1005--sermons, as a one-minute commentary

            Today, I am posting another of the one-minute Simple Church Minute transcripts that I somehow failed to post previously.  As I have said at other times, all the one-minute transcripts have numbers in the 1000’s, five-minute transcripts in the 2000’s, and two-minute versions with numbers below 1000.  If someone is interested in seeing these commentaries on a radio station in your area, contact me, as the recordings done so far all reference the metro area I live in.

1005—sermons

            My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.  Why are there sermons in church?  Matthew 5, called the Sermon on the Mount, isn’t structured like a sermon, and covers way too many topics.  In Acts 17, where Paul is speaking at Mars Hill, it is clear he was doing dialogue, not monologue.  From Acts 20 verse 7 and other places, where we see someone doing something that looks like what we now call preaching, the Bible uses the word “spoke.”  Some say Second Timothy 4 verse 2 connects preaching to speaking to the church, but that context isn’t clear.  First Thessalonians 5 verse 11 tells believers to build up each other, which is nearly impossible when one person is designated to do monologue.  Romans 12 and 15, First Corinthians 14, and Colossians 3 show worship involved every member, was conversational and impromptu.  One can find out more about worship at www.simplechurch.com or locally at www.hrscn.org. You can call me at 757-735-3639.

Simple Church Minute 1--sermons (revised)

         As I commented a few days ago, I have realized that, if I got these radio commentaries broadcast, and someone was to go to this website to see the transcript, having multiple posts on the same day make them difficult to find.  Therefore, I am reposting these writings, beginning with the 2 minute versions, in a more convenient manner.  I am also adding footnotes, and placing all of my phone number, as I now, as most people in this society, have a number not shared by others.

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My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute. Why are there sermons in church? It’s only been in the last few years I’ve even thought of this question. I’ve just assumed that there is scriptural reason for it. Matthew 5 is called the Sermon on the Mount. But, if you look at it, scripture doesn’t call it a sermon. It covers way too many different topics in the couple of minutes it would take to read it aloud. Also, was it really a teaching to believers, or a series of statements so radical as to turn off those who were only chasing the next big thing, and to allow the Spirit to speak to the heart of those who would follow in spirit and truth. John chapter 6 verses 66 to 68 indicate Jesus wasn’t at all concerned about having a large number of fair weather friends. Acts 17, where Paul speaks with those at Mars Hill, it is clear that Paul was doing dialogue, not monologue. From Acts chapter 20 verse 7 and other places, where we do see someone doing something that appears to us as preaching, the Bible uses the word “spoke”, and these occurrences are infrequent. Some say Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 2 connects preaching with speaking to the church, but that context is not clear. The church we see in the New Testament shows itself as using speeches such as what Paul gave while visiting Troas as an exception, not the rule. Why? We don’t get nearly as much out of one-way communication as we do multi-way, where one can ask a question if something is unclear, or where a variety of people with various skills and experiences can paint a fuller picture of a subject. Romans chapters 12 and 15, First Corinthians 14 and Colossians 3 show that worship involved every member, included teaching, exhortation, prophecy, singing, and admonishment, was conversational and impromptu.

For more on organic church*, see www.simplechurch.com/ , or locally at www.hrscn.org . You can phone me at 757-735-3639 or email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com .  You can see a transcript of what I just said on my blog, tevyebird.blogspot.com, on the post of March 11,2012.

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On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.” While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better. I comment on that in blip 94.

Footnote:  Frank Viola and George Barna, Pagan Christianity? Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices, 2002, Present Testimony Ministry, and later Barna Books/Tyndale House, chapter 4.

1055--preaching in OT & NT

            This is another one minute version of the two minute commentaries I wrote in December, 2010.  This one is a shorter version of #55 on preaching in the days of the Old and New Testaments.

1055—preaching in OT & NT

            This is Simple Church Minute.  What was preaching like in the days of the Old Testament?  Prophets spoke sporadically.  False prophets also spoke. Sometimes the people apparently preferred the false prophets. The people were allowed to interrupt and ask questions.  As Israel was both an ethnicity, belief, and sometimes a nation, the king had spiritual responsibility, usually for ill. Prophets and priests spoke from the burden of their heart, but not with the rhetorical manner that the Romans would later be known for. 

Jesus also spoke in the traditional Jewish manner, even allowing for the trick questions of the religious leaders.  The early church did the same. Assuredly Jesus taught the 12, who taught the early church. At that time, preaching meant dialogue; speaking indicated oratory or at least monologue.  Oratory as status quo ritual was, though, a Roman cultural tradition that came to the church before most other ones.

  You can find out more about simple worship in this area at www.hrscn.org.

On this and many of these writings, I have taken this information from George Barna and Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity, which, in turn, has the historical footnotes.

Simple Church Minute 39--preaching repentance

39—preaching repentance

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.

            On another day, I mentioned how what we in the current church call witnessing is close to what the early church called preaching, and what we call preaching is what they called oratory or speaking.  For instance, Acts chapter 18 verse 24 refers to Apollos speaking in the synagogue.  Further, in the early church, first believing in Jesus was a way of life.  If one was Jewish, it separated one from the Jewish community; if one was not, with faith in Jesus came accepting a morality the Gentile world found strange. Either way, repentance and baptism was not an end all, but the beginning of a new way of living.   Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 referred to believers as a new species*; the world had seen nothing like it.  After a couple of centuries of the Christian faith spreading across the Roman Empire, even at a time when Christianity was still officially illegal, many of the powerful hired Christians to watch their children and money, because of their reputation for honesty.

            Shortly after the apostolic era, more and more, oratory worked into the church, as opposed to every member ministry.  Oratory preaching developed an audience-performer dynamic, which changed in some detail over the centuries, but always largely encouraged passivity among the audience.

            In the 1700’s, George Whitefield introduced an innovation to preaching—changing the emphasis from what God is doing among believers as a group to speaking specifically to those in the audience who were not believers, to guide them toward salvation.  He also originated outdoor meetings for evangelistic preaching.  Charles Wesley, John’s brother, was the first to write hymns for invitations to receive Christ.  All these changes emphasized the individual and de-emphasized the church in the sense of believers as a group.  A later evangelistic trend was pragmatism—if it seems to work, keep doing it.

            You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com.  For more info on organic church*, see http://www.simplechurch.com/ or (local website).

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.  Also, on the recording, I said, "new creation," which is the most common rendering of that phrase in English Bibles, but I have since become convinced that "new species" is both better yet, and connotes the shock value to our society that what the world saw then was experiencing.

Simple Church Minute 1--sermons

1—sermons

My name is Tom; this is Simple Church Minute.

            Why are there sermons in church?  It’s only been in the last few years I’ve even thought of this question.  I’ve just assumed that there is scriptural reason for it.  Matthew 5 is called the Sermon on the Mount.  But, if you look at it, scripture doesn’t call it a sermon.  It covers way too many different topics in the couple of minutes it would take to read it aloud.  Also, was it really a teaching to believers, or a series of statements so radical as to turn off those who were only chasing the next big thing, and to allow the Spirit to speak to the heart of those who would follow in spirit and truth.  John chapter 6 verses 66 to 68 indicate Jesus wasn’t at all concerned about having a large number of fair weather friends.  Acts 17, where Paul speaks with those at Mars Hill, it is clear that Paul was doing dialogue, not monologue.  From Acts chapter 20 verse 7 and other places, where we do see someone doing something that appears to us as preaching, the Bible uses the word “spoke”, and these occurrences are infrequent.  Some say Second Timothy  chapter 4 verse 2 connects preaching with speaking to the church, but that context is not clear.

            The church we see in the New Testament shows itself as using speeches such as what Paul gave while visiting Troas as an exception, not the rule.  Why?  We don’t get nearly as much out of one-way communication as we do multi-way, where one can ask a question if something is unclear, or where a variety of people with various skills and experiences can paint a fuller picture of a subject.  Romans chapters 12 and 15, First Corinthians 14 and Colossians 3 show that worship involved every member, included teaching, exhortation, prophecy, singing, and admonishment, was conversational and impromptu.

            For more on organic church*, see http://www.simplechurch.com/ , or locally at (local website).  You can email me at simplechurchminute@gmail.com .

On the recording, at this time, it says, “house churches.”  While that phrasing is OK, to say “organic church” is better.  I comment on that in blip 94.