Is it the Gospel?

“You have to be in the Word and not let Sunday morning be the only time you hear the Bible read.” Micheal from the @honestyouthpastor

I have to admit, when I first saw that Michael creating “sermon review” videos I was super skeptical. What I thought I was going to get was a guy mocking pastors and using a bunch scholarly Christian verbiage. Really, it’s the exact opposite. Not only is he super fair and honest (in keeping with the name 😅) but he lays out a great framework that we all can use when viewing a sermon.

What I’ve come away with after watching a number of his videos is that it’s our responsibility to evaluate what a pastor is preaching against scripture. We are not to outsource our own salvation and understanding of Jesus by just sitting through a single church service each Sunday. I don’t want to call it skepticism because I think that implies a heart that is seeking to sharp shoot and nit pick and probably enjoys finding fault, but rather this looks like a heart of joy that seeks understanding and more substance than what can be offered in a 30 minute sermon. 

I love this idea of going beyond whether or service is “good” or “bad” based on how it makes us feel. Feelings are good but as we know we can feel “good” about things that are very bad and “bad” about things that are very good. The real question is: “Is this the gospel I’m being taught?” 

If you never ask…how would you know?