A religiously informed mind without a transformed heart is counterfeit Christianity. Christians need more than a Sunday talk. We need to meet together, all listen to the risen Jesus, and then say and do what He tells us.

Many Christians don’t mature because they’re compelled to listen to a talk about Christianity 101 every Sunday. See Hebrews 6:1. All sermons and no hands-on discipleship training won’t produce spiritually strong Christians.

If a gym or a church only gives lectures and ignores strength training, its members will be weak. Now that Christians can listen to sermons anywhere and anytime, the Sunday morning sermon model of Christianity seems ineffective.

No sermon can ever take the place of personally listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit. See Romans 8:14. If there’s anywhere a Christian should feel completely free to obey the Holy Spirit, it is in church.

All talk and no application makes Christianity a mere shadow of what God wants it to be. The Bible says that Christian testimonies overcome the devil, but you rarely hear testimonies in church. Every Christ-follower has a powerful testimony. We shouldn’t make people stay silent in church. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”

The Bible says that Christians need to meet together. We are told to minister to one another when we come together. See I Corinthians 14:26. Christians need to gather to do the 50+ Bible one-anothers, not just to sit in rows and hear sermons about them. See James 1:22.

The Bible says to be “doers of the word, not hearers only,” yet every Sunday most churches turn people into sermon-hearers, not doers. A constant flow of Sunday sermons creates informational Christianity, but doesn’t nurture heart-to-heart, Spirit-led Christianity.

Having one pastor is like being stuck with the same teacher from kindergarten through college. It’s very spiritually limiting. A dead god needs a religious professional to speak for Him. The living Jesus speaks for Himself! See John 10:27.

Sermon-hearing is easy and passive. Following the living Jesus is a daily pursuit. See Matthew 6:33.

Church can easily become a substitute for a relationship with Jesus. If you behave better in church than you do in your everyday life, you’re putting on a show. If you only know Jesus thru going to church, there’s a good chance you’ve never met the risen Jesus.

To center church around one man’s talk is to take our eyes off of the risen Jesus. Jesus is speaking to every member of a congregation. They should be allowed to share what Jesus is telling them.

When you love people, you don’t want to just hear a weekly talk about them. You want to interact with them. I love Jesus!

Too many churches fill a pastor with pride. Then they wonder why he gets off track.

If church would begin to implement the clear instructions of 1 Corinthians 14:26 and the 50+ New Testament “one anothers,” we’d see a fresh contagion of the Spirit usher us into unbelievable revival and spiritual growth. Interacting with other Christ-followers, as led by the Spirit, continually shows me many powerful demonstrations of His presence.

Let’s walk together
With the risen Jesus.
We need more than a
One-man-talk
About Him.

Here are some practical ways to get beyond sermon hearing.