In a recent article at his website, pastor Charley Reeb writes: \u201cI did some research on the millennials in my church and was fascinated to discover what they look for in a sermon. Based on the feedback I received here are 3 things a sermon must accomplish in order to reach millennials.<\/p>\n
Convince Them Why They Should Invest Their Time in Matters of Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n This goes deeper than preaching sermons that are worth their time. Millennials, more than any other generation, embrace the variety of entertainment and stimulation in our culture today. They are keenly aware of the myriad of ways they can spend their time. Therefore, sermons must not only be compelling; they must also convince them why investing time in matters of faith is important.<\/p>\n Why should they have a relationship with God? Why should they read the Bible? Why should they pray? Why should they join a small group? Why should they attend worship on a regular basis? Why should they serve others? Many millennials did not grow up in church and don\u2019t know why taking a break from social media to read the Bible and pray is important. Don\u2019t assume they know why. It seems simple and obvious, but it is amazing how many preachers assume their listeners know why.<\/p>\n Answer the \u201cYeah, but\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Millennials know that all the information in the world is right in their pocket. Whenever you reference a passage of scripture or use a sermon illustration they can take out their phones and Google it. In seconds they can know whether your illustration is true (or your own!) and can read other articles and sermons on your text. The result is that millennials know all the angles and can present an argument against what you are saying.<\/p>\n The lesson: Do your homework! Consider questions and counter arguments to your sermons and answer them. \u201cSome of you may be thinking, yeah but\u2026\u201d You gain a great deal of credibility with millennials when they sense you have done your research and anticipate the questions they will be asking.<\/p>\n Validate their Skepticism<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the biggest reasons why many millennials don\u2019t feel comfortable in churches is because they feel their skepticism is not welcome. Sermons that resonate with millennials validate their doubts and questions of faith. Be willing to share your own struggles with doubt and faith and what it taught you. Also don\u2019t assume all of your listeners are Christians. Consider the possibility that there will be atheists, agnostics and other curious people in attendance and acknowledge them in your sermon.<\/p>\n Quite often in my sermons I will say, \u201cPerhaps you are not a Christian and have come to worship because you are curious about Christianity. You are always welcome here.\u201d Don\u2019t underestimate the power of making such a statement in your sermon. Validate skepticism and acknowledge the curious and your sermons will go a long way for millennials.\u201d<\/p>\n In a recent article at his website, pastor Charley Reeb writes: \u201cI did some research on the millennials in my church and was fascinated to discover what they look for in a sermon. Based on the feedback I received here are 3 things a sermon must accomplish in order to reach millennials. Convince Them Why … Continue reading “3 tips for Preaching to Millennials”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}