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Malachi's Unexpected Word for Today |
The Book of Malachi |
One of my purposes in making sermons like these available for preachers to hear is to indicate how delightful it is to prepare one's own sermons, how fascinating it is, for preacher and hearers, when the preacher takes a short, important document like Malachi, studies it, learns from it, and then explains the fruits of the work in a sermon. This, in a time when it is commonplace for preachers to lift their sermon outlines or even manuscripts off a web site or from a sermon service. Seldom from sermon books anymore, since the web is just too easy and too available. Every time I hear a sermon preached these days, I find myself trying to figure out how much of what the preacher says is the preacher's own hard won work, and how much has been lifted from whatever is closest and easiest. A document like Malachi really does reward study that turns into one or more sermons. I call Malachi the Gospel of Moderation. At a time when extremes pull against the Prophet, he manages to search for and find the "middle ground." What terrific sermon material for today! Listen to this if you will. |