If a church service is boring, it’s not like Heaven. Heaven is the most Spirit-led place in the universe, so why doesn’t church train us to follow the Spirit to get us ready? Be led by the Spirit: Deliberately delegate the daily direction of your life to the risen Jesus.

Listening to a man talk about God instead of listening to God talk for Himself is an example of misplaced priorities. Unfortunately, people can go to church for decades and never learn how to listen to and obey God’s voice. Church can easily be a check-off item on your to-do list (done that), but faith, hope, and love can never be checked off the list.

It’s one thing to give a talk about Jesus; it’s another to demonstrate His presence in your life and character. The calling for all Christians is to lay down our will and follow the risen Christ instead.

People don’t need to be lectured — they need to be listened to, loved, and led by godly example. Christians are called to be prophetic people in what they say and do, not passive people known for sitting through sermons.

Perhaps lining people up in rows to acquiescently listen to a one-man sermon is a self-fulfilling prophesy of Christian passivity. Instead, check sermons with the Bible! After Paul’s preaching, the Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily” to see if it was true. Listening to sermons more than you read the Bible is dangerous. Jesus warned of “false prophets” so check preachers by the Bible.