Seeking God, and intellectual stimulation, at church December 19, 2007
Posted by Zack in Michigan , trackbackOne of the happiest surprises when I first started exploring evangelical “on fire for Jesus” churches was how much the sermons resemble university lectures on history or literature—and how many people come to hear them anyways. It turns out people are craving intellectual stimulation, and will drive an hour or more every Sunday to get it at a church that serves it up reliably.
This week, I’ve been catching up on listening to sermons from Mars Hill. I just listened to this sermon by Donald Miller from a few weeks ago. It’s a literature lecture. And it’s fascinating. And 10,000 people from the greater Grand Rapids area showed up to hear it.
Also, if you’re an atheist or agnostic who is driven crazy by the “irrationality” of people who structure their lives around ancient Bible stories, this talk will give you a deeper understanding of what that’s all about.
Here’s a 40 second sample:
You can download the whole sermon for free (for the next eight weeks or so) from the Mars Hill teachings page.
Donald Miller is a best selling Christian author. If you look for it, you’ll start noticing people reading his book “Blue Like Jazz” in coffee shops and on subways.
Comments»
Thank you for posting that clip. I wouldn’t have bothered downloading the whole sermon, but now I will. Btw, if you know these folks, would you suggest to them that podcasts would be a great way to spread the word to us lefty-techie types? We’re willing to listen to almost anything if it’s a podcast. :o]
They do podcast all their sermons. Search for “mars hill rob bell” on iTunes. Make sure you’re getting the Michigan Mars Hill feed — there are a lot of unrelated Mars Hills.
Thanks!
maybe you and your friends would enjoy reading the new book: Brown Like Coffee..I found it at brownlikecoffee.com
I loved it.