.png)
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25
Recently, I released a blog on being a humble listener to a sermon based on James 1:19-21. However, it is not enough to listen to the Word of God we must apply it in our daily lives! Today, I would love to focus on how these scriptures should advise and inspire us as we listen to the Word of God preached.
A Call To Be Doers Of The Word:
It is one thing to hear a sermon, yet another thing altogether to live the very truths preached. The sermon isn’t an occasion to clock out because the music stops. No, the sermon is a time for the church of God to be still and listen. We are still worshiping God through the eager listening of a sermon, just as we were worshiping through the action of singing. Part of listening is responding to what we have heard. We worship God by our actions. This extends to when we hear the Word of God preached! James calls us to, “be doers of the word and not hearers only”. We are to practice what’s instructed to us. Each sermon is a window into knowing Christ and through knowing Him, an opportunity into reflecting Him in our actions following the sermon. We hear so that we can do!
Live To Remember:
We can only be doers of what we remember. Imagine if you awoke one day and forgot who you worked for, who your family was, and where you lived! If you have a loved one who is battling with dementia or Parkinson’s, then you recognize this fear. You have witnessed and experienced the grief of seeing someone being a flickering light of their old self. The painful truth is, for many of us, we often are the most sanctified version of ourselves on Sunday during church and for the rest of the week, we forget. We forget what was read; we forget what was spoken, and we forget the call to action. We altogether forget the sanctified vision the church has been called to live.
When we live out what scripture proclaims, we are revealing the light of Christ in a world full of sorrow and suffering. We should aim to let the light of Christ beam forth instead of forgetting. As the message turns into a fleeting thought, we fail the Word of the Lord; we forget how to live in light of our salvation. We become a flickering light of the self God created us for. A self that isn’t a, “forgetful hearer but a doer who works”. The individual who remembers the Word of the Lord and lives it, “this person will be blessed in what he does”. This person will be blessed because they are being what they were designed for. They are displaying the image of their king and savior!
Tips to Remember the Sermon
1. Pray Before the Sermon
Prior to the worship service, pray! Pray for your pastor, your church, your family, and for you to seek God. Pray for hearts and minds ready to hear and obey. Pray for a lack of distractions. Pray for God to move mightily in the service. Pray for those lost and far from God to be saved! Pray for the body to be united in growing in Christ's image as they worship together. Pray with anticipation of our Lord.
2. Take Notes During the Sermon
We write down what we want to remember! You may use a physical notebook, a tablet, or a phone. My guess is that when you want to remember something, you write it down. The same should go for the sermon. A sermon notebook, physical or digital, gives you the ability to review the sermon. Much like a journal, this notebook gives you a window into the past to see how the Lord has been working in your life!
What to write about…
The Scripture Reference
Key Points of the Message
Anytime the Preachers says: “write this down”, “this is important”, or “don’t miss this”
How to Apply the Message
3. Pray Following the Sermon
Pray through the text that was preached. Seek ways to add the scripture into your weekly prayer life.
Pray for opportunities to live out the message. This will both keep the message in your mind as you pray throughout the week, but this might also make you more aware of opportunities from God to live out the message.
4. Seek to Apply
Throughout the week, we should strive to live out the message. This isn’t a check-of-the-box task, but a willingness to live out what we have heard. This is the hardest part. For example, it’s one thing to hear a sermon on forgiveness, yet it is another thing to forgive people
5. Talk About the Sermon
We are less likely to forget about something we have spent the week talking about! Following the message, seek people to talk about the sermon with. This could start at home with each family member sharing what they got out of the message. There could also be opportunities for the family to seek goals related to the message. This will give the family time during the week to continue to talk about the sermon while seeking to live it out.
This could also be a way to share about your faith or even invite people to church. God has placed each of us in unique communities. This could be at work, school, restaurants, or even at a doctor’s office. When we share about the message, we may never know how God could use those conversations for his kingdom.
6. Memorize Scripture from the Sermon
Memorizing the text that was preached on or a portion of it. This could be a helpful way to keep the message while seeking to live it out. Scripture memorization is a critical part of spiritual warfare! Leaning into the Word of God is vital when we are tempted or discouraged.
I pray this blog post will be an encouragement and help as you listen to your next sermon! I pray that as you seek to live out the sermon, the Lord blesses you and grows you.
תגובות