July 15, 2002
A wise man once said, "every sermon should have for its main business the head on constructive meeting of some problem which was puzzling minds, burdening consciences, distracting lives, and no sermon which so met a real human difficulty, with light to throw on it and help to win a victory over it could possibly be futile." Furthermore, the preacher must handle "a subject the people were puzzling about, or a way of living they were dangerously experimenting with, or an experience that bewildered them, or an ideal they were striving for, or a need they had not known how to meet." And this does not reduce the place of the Bible in preaching. Rather, because it is an "amazing compendium of every kind of situation in human experience with the garnered wisdom of the ages to help in meeting them," it becomes a real guide in dealing with any crucial problem in thought or in life.
The preacher must seek to know how the inner impact of these problems impinges on the people and himself. Do they create "defeat and disillusionment, agnosticism and despair, the surrender of Christian principle in the face of life’s terrific realism, a reactionary clinging to old prejudices despite new light, a class bound loyalty to the wrong side of great issues."
In these thoughts, which are in reality mini-sermons whether in poem or prose, we seek to speak to these great issues as wisely and Christianly as we can to help us all grow "in wisdom and in knowledge and in favor of God and man."
Do you think this is the role of the church? Please let me know. If not, what is it?
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
201 Oak St.
Mauston, WI 53948-1333 608-8474555
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