Anyone who is a Christian must sit under the foolishness of preaching. It is God's ordinary way to lead men and women to Christ; as well as God's normal way of sanctifying them. Here is the help that the Westminster Divines give for listening to sermons. There is also a survey that would be helpful to fill out about your sermon listening practices. Q160: What is required of those that hear the word preached? A160: It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence,[1] preparation,[2] and prayer;[3] examine: What they hear by the scriptures;[4] receive the truth with faith,[5] love,[6] meekness,[7] and readiness of mind,[8] as the word of God;[9] meditate,[10] and confer of it;[11] hide it in their hearts,[12] and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.[13] 1. Prov. 8:34; 2. I Peter 2:1-2; Luke 8:18; 3. Psa. 119:18; Eph. 6:18-19; 4. Acts 17:11; 5. Heb. 4:2; 6. II Thess 2:10; 7. James 1:21; 8. Acts 17:11; 9. I Thess 2:13; 10. Luke 9:44; Heb. 2:1; 11. Luke 24:14; Deut 6:6-7; 12. Prov. 2:1; Psa. 119:11; 13. Luke 8:15; James 1:25
Survey for sermon listeners.
6 comments:
We should be like the Puritans and have someone watch over the Congregation prepared to hit loud children and sleepy people with a stick. At first yawn a member should be met with a swift swat from the stick.
Quite a helpful little list. It's easy to forget that listening to a sermon is an active, not passive, activity, and that we can't expect to get anything out of it if we don't pay attention. One might as well expect to be fed while keeping their mouth shut.
Of course, if we need somebody to hit people with sticks, I'll volunteer. Though I wonder how the stick-bearers kept attention to the sermon and looked for sleepers at the same time...
Mark,
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Ah... that'll do. That'll do quite nicely. Now to find a stick.
Nate, I was digging around at 9marks.com, which I haven't done much before, and it would seem I have some catching up to do. Anyway, I found a pretty good article by Thabiti Anyabwile on listening to sermons that I thought was relevant here.
Mark,
I don't know if the Beadle got to carry sticks around,... but definitely shovels.
Those girls are cute.
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