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October 28, 2020
The following article is located at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2003/winter/19.65.html
CT Pastors, January 2003
Sunday's Comin'
M.Craig Barnes|postedJanuary 1, 2003

"Words are cheap."At least that is what we keep hearing. It is certainly what contemporary society has taught people to think. So what is the value of a sermon?

Is it just more words?

Preachers spend hours and hours carefully constructing their sermons in the belief that words are not cheap, but are costly, powerful, and even dangerous.

Just two words, "I do," have the ability to create a marital covenant that will last a lifetime. And just a couple words of anger can do a world of hurt. In his book Modern Times, Paul Johnson has demonstrated that the killing fields of Cambodia began with just words being tossed around in a Parisian coffee shop.

Words are like TNT. Combining them in careless ways can have devastating effects; putting words together carefully can rearrange a life.

Few now believe this. Before worshipers make it into a sanctuary, they have been bombarded with words all week by a society that no longer values them. Marketers have domesticated words into jingles, like circus elephants ...

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