Emphasis Preaching Journal

Everyone lives by rituals. From how one brushes his or her teeth or how a man shaves ... to the route one takes to work ... to the way one feels comfortable in worship ... ritual is an important part of life. Ritual is powerful and hard to change.

The new pastor came to his first church filled with ideas of how things ought to be done. He dismissed the way things had been done for years and instituted sweeping changes in the worship service. And, he was surprised when attendance began to drop and the grumblings could be heard throughout the church.