12. Megachurches with large auditoriums will decline and multisite churches will eventually give way to a less formal and more disconnected way of doing church.
Technology will increase its role in personal relationships and how the local church operates.
13. Expository preaching will continue, although the clamor for relevance and desire for new forms of sermonizing will eat away at this traditional style of preaching.
This is not a new trend, but something that will continue.
14. Christ-centered preaching will overcome its challenges.
The Holy Spirit will not allow God’s Word to become null and void. Shining lights will emerge in every generation that will hold fast to proclaiming the unchanging gospel in an ever-changing climate. We must remember where we have been by God’s grace and confidently preach into the future.
So how do we reach people with the gospel without undoing the gospel?
This is the initial question Zack Eswine asks in his helpful book, Preaching to a Post-Everything World (Baker, 2008). He alliterates (unfortunately) his answer so that we might remember these four “Cs”:
1. Content. This refers to our faith. The doctrinal facts about God and the gospel.
2. Character. This requires relational maturity. If you remove character from content, an inappropriate conservatism emerges. If you remove content from character, liberalism surfaces. Preachers must bring to culture the content the Bible presents with the relational character the Bible promotes.
3. Conscience. Sound exposition and discerning contextualization are good, but not enough. Our earthly movement to engage culture with the gospel will require a heavenly movement of the Holy Spirit. Worldly savvy requires greater piety.
4. Culture. There are assumptions we use to understand and proclaim content, character and conscience. Cultures vary, sometimes within neighborhoods, and demand a constant sense of discernment to distinguish biblical mandate from cultural suggestion. We need each other’s help to do this (Eswine, 12).
