Question of the Week #7

Welcome to the seventh edition of "Question of the Week"...please answer in the comments OR write a blog post of your own and leave me a link to your answers! Feel free to borrow the graphic as well.

Do you like listening to sermons? Have you ever subscribed to sermon podcasts? Have you ever listened to sermons on the radio? Do you have any favorites?
What resources (if any) have you found on the web that you'd like to share?

My answer: I like listening to good sermons. For me, these just happen to occur outside the church. I know some people are blessed to have good preaching (and teaching) within the local church they attend. But for others, it's just a dream. For the record, I'm defining 'good' as biblical preaching. Preaching that relies on the Word of God. Not stories. Not anecdotes. Not analogies. Not allegories. Not urban myths. Not jokes. I happen to like expository preaching. That is where there is the Biblical text presented and the preaching is centered on that text. It is illuminated (in many cases) by other Scripture texts. Your definition of 'good' might be different.

I don't listen to radio sermons anymore because I've found podcasts. Before the internet made things easy on me, I was listening to two or three radio programs. Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Renewing Your Mind with R.C. Sproul and Grace To You by John MacArthur. I also liked listening to Key Life with Steve Brown. The problem often was that with a radio schedule, you'd either have to program your life around those shows--problematic when you're going to school or working--or you'd have to try to program your stereo to record them. Which the question would then be, how do you find time to listen to them later.

I subscribe to more than a handful of podcasts now. I'm subscribed to Bethlehem Bible Church. This is by far my favorite and my best. I have been so blessed by listening to these sermons. I really just heart this church. If only they were in Texas! Oh, well.

Others include Desiring God by John Piper, Grace to You by John MacArthur, In His Grip by Charles "Chuck" Better, Renewing Your Mind by R.C. Sproul, Truth for Life by Alistair Begg, White Horse Inn by Michael Horton.

I also subscribe to my sister's church The Village Church. That one is in Texas.

If you're looking to try out podcasts for yourself, then I'd recommend visiting OnePlace.com.

I will say this. Sermons aren't all created equal. You should listen attentively, but with a critical mindset. Like the Bereans, you should evaluate and weigh each based on how it stands in light of the Bible. It can sound good and right...but is it really? Context, context, context, context. As my great-grandma used to say...anything can be 'proven' if you use enough dot-dot-dots. Some minisitries will have a belief statement (or two) that can clue you in on what's what.

As to finding time to listen to all these, that's a whole different story! Sometimes I am in the mood to listen to sermons--like yesterday, I listened to ten sermons by Chuck Betters. A sermon series that begins off with six sermons entitled, "Is Your Child a Darth Vader?" Something that definitely intrigued me though I don't have kids :) (Other sermons in the series (so far) include Standing Alone, The Eight-Fold Gospel Your Kids Need To Learn, and Do Your Kids Love the Church.) But other times I'm distracted (tempted) by music. Say listening to Abba and the Partridge Family.