Every Sunday morning there are numerous opportunities for worship in the local church. Praises are raised to the Lord through song and prayer, preparing hearts for the opening of the Scriptures and the proclamation of the Word of God. Congregants are attentive at first, but attention wanes and distractions abound as the preaching progresses. Phones ring out and sleepy heads bow. Many of those who may appear caring on the outside are worried on the inside. The powerful and transformative Word of God is addressed to an inattentive and uncompromising audience.
Listening well to the preached Word of God has become a forgotten discipline. How many Sunday morning sermons have we listened to without mentally processing or internalizing? Good books on the effective proclamation of God’s Word abound, but what if the problem isn’t just the preacher? What if an undiagnosed problem in our churches is that many in the chairs are poor listeners? How can we learn the art of aural worship?
This is the Word of the Lord
Perhaps the biggest barrier to listening to sermons is not appreciating the spiritual reality behind the preaching. The Spirit of God speaks through her to his people when the Word of God is opened. God spoke audibly to his people from heaven when Israel received the Ten Commandments at Sinai (Ex 20:22). Imagine the terror of seeing fire on the mountain, lightning in the sky, and hearing the thundering voice of God as the Lord revealed his moral will for his people.
Perhaps the biggest barrier to sermon attention is not appreciating the spiritual reality behind the preaching.
There may not be any fire and thunder to accompany God’s written revelation when it opens today, but God’s Word is no less authoritative and powerful than it was at Sinai. It is spiritual fire and thunder for our hearts. We must adjust our conception of the way we listen to sermons, moving from simply listening to the opinions of a human preacher to listening to God’s voice addressed to us by his Spirit through his Word.
You actively listen as worship
The Lord is interested in what we do with our minds on a Sunday morning. If our thoughts are not focused on the Word of God as it is proclaimed, we are missing an opportunity to glorify God. Paul exhorts us believers to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God, what Paul calls our spiritual worship (Rom 12:1). What God communicates to us in Scripture renews our minds, redirects our thoughts, redirects our hearts, and reorders our wills. Listening to the proclamation of the scriptures can be an act of worship.
But this only happens if we allow the Spirit to do His transforming work through following active of the preached Word. No Christian has grown spiritually by auditory osmosis. We must actively listen to our God through the Scriptures.
How to listen to the preaching
But how can we listen actively? These are three suggestions.
1. Prepare in advance to hear the voice of God.
We are not called to be passive recipients of entertainment at church gatherings, but active participants in worship. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually to engage with the Word of God.
A busy or chaotic Saturday night or early Sunday morning prevents proper attention and focus from being given to God’s Word during service. Prior to the service, prioritize a time of quiet reflection, quiet activity, silent reading, or prayer to prepare your heart and mind to listen to the Lord.
2. Develop the discipline of staying focused.
Since our minds are already prone to wandering aimlessly, we must find ways to stay on task. Taking notes can be a helpful way to actively listen to a sermon. It doesn’t have to be tedious. It can be as simple as trying to identify the main theme and the main points of the preacher. If the preaching is expository, making an outline of the passage and the main reflections on each verse can be a simple way to participate. For others, drawing or sketching can allow for greater concentration and retention of application points.
Eliminating distractions by muting phones, watches, and other devices is also essential to being able to listen carefully. Perhaps even choosing who you sit with during the service can allow you to maintain more control over your thoughts during the sermon.
Don’t walk out the door of the church building and leave behind everything you just heard. take it with you
3. Keep reflecting on the Word after it has been preached.
Look for spaces to discuss the sermon with others. Our family often shares over lunch or dinner what has been learned from the day’s message or writes down an area of our life where we could put into practice a specific point of application. Giving ourselves time and opportunities to unpack and apply the sermons is essential for deep and lasting retention. Don’t walk out the door of the church building and leave behind everything you just heard. take it with you
Review the biblical texts and their applications when you are alone and also during your conversations with other people. “May the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly” (Col 3:16) throughout the week.
The Lord speaks to His people with power by His Spirit through His Word. God’s people must learn to listen actively and must allow Scripture to do its transforming work of renewing our minds. When we listen well to the proclamation of the Scriptures, we are performing an auditory adoration for the glory of God the Father.
Originally posted on . Translated by Team Coalition.