Yes! Even in today's hyper-techno-driven conversational-wiki-culture, preaching is of the utmost importance. Of the several church-related or pastor-related issues noted by dropouts, preaching came up several times as a critical issue in retaining college students and young adults.
While most think that students are turning off the sermon, tuning into something different, and dropping out of the church, nothing is further from the truth. Students in the church, both high school and college, view the pastor's sermon with a level of importance. They have their eyes on him and what he is saying to them (or not saying to them, for that matter).
"It shouldn't surprise you that biblical truth must be conveyed to all age groups, especially through to sermon. But shockingly, students desire for the pastor to preach to them! The problem is not a willingness on their part to listen. Rather, the problem is the fact that the pastor is not engaging them where they are. The charts below reveal how two separate age groups view the importance of their pastor's sermons.
Not only are the pastor's sermons critical to the assimilation of those under 18, they gain a level of importance with those between the ages of 18 and 22. In other words, the older teens become, the more important it is for the pastor to relate to them through the weekly sermons.
The spread between dropouts and those who stay increases with the age of the student. This spread is driven by how well the pastor's sermons relate and engage each of these specific age groups.
Particularly with those over 18, how well a pastor engages and relates to this age group correlates directly with how long they will stay in the church. Don't make the mistake of thinking that these teens will "grow into" the message you preach. Our research proves the opposite – the older the teen, the more critical it is to reach them at their stage in life. Rather than creating sermons for the 45 and above crowd, gear sermons or segments of sermons specifically for the teens in your church.
The pastor's sermon, largely forgotten in this "conversational" dialogue about the future of the church, still remains one of the lynchpins in keeping students in the church. As a result, the buck still stops in the pulpit with this generation.
(For more information see Chapter 5 of Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom and Sam Rainer.)
What is relevant biblical preaching?
Dr. Ed Stetzer in Planting Missional Churches: Planting a Church That's Biblically Sound and Reaching People in Culture says about preaching
Preaching should both edify believers and encourage nonbelievers. We must grow in our preaching skills if we cannot do both. While Jesus preached a straightforward gospel, he demonstrated that preaching is not just opening the Bible, reading words, and providing commentary.
Stetzer goes on to say
Preaching should be simple but not simplistic. The Scriptures are given not only for information but also for transformation. The preacher may impress listeners with arcane theological truths that offer no life or hope, or the preacher may help transform lives with the truths of Christ's life changing process. The latter result is God's intention for Christian preaching.
What kind of preaching is both relevant and biblical?
The greatest contribution the Church can make today to a troubled and frightened generation is to return to a consistent and relevant preaching of the Word of God! All Christians would agree that what is most needed in the present age is a loosing of the power of God among us, but what is often forgotten is that the proclamation of His word has always been God's chosen channel of power.
'He sent his word and healed them,' the psalmist declares. And it is not so much preaching from the Bible that is needed, as it is preaching the Bible itself - in a word, expository preaching!