Blogging is the new concept on the internet and it is about to change how preaching is done. If you are not yet familiar with this concept, you soon will be. It is estimated that only about 5% of the population currently blog, but there are some 70,000 new blogs everyday.
Blogs are simple online diaries that provide the opportunity for others to interact with our thoughts and ideas. This can be especially important for the preacher that seeks to bridge the gap between a Sunday morning message and the listeners’ understanding. The cover article on the April 5th issue of Business Week magazine was entitled, “Blogs will change your business.” I believe that statement is true and I would push a little further to state that blogs will change how preaching is done in the future.
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With a blog in tow, the preacher will be able to post a sermon idea at the beginning of the week and give the congregation a chance to respond. By Sunday, when he delivers the sermon, many will already be tuned in to the topic. This allows the congregation, as well as other online participants, to be actively engaged in the process and to be able to share their own ideas and thoughts. This can truly be a way to make a sermon topic last much longer than 30 minutes on Sunday morning. In fact, it can be a continual thought and living topic throughout the week. Soon a preacher that does not blog with his congregation will be out of touch and behind the pack.
Let me repeat, blogging will change how preaching is done. There have been very few inventions throughout the history of man that have changed preaching. Preaching will always be here because it has been destined by God as the way He created for His people to know His truths.
However, preaching has changed from time to time throughout history. Such inventions as the printing press, the computer, the internet, and now the blog have changed and will change how preachers preach the message of God. Let me suggest a few ways that blogs will change preaching and sermon preparation.
Preachers will be able to use blogs to bridge the gap between what they think they know about their church members and the issues that their members really have. The preacher has the difficult task of putting together sermons and sermon series that they believe will minister to their congregation. Many times in the past this has been done in isolation or at the mercy of the minister’s discernment. Blogs will enable preachers to interact with their members on sermon ideas and different sermon series and get a real time response to determine if that sermon idea or series idea really has worth and value.
Recently I blogged on my church blog (which you can find at: http://catoctinchristian.blogspot.com/) about an upcoming sermon series on ministering to sexually wounded people. I had a number of responses that were insightful. The responses let me know how people felt about this issue and unearthed a numbers of sexual wounds that I had not planned on discussing but was able to blend into the series based on this valuable input. The point is, the interaction with members before the actual sermon allowed me to push further and dig deeper into the topic.