Have you ever walked out in the middle of a bad sermon?

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We were visiting a UMC church with my family on vacation, and it so happened that it was "Youth Sunday." For those not familiar, this is somewhat common in generic evangelical circles. The youth will lead the music, do skits or something, and then the youth pastor preaches. Sometimes, a young man will give a mini-sermon.

After suffering the burden well until it was time for the sermon, we were only a little surprised (but much outraged) to watch a 14 year old girl ascend to the pulpit to give the sermon. I was willing to suffer a great deal in the name of family cohesion, but at that point I'm fairly certain I would have walked out even if there was combination fire-flood-tornado going on right outside the door. Back at the house afterward, a conversation ensued that was quite...eventful.
 
or join the most sound even if on paper church and work to improve it, which may indeed take a long time or not work out.

It would need to be done very slowly, and with great diplomacy and tact (and yes, I recognize the irony of me advocating diplomacy and tact). An established, settled church in a rural or semi-rural church really aren't going to take very well to an outsider coming in and pointing out their faults.
 
Each situation will have its own set of difficulties but that will almost certainly be a factor and one I'm in myself, though not a rural setting.
It would need to be done very slowly, and with great diplomacy and tact (and yes, I recognize the irony of me advocating diplomacy and tact). An established, settled church in a rural or semi-rural church really aren't going to take very well to an outsider coming in and pointing out their faults.
 
I have sat through some terrible services from time to time, even when I pre-checked what I was getting into from the church's web site and whatnot. I have never encountered a rank heretic behind the pulpit, so I remained steadfast that the word of God was being delivered, albeit deeply obfuscated knowing that the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1: 18-25) sometimes includes actual tomfoolery. Sigh.
 
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or join the most sound even if on paper church and work to improve it, which may indeed take a long time or not work out.

It would need to be done very slowly, and with great diplomacy and tact (and yes, I recognize the irony of me advocating diplomacy and tact). An established, settled church in a rural or semi-rural church really aren't going to take very well to an outsider coming in and pointing out their faults.

To both you and Chris, yes. Well understood.
 
Preachers are supposed to preach the word of God. They are supposed to explain the text of Scripture and apply the text of Scripture to our lives. If the preacher uses illustrations, the purpose of those illustrations is to explain what the text of Scripture means.
 
My father tells me of a time his company had him at Stanford University for a couple weeks and he desired to find a place to worship within walking distance. He said he arrived at a place in which the gentleman greeting him said, "Welcome! We are glad you are here visiting. And don't worry, at this church we aren't big on all that Jesus stuff." That deserves an about-face.
 
I did once walk out of a bad sermon. It was a sermon on how Genesis 1-3 should not be taken literally. I walked out as quietly as I could. I am a 6 day creationist.
 
We have about a dozen or so people at my church who were formerly members of the UMC church in town. They had been contemplating leaving for some time as their church descended into liberalism, but the final straw was when the new minister preached on John 6 and argued that the feeding of the 5000 wasn't a miracle at all, but simply an example of what can be accomplished when the people of God are organized.
 
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