How to listen to a sermon
Phil Ryken, president of Wheaton College in Illinois:
Shortly before college I read Mortimer Adler's little classic How to Read a Book. That may sound like an odd title. After all, how could somebody read the book unless they already knew how to read? And if they did know how to read, then why would they need to read it at all?
How to Read a Book turned out to be one of the most important books I have ever read. Adler quickly convinced me that I didn't know how to read a book after all—not really. I didn't know how to ask the right questions while I was reading, how to analyze the book's major arguments, or how to mark up my copy for later use.
I suspect that most people don't how to listen to a sermon, either.
He makes some great points about how to actively hear God's word in the Sunday sermon:
- Prepare ahead of time (pray, rest, read the passage)
- Keep a writing utensil in hand, even if you don't use it all the time
- Open your Bible and compare what your pastor is saying with what the passage says
- Develop an "itch" to do what the passage tells you to do
