Skip to content

Soul Preaching

Menu
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Popular Updates
    • Preaching Methods
    • Homiletic Theory
    • Sermon Construction
    • Exegesis
    • Feature Articles
  • SUBSCRIBE
Menu

Do You Preach To The Hurting?

Posted on February 20, 2011

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Our people come to us with various issues. Some of them may be waiting for a test from the doctor to come back. They don’t know what it will say but there is great fear for the diagnoses could be deadly. Others are already on the way down and are not sure who they should tell or what they should do. They are overwhelmed as they approach the end of this life and the opening up of eternity. There may be others who are on the brink of divorce, but no one knows but that family. They struggle to still act like everything is OK, but the struggle becomes more and more difficult. Someone has lost a spouse a few years ago, but has never been able to deal with it and the church has now moved on to the next immediate issue that draws its attention for those with pains that will not go away.

The question I have for you is “What are you preaching to these people?” Are you real or are you simply shoveling the manure that is often distributed to much of contemporary Christianity. Are you teaching these people to stick their head in the sand and assume that God will bring a cure to their sickness down here? Does your “name it claim it” theology help people live in the midst of painful circumstances or condemn them for not having the mythological faith that would remove all painful circumstances.

Ultimately, we preachers must tell the truth. We must be pastoral and tell it delicately. Certainly we can’t tell all the truth at once, but we must tell the truth. This is not a problem for all preachers, but some of us need a reality check. Whooping about how God is gonna hook you up has a place and time. But over the life of your preaching, please don’t give people the impression that if circumstances assail them that it is because of a deficiency of their faith.

Mess will happen to us all and if time lasts all of us will get sick and die. But our Christian and ethnic tradition reminds us a couple of things. First, “I’m so Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always.” It is true that sometimes that trouble lasts till our deaths, but sometimes death itself is a welcome relief to intense pain and suffering.

Our tradition also gives us the assurance that Jesus will always be with us. He Himself said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) And the Psalmist said, “Though I make My bed in hell, thou art with me.” (Psalm 139:8) As we preach over the years, let us always remember to remind and help our people to see that In this world you will have trouble, but we will understand it better bye and bye when God will reveal to us that God was always with us and never let us out of God’s hand…

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.

Related posts:

7 Steps to a Good Sermon or How To Create and Preach a Sermon Default ThumbnailStealing Sermons Preaching and Seminary How To Preach Without Converting Anybody

2 thoughts on “Do You Preach To The Hurting?”

  1. Minister Evangeline says:
    February 21, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    I can certainly agree with the article. I have been going through some of the situations which were listed in the article. I did not necessarily get the support needed from the church I currently attend. The article is right. It seems as we sit in the congregation we are often forgot about. But what about the hurting people. It’s one thing to hear the word but it’s better to reach out to them, the hurting. We had a great sermon on Sunday about reaching out but the Pastor has to do this by example. Don’t just preach the word but live the word.

  2. Rev. Kenneth R. Jenkins says:
    July 24, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    …and don’t forget about being down in the Valley we go through’ we ALL go through some trials in our lives yes preachers too.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • Stop Sleeping In The Pulpit
  • Thou Shalt Have Good News
  • The Answer Is In The Records
  • Just Keep the Ball In Play
  • The Importance of Good News
  • Preaching Advent With Imagination
  • Why The Thorn

Free Email Training

Sign up for the New Preaching TIPS Email Newsletter. You will recieve 5-7 emails a week.

Click Here

Revised Common Lectionary

    Instagram

    shermancox

    Instagram post 18041906996079829 Instagram post 18041906996079829
    Instagram post 17910296783919000 Instagram post 17910296783919000
    Instagram post 18035493148903548 Instagram post 18035493148903548
    Instagram post 17887097775081541 Instagram post 17887097775081541
    #smule #smuleduet #easylikesundaymorning #smule #smuleduet #easylikesundaymorning
    I feel Good #smule #smuleglobal I feel Good #smule #smuleglobal
    Instagram post 18087447073438590 Instagram post 18087447073438590
    Instagram post 17851233018147535 Instagram post 17851233018147535
    Instagram post 17907649217946063 Instagram post 17907649217946063
    Intro to prayer Intro to prayer
    Instagram post 17982108473571505 Instagram post 17982108473571505
    Instagram post 18030258256647195 Instagram post 18030258256647195
    Instagram post 18128574130309862 Instagram post 18128574130309862
    Instagram post 18388873843007811 Instagram post 18388873843007811
    What’s on the wall when I’m singing? What’s on the wall when I’m singing?
    How bout some blues harp. With a blues guitarist. How bout some blues harp. With a blues guitarist.
    Goodness of God cover. Goodness of God cover.
    Instagram post 18229306630087412 Instagram post 18229306630087412
    Instagram post 17972316937910455 Instagram post 17972316937910455
    Logged into lose it and it said Logged into lose it and it said
    Load More Follow on Instagram

    Recent Posts

    • Stop Sleeping In The Pulpit
    • Thou Shalt Have Good News
    • The Answer Is In The Records
    • Just Keep the Ball In Play
    • The Importance of Good News

    Archives

    • September 2024
    • March 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • March 2019
    • August 2018
    • June 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • January 2015
    • November 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • December 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006

    Categories

    • 11Cartoons
    • 11Fiction
    • 11Instruction
    • Associate Ministry
    • Audio
    • Basic Preaching
    • Bible Study
    • Black Church
    • Black Preaching Style
    • blog
    • Book of the Month
    • Book Reviews
    • Devotional
    • Exegesis
    • Feature Articles
    • feedburner
    • Fixing the Sermon
    • Funeral
    • General
    • Gospel Music
    • Headline
    • History
    • Homiletic Theory
    • Issues
    • MiniBlog
    • Ministry
    • Negro Spirituals
    • Planning
    • Podcast
    • Practice
    • Prayer
    • Preaching
    • Preaching Methods
    • Preaching Style
    • Premium
    • Questions and Answers
    • racism
    • Scripture Selection
    • Sermon Analysis
    • Sermon Construction
    • Sermon Craft
    • Sermon Editing
    • Sermon Outline
    • Sermons
    • Software
    • Theology
    • Titles
    • Uncategorized
    • Video
    • Web Ministry
    • WebSeminar
    • Whooping
    • Without Notes
    ©2025 Soul Preaching | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme