you can take "one thing". So, find that 'one thing' and write it down as your own personal principle. I tried this. As I took notes on her lecture, I put a star by 2 or 3principles that spoke to me, and when I got home that day I decided on which one I would keep. At times it was 2 because they were both so worthy. But, I tried to narrow it to only one. I write them in my journal. BSF has 32 lessons per year, and each year I had a list of 32 personal principles that I still re-read often and they are important truths for my life. It worked so well for me that I began to apply this to weekly church services.
ReplyDeleteWe can remember ONE thing!