You know, I honestly can't tell you the last time I was moved by a sermon...or anyone else in my church for that matter. I'm not sure I would say we have a bad preacher here; his style just doesn't gel with mine all the time. We are seldom on the same page. I have, however, seen my congregation moved by drama presentations, and I usually find myself moved by participating in the dramas.

I don't view the sermon as the most important piece of the worship service experience. I think that is going to be different for everyone, based on where we are each at in our personal journey and what we are needing from God at a particular time. Sometimes, I just need fellowship. Or I just need worship. Or I need a strong prayer. At those times, those aspects become more important than all else. So that is highly personal and variable, but for me, right now...it's not the sermon.

I am at a place right now that I hear a wonderful inspiring lesson every time we meet.
It is fantastic!
Rex Boyles is our preacher, here in Lubbock.
Rex is more than a preacher, he is best described as a teacher. He takes the beautiful word of God and brings it to life. Scriptures you have read all your life can all the sudden come alive, and be real like you are hearing it for the first time.
Rex can take you back to when these men walked on the earth and make you visualize what is around you, and think like they thought, and imagine what you would do in those same circumstances. It helps to understand how God was always working in thier lives, as He works in our lives today.
With Rex, we are not preached at, we are studied with.
As Rex presents God's word, I am always encouraged, inspired, motivated. Not by Rex so much as by the very Word of God, the Good News of salvation, His love and forgivness. It makes me want to be better and do better.
Rex does not preach on a "topic", he teaches straight from the word of God, and helps us find the lesson in there.

I do think the preaching or the lesson is a very important part of our worship. It is during the lesson that we can hear the word and look at our lives and examine ourselves, and then we are prepared to take the Lords supper with a open heart and a desire to worship the One that has given us so much.
Then we break into songs and praise of the One that loved us sooo much.

I can say that it is very frequent that me and any one else, at any given time is brought to tears during some point of our worship together. Whether it is by the lesson, our praise time, or our time when we open up and bring our cares and concerns before the Father and the family. It is a time when we lay our burdens down, and then we are more able to worhip.

I have attended church all my life, some emm 50 something years, and I learned how to tune out the preacher, and have done it waaayyy too much in my life time.
I can honestly say that I would never, can never, would not want to ever tune out the word of God when it is being presented by Rex.
I wish everyone had the same opportunity that a wonderful group of God loving people I worship with have.
It is kind of like how there are just not very many people that have the same kind of talent that Keith has with music, I would say the same is true of preachers. today.

If you don't mind saying, which church do you attend in Lubbock? The reason I ask is that I went to high school with Rex Boyles (which in Sudan, Texas and a high school of less than 130 kids, meant you knew everyone). He was a year ahead of me, but we played high school sports together and I knew him fairly well. I attended the Baptist church there, but I now attend First Colony Church of Christ in Sugar Land, Texas.

Randy Glover

Randy, I am sure Rex would like to hear from you.
He is currently teaching at the Lubbock Church of Christ.
Check out his blog http://rboyles.wordpress.com
It is For Sinners Only.
you can also find recorded sermons.
If you are from Sudan, than you are in good company.

Dan and I have an unusual situation -- our minister Alan Taylor, at Mountainside in Albuquerque, has been our preacher for 23 years. His sermons are consistently high quality and Bible based. Old-timers and visitors alike comment on his sermons.

I always get something out of his sermons for one of two reasons. First, I often pray that the Lord will move his mind to preach on something I need that very day. (If others want the same, the Lord can provide personalized instruction for them, too -- sermons can meet the diverse needs of many.) Secondly, I believe the function of a sermon can be parabolic, that is, it can function like a parable. When Jesus told parables, he took an image or situation (like yeast) and "threw it alongside" (the literal meaning of parable) something else, like the kingdom. From that friction between the two concepts came a third, different element-- the spark of insight that the contrast brought. So----

If I bring a prepared mind to the worship service, the sermon (and songs and other elements too), once "thrown alongside" my prepared mind, often bring a spark of insight to me.

As an example, a few weeks ago Alan was preaching on one of the Ten Commandments. Quite unrelated to the subject matter, I brought great distress to the Lord regarding the way that a righteous and faithful brother was suffering. The spark between the sermon and my own distress resulted in the idea for a new book I have begun -- one that considers the possibility that Priscilla was the author of Hebrews.

So-- I've concluded that for me at least, it's the preparation and interaction I do for a sermon that can make the difference in whether I am moved and motivated.

Latayne C Scott
www.latayne.com
www.representationalresources.com

Jon Magnuson shared a great approach to planning worship involving four categories:
1. Gathering
2. Word
3. Table
4. Sending
It makes a lot of sense and I'd like to study this approach more. The worship and singing help prepare our hearts for receiving the Word. Communion can mean so much more (creative variety) when it is planned after the presentation of the Word and previous worship experience. The sending emphasizes the "extension" of the assembly into our lives. We'll need to interview Jon on this to learn more about this approach. - KL