"Always remember, when somebody comes up with something new,
it's usually wrong. We are to be plagiarists of the same information that
God gave the first Christians." -- Dr. Matthew McMahon, aPuritansMind.com

 

5 December, 2005   comments: (0) Changed Message   The Message HAS Changed (Not Just The Methods) You often hear it from the leaders of the seeker-sensitive movement: "We haven't changed the message, we've only repackaged it in a relevant way for today's culture". But an in depth examination of the sermons preached at the most innovative mega-churches puts that claim to rest once and for all. In centuries past, we find that sermons usually centered around bible passages, and had titles that mentioned things like Grace, Sin, the Cross, Justification, and Christ. As our baseline for comparison, we'll use these lists of classic sermons from Edwards, Spurgeon, Ryle, Whitefield, and Wesley. Now let's look at some of the sermons commonly preached in today's seeker-sensitive churches. For this, we need to identify a representative cross-section of modern churches to examine. I can think of no better source than the blog of one particular seeker pastor, who has collaborated on a list of the 10 most innovative churches in America. We'll use his list. When I looked at these churches, and the sermon series that they are currently preaching, or have recently preached, I found one obvious common denominator: FAMILY. These churches may feel that one of the formulas for being "relevant" today is to excessively preach on parenting, sex, and marriage. They do this in a way that's grossly out-of-proportion to the amount that other important biblical issues are preached (or not preached). Here's a closer look at these innovative churches, and the message of "good news for families" that's being preached there today. As you read these, note the trend of using graphics and themes from worldly TV shows as a basis for "sermon marketing": Daybreak - Hudsonville, MI Sermon Series: A Guide To Domestic Bliss "Something strange is happening in Hudsonville. All the wives are way too perfect and all of the husbands are way too happy. Discover the housewives secrets as Daybreak brings you a series for lemony fresh living." Willow Creek Community Church - South Barrington, IL Sermon Series: Elephant In The Room Some blessings and struggles revolve around relationships: dating, marriage, parenthood. One of these seeker sermons is entitled "In The Bedroom". Bay Area Fellowship - Corpus Christi, TX Sermon Series: Thank God For Sex "Society distorts the way we view SEX and therefore we go unfulfilled. This may shock you but God wants you to have GREAT SEX in His Time and in His way." Includes sermons entitled: What Makes Housewives Desperate?, The Greatest Sex You'll Ever Have!, and What Happens In Vegas Won't Stay In Vegas. Buckhead Church - Atlanta, GA Sermon Series: iMarriage "...There are some universal constants wired into us as people and into the nature of relationships. One of these universals is the power of expectations..." (Andy Stanley) Journey Church - Norman, OK Sermon Series: Home Remedies "Keeping your family healthy can be hard work. The challenges of discipline, relationships, love and defining family roles are common ailments in every family." New Spring Community Church - Anderson, SC Sermon Series: Hitch The Pastor's description: "I am preparing a series for singles this fall entitled "Hitch" & I promise there will be a message on sex! Yes, I will speak about sex to singles, telling them that it is wonderful, but encouraging them to WAIT! (I have had people tell me, 'I have never heard a pastor say that sex is wonderful.' My response to them is, 'Maybe you have never had a happy pastor!!!')" [read more] Fellowship Church - Dallas, TX. Sermon Series: Love Affair How to protect marriages and families from adultery - how to keep the unthinkable from tearing apart the marital love affair. (Ed Young Jr.) Life Church - Phoenix, AZ Sermon Series: Parenthood Exploring what God's word says about all things parental. Receive guidance on how to bring up your children. National Community Church - Washington, DC Sermon Series: The Game of Life Per the board game, this series addresses how to enjoy the journey on "Graduation Day", to keep asking questions when we "Attend Night School", to fall in love when we "Get Married", and more in the Game of Life series. [Read More] Seacoast Church - South Carolina. Sermon Series: Family Lies Understanding the lies about family conflict; find out God's plan for the family. Granger Community Church - Granger, IN Sermon Series: Family Channel Attempting to learn biblical family lessons from 5 TV families including: The Osbournes, The Simpsons, The Cosby's, The Brady Bunch, and The Cleavers. [read more] Families are very important; so much so - that I've dedicated an entire section of this site to families. But there is something of greater importance than even families, as Jesus said: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me". (Matthew 10:37) Church History Listen to a short audio clip By John MacArthur: The Preaching of the Reformers What did they preach about in the 16th century, and how? 6 minutes, 750k MP3 I'm concerned that this message, is getting drowned-out by an inordinate quantity of "fluffy" how-to get God to help you fix your family type themes. Yes, unchurched people will feel that those sermons are "relevant", and they'll want to come hear your advice on these issues. But does all of this relationship advice come at the neglectful-cost of many other important biblical topics? Keep in mind the emphasis of the word ALL in the great commission (it does not merely say "all family matters"): And Jesus came and said to them, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe ALL that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18-20) Perhaps more importantly, when they do come to church, are they lead to believe in a superficial Christianity that fits this description: "How many souls have been led to vain confidence by a man-made, evangelistic formula? How many are sent home from evangelistic services with calm, who should have gone away grieved and disturbed as the [rich young] ruler? How many unsaved children have been given assurance by the teachers of Bible classes, so that they have ceased to seek God for salvation?" [read more] --Walter Chantry Regardless of the answer to those questions, it's clear that the message today HAS changed, it's not what it used to be in the past. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/.id.2.pid.122   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism