Does a Sermon Really Change Anybody?
Zach Eswine wrote a short post on the effectiveness and importance of preaching. I felt very ministered to reading it:
Sometimes we may feel there is no point in preaching because we do not see the kinds of changes in our hearers or ourselves that we had hoped for. . . .
All is not lost when the after-sermon desert offers no water.This moment may have been meant to prepare some for what they have yet to face. It may be meant to call out to others months from now when they are more heedless or needy than they are today.
It may serve as one more evidence of the hardness of one’s heart. It may serve as one more piece in a puzzle God is putting together for another–the picture will not complete for some time, but completeness will not happen without the corner-piece offered by the sermon today. Those who are changed seemingly in a moment by your sermon today have had multiple moments of God’s working prior. Take heart. There is seed there though it lay beneath the ground. Step out into the barren field dear friend, and pray for His rain to fall.
HT: Justin Taylor
In Other News
Prayer Request: I’m preaching today at Poplar Hill Christian Church in Poplar Hill, Ontario. We’re studying Matthew 7:24-27. Please pray that God would bless this time. Thanks!
Interview: Justin Taylor interviews Tullian Tchvidjian on the Gospel and Law
Food: The Most Harmful Drinks in America
Conferences: Desiring God has released the trailer for the Desiring God 2010 National Conference. Here’s a look:
In Case You Missed It
Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:
A review of Ted Kluck’s latest, Hello, I Love You: Adventures in Adoptive Fatherhood
Selling Ointment and Stealing Moneybags (why, perhaps, we’re not actually called to end poverty)
