Current Event Preaching

There is a rise in what I call “current event preaching”. Current event preaching is taking the latest current event or hot topic of the world and building a sermon around it. I have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I think it can be very beneficial because people in our churches (as well as society) are looking for answers to explain all the chaos taking place in our world. And then, I believe it can be very dangerous and harmful because our attempts to answer people’s concerns can lead to stripping the text from true interpretation. It is the heart of a pastor to wants to address issues that affect the members and I can truly appreciate that. However, there are others who use current event preaching as a form sermon preparation cheating. You don’t have to work hard to talk about the hot topics.

But if we must, allow me to suggest what I believe to be helpful hints when discussing current events:

Point People To God – It’s important to remember the sovereignty of God in all situations. Yes, God is sovereign and He’s not an angry God sitting in heaven waiting and wanting to rain down terror on the wicked. No God is a loving God who cares for humanity. In the midst of adversity, people doubt God knows what He’s doing and it’s the responsibility of the preacher/teacher to remind them of what kind of God we serve. We may not understand everything that takes place but God knows more than we do. We have to trust Him, no matter what!

Stick to the Bible – Let scripture do the explaining. Stay away from your opinions, ideas, and philosophies. The bible has the answers to our questions. We may not like the answer but it does give an answer.

Pick and choose the current event wisely – There’s just some stuff we don’t need to discuss from the pulpit. I heard a guy preach a sermon on Michael Vick’s conviction for dog fighting, WHY! Another person preached a sermon of Tiger Woods, FOR WHAT! These topics are not worth the time and energy.

Lead people in a time of prayer – The best response to life’s questions is a prayer response.