Ok, I get it. Our modern day church services seem a bit on the performance/spectator side. Often, the attendance of the church can be largely dependent on who is speaking that week. At a church we attended, I always knew it was either hunting season or the head pastor was on vacation by how empty the parking lot was when we drove up. People have argued that the sermon today is more like a speech which we judge like we were at Toastmasters or something. Some have already dropped the sermon in favor of multisensory experiences or some interactive type of exercise.
Based on our 1 Corinthians 14 passage, unless you view prophecy as a sermon, you don’t see Paul calling for a sermon in the worship service. So does that mean that most churches today are spending most of the service on something that wasn’t even supposed to be there? Even though 1 Corinthians 14 doesn’t mention teaching, there are a truckload of other passages that do. You want to go back to the early church? How about in Acts 6:2? We mentioned the passage about deacons, but didn’t include why the apostles needed help with tasks like the food distribution. “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” They weren’t saying that they were too “good” to help with this, they were only saying that they needed to be preaching and others could do this task.
Our qualifications for church leaders also mentions the need to be able to teach, as in Titus 1:9, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” If there is no preaching/teaching at church, when is the elder supposed to “give instruction”? 1 Timothy 3:2 says bishops must be “able to teach” as well. If not in the church service, when? Some might say in Bible studies outside of church, but that just doesn’t make sense. If this is so important, then why wouldn’t God want it in the main worship meeting? Bible studies are great, and I believe necessary, but they should be in addition to the teaching in the main meeting.
Of course, the hope is that we as Christians so desire the Word, that we gather together to study it together more than just one day a week. Recall what happened when Paul brought the Gospel to Berea in Acts 17:11, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Paul was teaching in the lecture hall every day in Ephesus as people were hungry for the Word (and he did this for about two years straight! Acts 19:9). If you don’t like the 3 point sermon, fine, use stories and illustrations to highlight Scriptural truth in a creative way. Sermon not interactive? Then, adopt a teaching stance and have interaction by using questions and answers or discussion groups. Use video clips, Powerpoint, or skits if you want, just make sure that you are having the teaching of the Bible as central in your services.
Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28 say that God has given the church the gift of teachers. There were no Bible schools, seminaries, or Sunday school then, so it has to be for the main times we come together even if it is also for these daily types of study. One of the very last things that Paul ever wrote was in his jail cell letter to Timothy, a church leader. 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” Paul knew that sound doctrine and an understanding of the Scriptures was absolutely critical and necessary for the success of the believer and the church. Let’s not kill the sermon just yet folks. Tweak, adjust, revamp if you want, but the Word of God must be taught in the church. (Duh.)
The Bible Nerd 