WTS Books has a great sale on what looks like a practical, biblically based, 31-page booklet: Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons, by Christopher Ash. Here are some sample pages and the table of contents.
Today and tomorrow only these are marked 67% off, so that it’s just $1/copy. Pastors, this may be something to consider giving away to new members, as they do at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
Here’s an outline of his seven ingredients for healthy listening:
- Expect God to speak
- Admit God knows better than you
- Check that the preacher says what the passage says
- Hear the sermon in church
- Be there week by week
- Do what the Bible says
- Do what the Bible says today—and rejoice!
And here’s a fuller description:
Why on earth does anyone need a guide on how to listen to sermons? Don’t we simply need to “be there” and stay awake? Yet Jesus said: “Consider carefully how you listen.” The fact is, much more is involved in truly listening to Bible teaching than just sitting and staring at the preacher.
Christopher Ash outlines seven ingredients for healthy listening. He then deals with how to respond to bad sermons—ones that are dull, or inadequate, or heretical. And finally, he challenges us with ideas for helping and encouraging our Bible teachers to give sermons that will really help us to grow as Christians.
- Where does the authority of a Bible teacher come from?
- Why is Bible teaching offensive?
- Why is it important to hear Bible teaching in church?
- How can we actually enjoy Bible teaching more?
These (and more) are the questions answered by this practical guide, which includes effective, hands-on suggestions for implementing each idea. All with the aim of helping us learn how to listen properly, so that through His word, God will make us more and more Christ like.
