Since God has given us ears to hear, we should pay careful attention to how we hear him through his word being preached.
1. Expect God to speak to us.
“The preacher stands in the great tradition of prophets and apostles who spoke the word of God. Unlike them, the Christian preacher cannot offer new or fresh ideas to add to the Bible. But like them, there is a borrowed authority to speak what God wants spoken. We ought to listen to this kind of sermon with the utmost seriousness.” —Christopher Ash
2. Humbly admit that God is sovereign and true.
3. Make sure the preacher is saying what the Bible is saying.
4. Listen to the sermon in church on Sundays regularly.
“The church was defined by the call of the word of God to gather under the word of God. It began when God said to Moses: ‘Assemble the people before me to hear my words’ (Deut. 4:10). This set the standard shape and pattern for the people of God, who are gathered by the word of God (God takes the initiative to summon them and us) and gathered to sit together under the word of God (‘to hear my words’), to be shaped together by His word. God’s purpose is not to shape a collection of individuals to be each like Christ, but to form a Christlike people.”—Christopher Ash
5. Apply the sermon personally and relationally.