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You worked hard to put together a sermon. You studied the text. You assembled some funny anecdotes and pertinent illustrations. And now you are ready to preach. You put powerful emphasis on the text and you bring expect the house to come down, but nothing happens.
Your sermon was powerful, so you thought, but you don’t see the gleam of discovery in the people’s eyes. You don’t see a smile of insight. In fact, you don’t even see conviction come over the congregation. What happened? It could be a number of things, but one thing I would encourage you to do is ask yourself simply, “Does someone really need this?”
As we put together powerful messages we sometimes say some things that we think might get a shout. Some of our words might cause people to gain knowledge of the Biblical text. We may even get to teach people the intricacies of a Greek Tense. And then we get caught up in making those things relevant and accessible. But if you haven’t ever asked yourself this question, you might end up preaching to the mind while we steer totally clear of the soul. We might end up preaching to the mind, but totally ignore other important concerns.
In our preaching this week, I encourage you to ask the simple question, “Does someone need to hear this?” What is it about your sermon that speaks a needed word? What is it God is telling you to say that the people NEED.
Your people come to hear a word of life. A needed important word. A word that will help them make it through the difficult days between worship services. I encourage you to ask this question. God will be glorified and the people will be edified when you preach a God given word that the people desperately NEED.
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