The sermon delivered at most churches every Sunday is a historical part of Christianity that became the “norm” shortly after the age of the apostles in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D.  It is most notable in Protestant churches that use it as a substitute (after the Reformation) from focusing on the Lord’s Supper, aka, the Eucharist, the Catholic church’s emphasis during the Mass.  It is usually delivered by the lead pastor and lasts for around 40 minutes to an hour.  During that  time, silence is required: there is no place for questions or dialog.

The “norm” during the apostolic age when the church was in its infancy was that everyone contributed in someway for the edifying of others:

1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

Here are some detrimental things observed during the “sermon”:

  • Folks tend to doze off, or appear to be in some kind of stupor or lack of attentiveness
  • The speaker usually says some things that are not scriptural, but it happens so fast, no one seems to notice.
  • The speaker usually speaks from his personal faith perspective on everything.

The 1st point is to be expected since reactive communication is the least efficient type of communication.  From the hearers perspective, it is all reactive: they are expected to listen and understand what is being spoken without any interaction on their part to keep them stimulated.  The 2nd point about the speaker saying things that are not scriptural happens in almost all sermons, since the speaker is speaking spontaneously and as we all know or should know, when our mouths speak unhindered they tend to be more easily manipulated by suggestive thoughts sent by demonic spirits.  The 3rd point about the speaker talking from his faith point of view is the most dangerous.  It is “his” faith, not someone else’s faith.  Hence, it is not really transferrable since it is not real in the faith life of the hearer.  Nevertheless, the hearers may try to emulate that “faith” to some unsuccessful degree but it won’t work since it is not a God-induced faith, remembering this, that Jesus is the one that started our faith walk and He is the one that will grow it and finish it, not the sermon giver.

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”

Also, John the Apostle attributed to God the job of teaching us directly through the Power of the Holy Spirit:

1 John 2:20 “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”

Beware of the sermon. Diligently stand in your faith if or when you listen to that Sunday sermon.

I have found very few fellow believers that agree with me on this.  One is Peter DeHaan.   Here are some articles from him:

Why Do We Listen to a Sunday Sermon at Church Each Week?
Do We Need to Listen to a Lecture Each Sunday at Church?
Do You Remember the Last Sermon You Heard?
I’m Glad I Missed the Sermon