I have really been enjoying preaching at Revolution for this past year. I’ve also enjoyed listening to others preach. We emphasize participation - not just preach and then talk but encouraging feedback throughout the whole “teaching time”. The other nice thing is that our teachings are short - more of what I would call a homily which I don’t think is technically correct but I always think of a sermon as longer and a homily as shorter. There is something really significant about learning to teach a short message, I have found it a valuable experience.

Another thing I’ve been enjoying at Revolution is the liturgical component. For one thing, we pray TOGETHER, something scorned when I was growing up. Of course, that’s kind of funny because in any good pentecostal church you have someone saying “repeat after me”… and then everyone says it whether they want to or not. 

And we always have lots of scripture present. Something I didn’t experience much in most of my charismatic evangelical experiences. The sermons were usually the only time scripture was read and then it was usually 1 or 2 verses used as a form of proof text to back up what the pastor wanted to say. I really value the liturgical tradition of doing all the lectionary readings every week. I know for many who grew up in that tradition it didn’t have much value but I think at the least, the words are going into your ears whether you like it or not hehe. And in a small group like ours it’s a little harder to tune out.

I do miss the music. We have a couple folks in our group who don’t like singing in church so for them Revolution is perfect but many of us find great meaning in singing as worship and instrumentation as worship and for us it’s a feeling of loss. Some go to other churches worship services to get that experience.

Tags: preaching, sermons, Revolution

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