The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
Preaching to distracted listeners is tough.
The Challenge of Preaching in an Infodistracted World, by Marty Duren
Whether you are in post-pandemic gathering phase, solely online, or some hybrid, the preacher’s goal is to communicate a well-studied, prayed-over sermon to people who are listening. But what happens when those people can’t hear it because they opened their Bible app and wound up on Twitter or when you began point #2 they notice a text message from mom on their phone’s home screen?
Infodistracted people are the ones coming to hear you preach on Sundays or joining your livestream. What shall the preacher do when the congregation doesn’t pay attention because they have lost the ability to do so?
Escalation between Grace Community Church and local government.
John MacArthur’s church to be evicted from land leased for parking lot, Christian Post
Los Angeles County has notified Grace Community Church, led by Pastor John MacArthur, that it will soon be evicted from a parcel of land it uses as a parking lot — a move lawyers say is retaliation for the church’s decision to hold indoor worship services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter dated Aug. 28, the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works informed the Sun Valley-based church that on Oct. 1, it is being evicted from a large portion of the parking lot of the church that has been in place continuously since 1975.
A word of hope.
Murk and Hope, Abigail Rehmert
Is calling upon Him perhaps what some of us are missing from the murky music of our fiery days? Even in the eye of the storm, do we forget thanksgiving for the benefits rendered to us?
Don’t overlook the political divide dividing your church.
Will People Leave Your Church Over Politics?, Facts and Trends
Ultimately, as people who have received grace, we should be people who show grace. It’s hard to focus on Jesus, when we’re refusing to “lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Jesus is alive forever, but this world and its ideologies are temporary. They shouldn’t be litmus tests for legitimacy and fellowship.
Make sure you’re driving home what you mean to.
Are You Driving Home the Right Sermon Points?, Luke Holmes
The word of God can raise the dead, restore marriages, and end addictions. And the preacher gets to stand up and share it.
Most pastors consider themselves to be able to hammer a point into the mind with one single blow, like a master builder with a hammer. But the mind can be tougher than the hardest of woods.
When we use preach and exposit the word of God we need to not be content to say something once and then move on.