It Would Be Great If Pastors Did This Again

Have you heard a Sunday morning sermon lately on the biblical view of homosexuality?  

Perhaps you've heard a sermon on the biblical view of transgenderism? Or, maybe the biblical view of co-habitation before marriage?

You must have heard a sermon lately on the biblical view of socialism, or free enterprise, right? How about wealth redistribution?

How about a sermon on the biblical view of secularized education? Or, perhaps a sermon on a biblical response to euthanasia? Infanticide?

Maybe you’ve heard a sermon lately on the biblical view of hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters?

Maybe not.  

When I hear of young adults leaving the church these days, I am not surprised. Few churches are addressing the big issues of their day from the pulpit. Have you noticed? 

Yes, I wonder if young adults are leaving the church, in part, because they aren't hearing essential and persuasive messages on the biblical view of socialism, homosexuality and transgenderism. Are you hearing such sermons?

Where are the sermons that will help us all view the big issues of our times through the lens of a biblical worldview, so we can better “understand the times, and know what we should do,” as the Sons of Issachar did in Israel (I Chronicles 12:32)?

Last summer, at Renewanation's Biblical Worldview Training Boot Camp (if you haven’t registered yet for this summer's camp, click here), Stephen McDowell, President of Providence Foundation, shared with us that pastors in the earlier years of our nation's history gave sermons on current issues from the pulpit. 

What a novel idea! They didn't do this in general terms, or just make passing comments, but developed whole sermons addressing the big issues and events of their times.

It would be great if pastors did this again. Maybe your pastor does. If so, thank God--and thank your pastor! 

Below are actual sermon titles Stephen McDowell shared with us at the greatest teacher conference last year. If you are a pastor, perhaps you could consider one or two current issues that are tearing our nation apart, and make them the focus of some Sunday morning messages (yes, in prime time), to help the congregation view these issues through the lens of Scripture. We need help. 

Look at the sermon titles below [thank you Stephen], and perhaps these will spark some ideas. 

Pastors, I have a special word just for you at the end of these titles:

Pastors: we are living in extraordinary times, and extraordinary times call for extraordinary pastors. Ask Bonhoeffer. If there ever was a time for pastors to say what needs to be said, and to be a mouthpiece for total Truth from the pulpit, it is now. If you are afraid to do this, I don't blame you. But courage is not the absence of fear. Courage requires fear. And when it comes to fear, we only have two choices: the fear of men, or the fear of God.

We may see the day when some of you will be put into prison for what you preach, and some will lose your lives because you spoke the Truth. At the very least, many of you will experience the crushing power of public shaming, when a band of LGBTQ+ advocates, both young and old from all walks of life, including parents with grade-school children, hold signs across the street from the entrance to your church, letting the rest of the community know that here is a group of intolerant bigots, led by a pastor who is an indecent person. You may become the target of a social media lynching. The size of your congregation might dwindle. You may not be able to pay the mortgage on the building, and you may lose it. 

But you will lose it anyway, if you do nothing. Time is short. Now is not the time to let the wrong kind of fear have the high ground. The stakes are too great. The prognosis is not good. Many churches in America are dying. Could this be a precursor to the collapse of a has-been nation? Please read this.

Posted by Dr. Christian Overman