Note to Preachers
I learned a lesson Sunday morning and I feel the need to pass it on to anybody who may find themselves in a pulpit at any time.Long ago, I learned not to refer the congregation to anything in the bulletin unless I later demanded that they put their bulletins away and then stood their, arms akimbo, until every last congregant had done so. The truly practiced folks could actually flip their bulletin pages and make them sound like Bible pages...and they hid the darn things below the pews like a bunch of high school students sending text messages during an exam.
Sunday, I learned a new no-no. Never start your sermon with a math question! I promise, it's a bad idea.
I led off in such a manner this week. I gave 'em the ol' "Train A leaves the station at 6:00 pm" type question. I was trying to make the point that my students seem to never know how to even begin working on those questions. And that was to lead into the message: "Begin everything with prayer."
Funny. Cute. Ha ha.
Except that about 25% of the people there abandoned any pretense of listening to me and began solving the problem! I didn't even know this until they all made a beeline towards me after services. I thought, "Wow, nice, look at all the people who want to tell me what a great job I did today." But, no, they all just wanted to know the answer to the problem. I was forced to tell them that I had just made the numbers up; I hadn't worked it out. So they began talking amongst themselves until they agreed on what the answer must be.
I've often found myself wishing that my math students would come to my church. This was the first time I found myself wishing that my church would come to my math class.
So there's my advice. Do with it as you will.
And I have, of course, worked out the problem and e-mailed it to the speaker for this week. I figure he can lead off with it and ensure rapt attention.
posted by Thurman8er @ 11:04 AM
14 Comments:
So if you were to start a sermon with a math problem, make sure you give them the answer before you continue with anything else.
My answer is C. Am I correct Mr. Thurman. :)
If someone starts preaching at 200 words a minute from one end of the service, and another starts preaching at 250 words a minute from the other end of the service, do they meet at the Lord's Supper or at the offering?
Just thought I'd ask.
Brady: I think it would depend on whether it was a one cup or multi-cup congregation.
Steve: Believe me, I would never start off ANY conversation in any setting with a math question! I think bringing math into the pulpit is almost blasphemous!! :)
Brady, that would depend on how “separate and apart” the offering is.
Math Bro - You realize you've given Greg and Randy hope and new found strength in their belief that "math" is a tool of Satan.
Your post reminds me of the time when a Bible Class teacher made a statement about the word "joy" being used "x" amount of times by Paul as a verb in the N.T. A sweet little old lady from Mississippi and former English Teacher then asked the teacher to use "joy" as a verb in a sentence.
He couldn't and neither could any of us in the class but like you, no one focused on his class as we all made attempts to use "joy" as a verb.
Good thing you didn't give your church any manipulatives to use.
Brady, I think it would depend on whether the communion table is in the front or the back of the building!
Excellent advice!
I hope you are having a great Fourth of July with family and friends!
May God’s richest blessings be yours,
-bill
Spiritual Oasis Blog
Brady...I think the answer would also depend if the service involved "three-songs-and-a-prayer".
Steve...did you ask everyone to "show their work"?
Brady...I think the answer would also depend if the service involved "three-songs-and-a-prayer".
Steve...did you ask everyone to "show their work"?
Sorry for the double entry...the first time, this blog site told me to get the letters right! And the "Your comment has been saved" banner didn't appear. It's a squirrely site simetimes.
Hello, all. I'm reminded of an email fruitcake I saw a few years back, entitled Assume a Perfectly Spherical Jesus. Be forewarned, it has a couple of naughty words in it....
--Tim (brother-in-law of Wendy Power. There's always one in the family. In our family, there are several.)
We don't even have bulletins and the bulletins that we get in the mail are usually full of extreme church of Christ hate junk mail that I throw in the trash. Bulletins are a waste of time and energy. A thing of the past. Just my opinion. Isn't that what powerpoint is for anyway? :-)
Well, you engaged them but you have to bring their desire to solve the problem into solving something else. Just think of your teacher training!
Tim...if this sperical Jesus represents a constant density of D, does the D stand for Diety? If Cornelia's head is the only part in the jaw's of the aligator, will the alligator then be caught up in the rapture as well? Maybe he'll be stunned. Oh well, I'm sure other headless faithful will be around in heaven as well...ya never know... Good quiz
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