I am prepping for my first "preaching" Sunday this week, and came to the realization that at most of the worship services here at this church, people are ONLY hearing the gospel lesson. Now I know the theory that some scripture is better than no scripture, but perhaps instead of using film clips or having another song, we should cut some of that and have more scripture? Just a pondering on my part.
As a lover of music, I am one who usually says you can't have too much music in worship. Maybe the problem is the "need" to get in and out of worship in an hour for traffic flow issues. As I sit in my office, trying to figure out how to fit it all in, I can't help but wonder what does God think about it?
We don't have time in worship to read the Word of God? It hurts my heart! So blogoshpere friends, what say you? How do we fit in more scripture, still get out in an hour, and keep everyone relatively happy? And trust me, shorter sermons are just fine with me!
Also, if you were only to read the gospel and one other lesson, which one would you choose? I would love your insight!
Blessings on your day,
Preaching Kate
Since I am on a roll I will chime in again. I feel that many people only get scripture in worship because of personal choice. If we don't read the Old Testament or the epistles then those people might never hear them. I am of the belief that we need to give people the WHOLE story of scripture. Time constraints? I think other items in worship should be "sacrificed" so scripture and preaching can take center stage.
ReplyDeleteBesides...reading a couple more scriptures is not going to take that much time. At most you are sacrificing one song or so. But still you are dealing with a tough issue that many people have deep seeded beliefs about. Change might be difficult.
I'm thinking of you as you plan for your preaching "debut" there and so curious about what you will do. What a great text to begin with - the woman at the well! Especially since your own cup has been on the dry side. You can always include more scripture within your sermon.
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