bits from bob....

Does the Sermon Live at Your House?

by Robert J. Young
©, 2002, Robert J. Young
[permission is given to reprint with credit noted]

"Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching...." (1 Tim. 4:16)

When Bill Thrasher wrote under the above title, he began with a telling illustration. A couple was driving by the preacher's house when their young daughter suddenly exclaimed, "There's the sermon's house." The identification of the preacher and the sermon was normal. Does the sermon live at my house?

But upon further consideration, such should be true of every Christian! Does the sermon live at your house? Timothy was to pay close attention to himself and his teaching. Our lives speak louder than our words. Actions speak louder than words. "What you do speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying." Arthur Pink wrote, "Two things must never be separated--sound doctrine and holy deportment." In his famous definition of preaching, Phillips Brooks spoke of preaching as "truth and personality." The connection between logic and life, preaching and practice, creed and conduct, doctrine and duty must be obvious to all.

I like the definition attributed to Andrew Hairston that "the Christian's life is the Lord's audiovisual." All are called to be light and salt and leaven. Most people need to see sermons as much as they need to hear them. The poet wrote, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day."

In our homes, the sermon either lives or dies. The sermon should live in our homes. What kind of sermon are others observing at your house?


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Last updated January 2, 2002.