PREPACKAGED SERMON

More and more of our seasoned ministers are purchasing sermons online and using them as their Sunday message. From a teaching and writing perspective I sympathize with the struggle to come up with a new lesson each week. However, I question whether a sermon written for a California metro audience translates well to a rural Colorado audience. The Apostle Paul wrote letters to churches that had very different personalities and needs. The Lord’s letters to the churches in Revelation show that the churches did not have the same spiritual problems, nor were they given the same admonishments or encouragements. I can’t help but think that the Holy Spirit is restricted when a preacher uses a prepackaged sermon. I know preaching the sermon is only one part of a minister’s job, but if the script is already written anyone can do the presentation.