Your walk with Jesus is in big, big trouble if you’re relying solely on your preacher

I love listening to and watching good sermons on the internet.  It’s especially important for me because I rarely get to sit and listen to a preacher on Sunday mornings.  I often joke about working on Sundays.  The truth is I am almost always the one speaking the Word in the Sunday morning message wherever I am.  By listening to sermons online I learn things and God speaks to me through them at times.  But if listening to Francis Chan, David Platt, James McDonald, David Cartwright, Jason Simpkins, and others is all I ever do in my walk with Jesus, I am in trouble – big trouble.  Even if I watch a sermon every morning, and then I leave and never read the Bible, never pray, never study God’s Word, and never listen for God’s still, small voice, I am in trouble.  Our walk with Jesus cannot be anchored in one sermon, in one church, one day out of the week.  That’s the proverbial, “Placing all your eggs in one basket.”

That being said, I also believe the sermon and church worship should not hinder you in your walk.  Charles Spurgeon said, “It is not often that sinners are awakened by ministers who are themselves asleep.”  I am acutely aware that if I relay the Gospel from the pulpit in a dull fashion, I am being a stumbling block to those who hear it.  But don’t place so much pressure on me, or on your own pastor, that we need to ‘feed you’ a week’s worth of Jesus in 30 minutes on a Sunday morning.  You need to lift your own fork throughout the week.