Sandbox Church

For the longest time, I have questioned how we as members of churches can hear sermon after sermon and remain, for the most part, unchanged. It has bothered me to see the contrast between what scripture promises and what we actually see in the church today. In the Western church, healings are few and far between and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are mainly limited to preaching or an emotional outright free for all. At the end of the day, no matter the denomination, there seems to be one thing in common: We are not truly experiencing what the Bible promises.

I have questioned the preaching and the people but never stopped to question the model that we all prescribe to. The movie-theatre experience: Sit, receive, leave. All I have ever known is the church model of today, where the focus of the church is the sermon. Churches boast different groups and studies but if we were honest, the most important part of our church life is the sermon. We believe this because “it is the preaching of the Word”, the same Word that is sharper than a two-edge sword, the same Word that raised the dead and set the captive free but our churches are littered with people who are not free. Each week people raise their hands to accept Jesus and for a time they seem to soar but then old life styles and issues kick back or they plateau after a few years. Where is the power of transformation? Isn’t God inexhaustible? What I have written below is wrestle of my own heart and it is full of generalizations. It