{"id":32356,"date":"2022-09-10T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-ways-to-prioritize-the-word-in-worship\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:06:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:06:24","slug":"5-ways-to-prioritize-the-word-in-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-ways-to-prioritize-the-word-in-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Prioritize the Word in Worship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Juan Sanchez<\/em><\/p>\n

As we begin a new year, allow me to encourage you to prioritize the Word of God in your ministry. Here are five suggestions for how to do this. The points in bold are from Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons<\/em> by Christopher Ash (with minor alterations).<\/p>\n

1. Encourage the church to gather regularly (weekly) with God\u2019s people to hear the Word of God.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important to assemble together! Together, we display the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10).<\/p>\n

Gathering together also reminds us we\u2019re not alone. When we\u2019re together, we encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re to edify one another, we must meet regularly, weekly. Help your people consider some reasons they\u2019re inclined not to assemble with God\u2019s people. Then encourage them to gather with the church each Lord\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

At High Pointe Baptist Church where I serve as senior pastor, we still meet on Sunday nights. We purposely seek to present a balanced diet of New Testament (on Sunday mornings) and Old Testament (on Sunday evenings), or vice versa.<\/p>\n

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Whatever your church\u2019s rhythm is for gathering, encourage your people to gather regularly. That gathering where the Word of God is preached is the one setting in which everyone hears the same Scripture at the same time.<\/p>\n

It will shape the church and encourage each member to look more like Christ.<\/p>\n

2. Remind the church that when you gather with God\u2019s people, they\u2019re to expect God to speak.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a pastor, don\u2019t you prepare all week, praying that God may speak through you? Don\u2019t you expect the gathered church to hear from God when you gather together?<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t God\u2019s people, then, come expecting to hear from God? To see the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, from the pages of Scripture, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit?<\/p>\n

God created by His Word. He sustains all things by His Word. He\u2019s given us His Living Word, Jesus, and now, He\u2019s given us the written Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).<\/p>\n

Therefore, whenever we hear the Bible, we\u2019re to receive it as the very words of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Remind the church of these glorious truths.<\/p>\n

3. Help the church admit God knows what they need better than they do.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We live in a day when people want their ears tickled (2 Timothy 4:1-5). Some people may not like what they hear in faithful gospel preaching because it offends, convicts, or exposes sin. However, this is precisely what God\u2019s Word is supposed to do (Hebrews 4:12-13).<\/p>\n

One of the biggest reasons people don\u2019t gather with the church is sin. They don\u2019t want their sins exposed.<\/p>\n

In other words, they can\u2019t stand that the Word of God exposes their sin, so they simply stop gathering. Yet, it\u2019s important for people to know there\u2019s no better place for them to be than with the people of God.<\/p>\n

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See also  What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Don\u2019t let Satan deceive your flock! Help them sense the dire need to hear from God.<\/p>\n

4. Make sure the sermon comes from the text of the Bible. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The greatest encouragement I can give pastors is to handle the Word of God faithfully so you may be a worker approved by God (2 Timothy 2:15).<\/p>\n

To handle the Word of God faithfully, we must continue in our study of Scripture to be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained for righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).<\/p>\n

And remember, when we preach, we\u2019re preaching to God\u2019s people in the presence of \u201cGod and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead\u201d (2 Timothy 4:1).<\/p>\n

So, prepare yourself in the Word of God, and prepare your people\u2019s hearts to hear the Word of God. Encourage them to read the sermon text during the week. Ask them to consider the main point of the passage.<\/p>\n

Encourage them to ask who, what, when, where, why, and how questions of the text. And urge them to ask the Holy Spirit for understanding and to test what they hear against Scripture just like the Bereans did (Acts 17:10-11).<\/p>\n

5. Exhort the church to do what the Bible says TODAY. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

After the sermon, allow time for the church to reflect on what God is teaching them. Then, call on them to do it (James 1:22-25). Ask them to write down the ways they are to obey the teaching.<\/p>\n

Lead them to pray and ask God for grace that they may obey in faith. Help them ask good heart questions such as, \u201cIs there something in my life that I\u2019m treasuring more than Christ?\u201d and \u201cWhat prohibits me from obeying what the Lord is calling me to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, exhort the church to obey NOW\u2014today by faith (Hebrews 3:12-14).<\/p>\n

May our kind Lord grant us the grace to remain faithful in the task He\u2019s called us to. And may He allow us all to see the fruit of our ministries so that we won\u2019t be discouraged.<\/p>\n

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Juan Sanchez<\/h2>\n

@manorjuan<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Juan is husband to Jeanine, father to five\u00a0daughters, senior pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas, and author of Seven Dangers Facing Your Church<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n