Let me share with you an insightful article from the Wall Street Journal written by John Wilson, editor of Books & Culture. Wilson writes about the importance of giving a meaningful sermon.
Here is an excerpt from his article:
Is preaching in America in a particularly bad state?
Several commentators have recently raised the question, yet it has a long history. “It has become an impertinent Vein among People of all Sorts,” wrote Jonathan Swift in the 1720s, “to hunt after what they call a good Sermon, as if it were a Matter of Pastime or Diversion.”
And often those on the hunt declare their disappointment, as when Britain’s Lord Hugh Cecil said in the mid-20th century that “the two dangers which beset the Church of England are good music and bad preaching.”
Today’s complainers include Ross Douthat, whose recently published “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics” describes churches whose preachers promise prosperity to the faithful or dispense the gospel of narcissism. Others wonder about a pulpit presence so charismatic that it draws more attention to the preacher than to his message.
Click here to read the whole article.