Asking Questions in Church

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In our Sunday Special Service on 11th January people in church were invited to submit questions for reflection at church ... 

The questions came in thick and fast last week … but our box of questions is going to be around in the church until the beginning of February.  So if there are any questions that trouble you or intrigue you, now’s the time to make a note of them, put them in the box.  In our services on Sundays we are going to turn our mind to the questions people in our church have.

That begs the question, what are we going to do with them?

One thing’s for sure!  Many of the questions people have already asked are not ones that have a simple answer.  Indeed, many of those questions don’t have an ‘answer’ at all.

At one level we are going to share possible responses we can make those questions.  But actually, in church, as we meet together in our worship we are doing much more than that.

The ‘sermon’ part of the service is not just an opportunity for someone to pass on their wisdom and insight.  It is definitely not the equivalent of a comment column in a paper.

What we have done as a church is to invite someone, today it’s our Minister Richard, to give some time to reflect on the questions people are asking, questions that will often trouble or intrigue the preacher as much as anyone else.  We have then asked the preacher to seek out what he senses is the response God makes to those questions.

That’s a tall order for anyone to claim to do!  But at the heart of our faith is the conviction the preacher is not on their own.  Our expectation is that the preacher will use the channels God has given through which He responds to us – prayer, the Bible, the presence of the Spirit that is the inspiration of the Bible and the wider community of believers in the church.  So, as we worship together, let’s pray and open our hearts that through all we share we all may hear God’s Word for us today.