A few years ago I discovered a secret that has had more impact on my spiritual life than anything else I have ever done.
Care to know what it is? It is not Quiet Times. It is not praise and worship. It is not fasting, or even prayer. These are all very important in the Christian life, but none of them has brought about the same measure of spiritual growth that I have seen in my life since I began regularly and consciously listening to the preached Word.
I am blessed to sit under an excellent pastor every week, who gives us real meat to chew on from the Bible through his expository preaching. Our church worships twice on Sundays, morning and evening, so I often have opportunity to hear two excellent sermons each week. During the past few years, I have intentionally begun listening to sermons on tape during the week…sometimes they are sermons that I missed on Sunday due to a sick child, and other times they are teaching tapes that I purchased from Vision Forum or Ligonier Ministries.
This seems so simple, yet many are neglecting it. Too many Christians choose their church home because of children’s programming or worship style, and they are not growing as they should. When choosing a church we must always prioritize the preaching of the Word first.
Are you hearing the Truth, week in and week out? Christians should not join themselves with churches which malign the truth, either doctrinally or in practice.
Are you being fed meat, or are you still getting milk every week? The teaching should be accessible to the youngest child, that even he can be encouraged and challenged, yet it should also feed the most mature saint in the congregation. It takes an able, gifted pastor, called by God, to meet those stringent requirements. Are you attending a church like that?
John Calvin wrote about preaching in his commentary on Ephesians. He said, “Those who neglect this means and yet hope to become perfect in Christ are mad. Such are the fanatics, who invent secret revelations of the Spirit for themselves, and the proud, who think that for them the private reading of the Scripture is enough, and that they have no need of the common ministry of the church.”
God has ordained that His church will be brought to maturity as His living and active Word is faithfully preached. We read in Ephesians 4 that this is the reason God gave us pastors and teachers! His purpose in doing so was to equip His people to serve, to unify them in their faith, and to build them up in knowledge about Christ, so that they would reach Christian maturity.
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4: 11-13
For more on this topic, please read my posts How do we Choose a Church Parts One and Two.
Hi Molly, Thanks so much for this blog post! You said some things I really needed to hear right now. We’re so hungry for good expository preaching – on our “church Sundays” (once a month) we drive 1 1/2 hours for the nearest expository preaching we’ve found. On the other Sundays I spend the day listening to the Word being preached on-line or on CD’s. There is nothing like listening to the Word of God rightly handled!
Jan
Amen Molly! That is so true. I have also been blessed in being fed the meat of the Word in the 3 years we’ve been at our present church. It doesn’t have many people or programs, but the preaching is why we’re there. (The people are wonderful too.)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kristenph
Molly, Thanks for your series on “Choosing a Church” that I just discovered. Our family is just about ready to move to Switzerland where the English speaking church options are few. I just had a conversation this morning with my oldest son (11) about our choosing a church. He wants to go somewhere where he can make friends and have programs geared toward his age. We did have that here in the states and he also received good Bible instruction in those classes. In Switzerland we have found a church that is a good fit theologically but there are only a handful of children. We wrestle as to whether this church will be right for us as we would like our children to meet other Swiss or expat kids while we are there. As TOG homeschoolers, that is not likely to happen readily as homeschool families are few and far between. However, we know that as parents we need to be fed on the Word so we can be better equipped to raise our children and our church choice really needs to reflect what is best for us. My dilemma is how to handle a child who “hates” going to church because it is boring and lonely. My others are 7 and 9 and I don’t want them to have the same sentiments. Any words of wisdom?
Hi Melissa,
This is a complicated topic. Here in the US, we have lots of choices. Having lived overseas twice (once in the area where you are moving to) I can empathize with your struggle. I’ve several thoughts for you, but would prefer to communicate by email about them, as it might get lengthy for a comment box! My email address is in the sidebar of the blog. I’ll look forward to talking with you more.