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Showing posts from December, 2013

Questions on the Church Gathered and Teaching therein (or wherein? I can never get that right...)

I find myself frustrated lately.  So, in honor of my hearing a lengthy quote from a Contemplative today... I'm going to just ask questions .  These are things I am struggling with lately. Presupposition: The Church corporately gathers to worship our Triune creator and redeemer God through Song, Word, and Sacrament. With this in mind... What is the purpose of the sermon?   Should the sermon be verse-by-verse exposition? or topical? If verse-by-verse, should there always be a central theme? If topical, how should the Bible be used in the course of a topical sermon? Should Jesus Christ, and him crucified, be proclaimed every time the Church gathers? Should this be the central theme of the service overall? Or should it be the theme, specifically, of the sermon also? Very frustrating questions I have.  Especially if my assumptions on any (or all) of these are incorrect, and then I am wrongly judging sermons due to my incorrect paradigm. Ugh. Maranatha.