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Thoughts and ideas on current events from an California evangelical perspective.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Brian Mavis at sermoncentral.com surveyed over 1,000 preachers on their biggest frustration:

I am Often frustrated by…

49.3% Seeing little response or life-change in the listeners.

34.6% Finding relevant illustrations.

31.9% Keeping the sermons fresh each week.

31.4% Lack of sermon preparation time.

23.9% Getting practical applications in my sermons.

22.0% Deciding what to preach on week to week.

18.7% Lack of attention and connection from the listeners.

Why sit down and listen if you don't want to be changed? I think that's the question preachers ask. They feel as if people are just there passing time, or constained out of a sense of obligation. But the other side of the interaction has to be addressed as well.

Why get up and talk if you aren't going to help God work in peoples' lives?
If I can't articulate and argue and demonstrate from Scripture how to live our lives, then it's not really preaching.

When you come away from a sermon, can you do more than remember the main point, or a rich illustration; can you experience life change? If not, there's work to be done on both sides of the pulpit.

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