# Sermonless Sundays?



## Tom Hart (Apr 10, 2018)

Greetings, all.

Question for you. Just how bad is it for a church to have a Sunday with no sermon?

I had never heard of such a thing until this past Sunday. At my in-laws' church, in lieu of a sermon, they had a missionary speak on the work she was doing in Jordan. It turns out that the church has skipped preaching in the past, with singing-only services. (They have also had non-ordained speakers from time to time, sometimes women.)

This is a Korean Methodist church. It's obviously quite a liberal denomination.

Is it wrong to not have a sermon? It certainly seems wrong. (Acts 2:42 comes to mind.) If it is wrong, what should be done about it?

Thank you. I appreciate your help.


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## Jake (Apr 10, 2018)

Sometimes it is necessary for a church that doesn't have someone to preach. I've been in a Reformed church where the pastor hasn't been able to make it at the last minute, so we substituted with a time of singing and prayer. Some traditions have services on Sundays focused around prayer and/or singing as well, such as Evensong, Vespers, and Compline.


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## Gforce9 (Apr 10, 2018)

Tom Hart said:


> Greetings, all.
> 
> Question for you. Just how bad is it for a church to have a Sunday with no sermon?
> 
> ...





Jake said:


> Sometimes it is necessary for a church that doesn't have someone to preach. I've been in a Reformed church where the pastor hasn't been able to make it at the last minute, so we substituted with a time of singing and prayer. Some traditions have services on Sundays focused around prayer and/or singing as well, such as Evensong, Vespers, and Compline.



In an irregular circumstance, like Jake has suggested, it may be the only course. It sounds like this is regular, however. Withholding the Gospel from the people of God is office/clerical thievery and abuse.


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## Edward (Apr 10, 2018)

I have been in churches which have received missionary reports during the service, but it takes the space which at other times is occupied by baptisms, ordinations, etc. It doesn't take the place of the sermon, although it might cause a hymn to be dropped.


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## earl40 (Apr 10, 2018)

When I go to a service I expect to be served. Call me selfish, but such is the way I am.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Hart (Apr 10, 2018)

This was not an irregular circumstance. The pastor, as I understand it, was present in the pews, and the speaker, a female missionary, was scheduled to speak in advance. In this instance there was no claim that she was preaching, although the church has had female "preachers" in the past.


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## dtaylor3 (Apr 10, 2018)

The sermon should be the prime focus of the service activities. Not the speaker or the fact that it is a sermon, but the fact that it is the delivery of the Word of God to the people.



> *CHAPTER XXI OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE SABBATH-DAY*
> I. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the hearth, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.
> 
> II. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and since the Fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
> ...

Reactions: Like 1


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## OPC'n (Apr 10, 2018)

Missionary work is saved for Sunday school not for worship. I would think that if a pastor can't show up for service due to unforeseen circumstances, then an elder would have a sermon on hand that he had prepared for that type of emergency.


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## dtaylor3 (Apr 10, 2018)

OPC'n said:


> Missionary work is saved for Sunday school not for worship. I would think that if a pastor can't show up for service due to unforeseen circumstances, then an elder would have a sermon on hand that he had prepared for that type of emergency.



I agree, I can't imagine, except in a VERY RARE case, that the church would not have someone who is qualified to bring a message from Scripture in the unforeseen absence of the pastor.

But in the case of the pastor sitting in the front row and not bringing God's word, that is a pastor who is not carrying out his duties in my opinion.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Jack K (Apr 10, 2018)

If the missionary is ordained/licensed/approved to preach, it's great to have the guy deliver a sermon, provided he is able without being overburdened. If not, the missionary's report should not take the place of preaching.

In a church that does not see preaching as fundamentally different from other types of instructive speech, it is tempting to let a missionary report take the place of the sermon: it gives the missionary time in front of the congregation, gives a break to the regular preacher, and might cover themes that are not the main guy's strength. But this mindset misses the truth that preaching is not just a time to be instructed or informed; it is a time to hear from God through preaching from his Word.

Reactions: Like 1


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## timfost (Apr 10, 2018)

We had a sermonless Sunday last year. There is a bad snow storm and church was cancelled.


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## Gforce9 (Apr 10, 2018)

timfost said:


> We had a sermonless Sunday last year. There is a bad snow storm and church was cancelled.



That's a bummer, Tim, but a providential hindering.


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## jwithnell (Apr 10, 2018)

Used to be fair common with circuit-riding preachers.


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## Polanus1561 (Apr 10, 2018)

wait till you go to a church with sermonless Sunday's who have a preacher...


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## bookslover (Apr 10, 2018)

Around 1897, I believe, the southern Presbyterian Church published an entire volume of sermons by various preachers (some famous, mostly not). These sermons were meant to be read by an elder if a preacher were providentially hindered from his ministerial work on a Sunday.


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## ZackF (Apr 11, 2018)

A 'should' vs 'is' scenario. 

Whitefield and Wesley aside, Methodist preaching doesn't have the place it does in the Reformed world. That being the slap happy way mainline services go down should not surprise anyone.


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## jambo (Apr 12, 2018)

Going to a church on a Sunday and not hearing a sermon is like sitting in a restaurant and not eating a meal. You leave just as hungry as you were when you sat down.

Reactions: Like 1


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## augustacarguy (Apr 12, 2018)

Might be a blessing for some churches. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Reactions: Like 1


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## Myson (Apr 16, 2018)

augustacarguy said:


> Might be a blessing for some churches. Lol
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro



Isn't that a shame though? In my own context, very rural with hundreds of churches with less than a few thousand people, each building holding around 20-50 people, I think it took me until the last 8 years (until I moved) to actually hear the Word preached and expounded on. I got a lot of cute stories and jokes, plenty
of shouting, and very very loud demands to abstain from drinking, and a few encouragements on pop psychology tips marriage and work (which had literally no bearing on single High School and college me), but never the gospel. I've been to dozens and dozens of churches, and I feel it'd be better if they said nothing at all. The gospel is either "Be a good person so you don't go to hell" or "Six tips [From God] on how to be a better husband/wife/father/employee." From such "sermons," Lord spare us.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Myson (Apr 16, 2018)

Ultimately, it depends on what the church believes 1.) the Church _is _2.) what the Church _does _and 3.) What the preaching of the Word is. Most churches in my context would answer 1.) The Church is a communal gathering of like-minded people in a region 2.) In this gathering they are to be encouraged that the lives they live are secure and in the "right" and those who disagree are in the "wrong" - which can be done by a variety of means and 3.) Preaching is just one of those means.

Biblically, the Church is that organic instiution that has been ordered by the All-Powerful Soverign Trinitarian God of the Universe, that is his people, saved and secured from their sins, who are gathered to worship him, and taught who he is and how they are meant to glorify and enjoy him. Preaching is not a means to make people feel good about themselves, or to tell them about who they are, but primarily the voice of God himself, declaring to his people that he has saved through his Word, his will for them to their salvation, nourishment, and intimacy. Without the Word preached, there is no authoritative word for the people by which they can be organized and governed and thus, to miss out on it is to deny God the worship owed to him, the food that God's people hunger for, and the message of salvation to sinners who need to hear it. Though these things, in special circumstances happen outside of Sunday worship, they are supplementary, not primary, to the Word preached to the gathered people of God. In preaching, God's glory is proclaimed, sin is condemned, reconciliation is given to those who repent, and our lives are thus changed and we are exhorted and taught how to obey him from thenceforth as his Covenant people.

Now, if the church disagrees about these things, then they are likely to disregard the preaching of the Word, but I believe it is to their detriment in every way.


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