Pastoral Helps
Showing 3801–3900 of 3956 resultsSorted by latest
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Sex In The Parish
$52.00Add to cartKaren Lebacqz and Ronald Barton examine the gift of sexuality in relation to the parish and the dynamics of sexual desire and temptation. Included in this book are the expreiences of a pastor who did not set appropriate limits; explainations of how the pastoral role affects sexual contact between pastor and parishioner; suggestions for a framework of ethical analysis; an examination of questions for women in ministry, single pastors, and pastors who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual; and a review of ethical issues related to persons who carry responsibilities for the structures of ministerial practice.
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Homiletics
$30.00Add to cartTo Barth, one of this century’s most influential theologians, theology should never be an end in itself. Instead, it should be ”nothing other than sermon preparation.” Now, in this new translation by Geoffrey Bromiley and Donald Daniels, students can meet and wrestle with Barth’s homiletical definitions and ideas on sermon preparation, including his understanding of the ways preachers should interpret Scripture. Barth presented this material as seminar lectures in Bonn in 1932-33.
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Greatest Wonder Of All Cycle C
$14.95Add to cartohn Braaten takes biblical passages from the Lent and Easter season and weaves them into messages for today’s Christians. This book of sermons follows Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries. The 17 messages include texts from Matthew, Luke, and John.
Sermon titles include:
The Pitfalls Of Practicing Piety — Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Our Christian I.D. — Luke 4:1-13
The King Who Came To Die — John 19:16b-22
A Strange Kind Of Glory — John 13:31-35 -
Embodied Word : Preaching As Art And Liturgy
$16.00Add to cartLiturgy as the work of God’s people gives the preacher a place to stand-an organic connection with an intentional sacramental community, says Rice. The place of preaching is the community, Christ’s body, and the hermeneutic that governs homiletical exegesis, style, and presentation comes from the liturgical situation of the sermon.
The Embodied Word puts preaching in its proper place-in the presence of the baptistry and close to the table. As Rice explores the implications of that placement for the specific concerns of homiletics, the use of Scripture, and the appropriation of the arts, he concludes that the movement of the sermon is from text to table and that the action of the liturgy both depends upon and empowers the word.
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Teaching Minister
$28.00Add to cartThe authors says the clergy, regardless of their appointment (as parish clergy or judicatory executives, for example), should understand themselves primary as teachers of the Christian faith. They claim it is both wrong and disadvantageous to mainline churches when clergy act as administrators or psychotherapists or in any other way that is fundamentally different from acting as a teacher. The first half of the book shows the urgency of recovering the understanding of ministry and demonstrates that the church has always witnessed to the importance of teaching as an indispensable component of ministry and of the life of faith itself. The latter half of the book provides examples of how the primary role of teaching can be used in the church.
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Black Preaching : The Recovery Of A Powerful Art (Revised)
$20.99Add to cartLearn how black culture and preaching style empower black congregations—and what methods all preachers should know. In this one-volume collection of The Recovery of Preaching and Black Preaching, Mitchell shows you how to add power and vision to your sermons through storytelling, imagination, and other aspects of preaching style that are rooted in black culture. .
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From Generation To Generation
$35.00Add to cartBased on years of experience as a pastor and professor of theology, John Leith reflects on the dilemma of the church today as primarily “a crisis of faith.” He states that renewal is found within Scripture and the tradition of a believing, worshiping community–in hearing the word of God, particularly in preaching, in teaching, in the sacraments, and in Christian conversation.
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Church With Aids
$40.00Add to cartThis book looks at the experiences of people with AIDS as a means of examining the way Christianity views the problem and deals with it on both personal and community levels. This book begins by sharing the experience and ministry of those living with AIDS. Also presented is a series of theological reflections on what living with AIDS means for the renewal of the church. Russell also asks how the traditional church might be seen differently by those struggling with AIDS. The final section, is designed as a tool for study and discussion groups.
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Preaching In And Out Of Season
$23.00Add to cartThis excellent resource provides help for ministers who must plan their sermons not only according to the liturgical church year but also in response to the secular calendar of national holidays and public ceremonies, and in response to the program calendar of local and denominational emphases. Individual chapters discuss preaching about racial relations; family, church, and nation; the global witness of the church; work; evangelism; stewardship; and giving thanks. Suggestions for sermons on each theme are provided as well.
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Teenage Q And A Book
$12.99Add to cartContents
1. .Parents
2. .Self-Image
3. .Peer Pressure
4. .Friends
5. .Dating
6. .Love
7. .Sex
8.. Abuse
Selected Bibliography P. 197Additional Info
Here are the ANSWERS You’ve Been Wanting…To the QUESTIONS You’ve Been AskingIn The Teenage Q & A Book you’ll find answers to more than 230 questions like:
* How can I get along with my parents?
* Why do I feel the way I do about myself?
* How can I resist when all my friends do drugs?
* How can I make more friends and keep them?
* How can I get a date?
* What’s the best way to turn down a date?
* How do I know if I’m really in love?
* How far can I go physically before it’s wrong?
* How can I handle the feeling I have from being sexually abused?In The Teenage Q & A Book no question is off-limits. Josh McDowell and Bill ]ones answer your questions with honest, frank and straight-to-the-point answers. You’ll find simple, biblical solutions to your life’s toughest issues!
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Ministry Of Nurture
$24.99Add to cartDiscipling teenagers means building a real-life faith into them. Which is exactly what youth ministry veteran Duffy Robbins explains how to do — definitively — in this sensitive, in-depth, and practical look at leading your kids into discipleship. No stranger to the challenge of discipling young people, Duffy draws from his decades of youth ministry experience as he describes a thorough, flexible discipleship program you can use with your students. In The Ministry of Nurture you’ll find– How to make faith practical in everyday life – How to help your kids develop their own faith – Seven keys to effective discipleship – How to help your kids build a faith that lasts – How you can help your kids apply their real-life faith in three key areas of the Christian life: outreach, nurture, and service – An important look at the two sides of peer pressure in the lives of young people — Whether you’re new to youth work or a veteran, The Ministry of Nurture is an indispensable addition to your youth ministry library.
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Spurgeons Sermon Notes
$22.99Add to cartManufactured On Demand Title
Charles H. Spurgeon was a master preacher whose passionate and powerful sermons are still pertinent and applicable to contemporary society. What preacher wouldn’t want Spurgeon’s thoughts on Sunday’s text!
More than 190 of Spurgeon’s finest sermons have been broken down into comprehensive outlines by David Otis Fuller. Covering texts from Genesis through Revelation, pastors, teachers, and Bible students can easily locate on-target, ready-to-use outlines for their sermon series or Sunday school class.
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Women In Travail And Transition
$24.00Add to cartGreater knowledge of woman’s experience, this book argues, will enable all caregivers whether female or male to provide better pastoral care when the gender specific presuppositions of that care are examined. Nine women collaborate to explore how women’s life experience both necessitates and models a new, systematic pastoral care. It is the first book to address the broad range of women’s pastoral care needs.
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Studying Interpreting And Applying The Bible (Student/Study Guide)
$24.99Add to cartStudying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible combines into one volume the popular trilogy by Walter Henrichsen and Gayle Jackson: – A Layman’s Guide to Studying the Bible – A Layman’s Guide to Interpreting the Bible – A Layman’s Guide to Applying the Bible This book will help students as well as ministers, young people and old alike, as they learn to study Scripture more easily and conveniently. The chapters on studying the Bible help the beginning or experienced Bible student mine God’s Word for its riches through verse analysis, chapter analysis, the overview of a book, the study of a topic, and the study of Bible characters (including charts, diagrams, and other helpful illustrations). The unit on interpreting the Bible explains Bible interpretation based on grammar, history, and theology. The section on applying the Bible moves beyond study to life applications, enabling a person to – be motivated to make personal application – move beyond a “to do” list to an internal desire to obey – consider the risks involved in obeying – use specific application principles.
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Theology Is For Proclamation
$29.00Add to cartIn this work, Gerhard Forde makes a dashingly bold move to construct a whole systematic theology on the model of Martin Luther’s Bondage of the Will. Forde continues Luther’s polemic against every theology that fools with God apart from the Word. He drags systematic theology out of the study, sticks it into the pulpit, onto the altar, and under the waters of baptism so that it proclaims the gospel. He sets limits within which discussions of ministry and ecumenism must occur, if we are to remain proclaimers of the gospel. He writes a theology that is good for nothing but proclaiming the living Word of God.
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Imagining A Sermon
$19.99Add to cartHere is the remedy for trite, boring sermons! Thomas H. Troeger shows how to breathe fresh life into your sermons by harnessing your imaginative powers in a new way. In scores of dynamic workshops, Troeger has shown preachers and seminarians how to create powerful sermons by seizing moments when the heart and mind catch fire. Now, in Imagining a Sermon Troeger share the secrets of capturing the imaginative spirit within you.
You will discover:
How to observe daily events that can energize the preaching event
How to fine-tune your visual and listening skills to fuse televised, scriptural, and remembered images into new truths for your congregation. -
Reframing : A New Method In Pastoral Care
$29.00Add to cartThis is a new method of pastoral care by Donald Capps. Capps is a professor of pastoral theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He explains his theory of Reframing in three parts. Topics touched on are techniques of refraiming, the ministry of Jesus, superficial counsel, healing utopia, the inadequate methods of Job’s counselors, and more.
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Building The Youth Choir
$10.95Add to cartIntroduction
1. Getting Started
2. Establishing A Sound
3. Practical Application
4. Choosing The Music
5. Studying And Conducting Your Choices
6. Changing Voices
7. Private And Class Voice Instruction
8. Pleasures And Problems Of The Tour
About The Author
Repertoire List
BibliographyAdditional Info
Yarrington provides practical advice on how to get started, offers techniques that work to establish a good sound, suggests music suitable for youth, deals with the challenge of changing voices, and more. -
Get Em Talking
$22.99Add to cartDoes your youth group suffer from the “silent complex”? Need help to get them talking about what’s really important? Would you like to be a more effective discussion leader? Then look no further! Get ‘Em Talking gives you 104 field-tested ideas that will get your kids talking about topics like . . . Rock Music – Dating – Serving God – Death – Friendship – Peer Pressure – Anger – Drugs and Alcohol – Gossip – Family – Parents – The Church – Values – Faith – Cheating – Jesus . . . and many more! Get ‘Em Talking is the perfect resource for anyone who leads discussions. You’ll glean the insights of two of the nation’s most experienced youth professionals on what makes discussion groups tick, how to get a good discussion started, what to do when problems hit, and much more. Learn How to Effectively Use Discussion Techniques Like: – No-risk Discussions – Rug Discussions – “If” Surveys – Yarn-Sharing Experiences – Relay Discussions – Tape Talk – Groupers – Continuum Discussions — Get ‘Em Talking will quickly become an indispensable part of your youth ministry resource library. Whenever you need a great discussion-starting idea, just reach for Get ‘Em Talking!
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Preaching The Miracles Cycle B
$14.95Add to cartour partner in intelligent, meaningful sermon preparation Cycle B
Exegesis
The Situation
The Setting
Cultural and Historical Contexts
Other Lectionary Texts For the Day
Meanings and Derivations of Key WordsHomiletics
Suggested Sermon Themes
Sermon Outlines
Preaching IllustrationsNine Miracles Include
Cleansing a Leper — Mark 1:40-45
Calming a Sea Storm — Mark 4:35-41
Healing a Blind Man — Mark 10:46-52 -
Places Of The Promise
$12.95Add to cart“The Advent/Christmas story is one that identifies specific places as the font of the rich interactions between God and humanity. The names of such locales are as familiar to us as our own homes.”
Here are six sermons with accompanying children’s sermons. The series covers Advent 1 through Christmas 1. Each sermon focuses on the particular sphere God used to prepare creation for the gift of Jesus.
The sermons offer:
* Texts from Lectionary Cycle B
* Other suggested texts
* Suggestions for congregational activitiesThe children’s sermons follow an advent wreath-lighting series. Following Christmas, these sermons use the Christmas tree and the creche scene as themes. Each children’s sermon offers at least three objects to use as illustrations.
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Palms And Thorns Cycle B
$12.95Add to cart“Liturgy,” which literally means “the work of the people,” sums up all the ways people have responded to God, including hymns, prayers, laments, invocations and confessions of faith.
14 Worship Services The Liturgical Witness Of The New Testament contemporizes and brings to life these various forms of worship as the author draws unique canticles, prayers, hymns and responsive petitions from the books of the New Testament. Each New Testament book is allowed to speak with its own voice. For example, the service based on Luke gives voice to the Gospel by the use of four canticles (psalms), and Luke’s own version of the Words of Institution and his truncated version of the Lord’s Prayer are included.
Also included are a helpful index listing the worship services according to their use in the lectionary and ten sermons for use with these liturgies.
Contents include:
Through The Desert Clear A Highway! — The Liturgical Witness Of Luke
One Lord, One Body — The Liturgical Witness Of The Corinthian Letters
Lordship And Unity — The Liturgical Witness Of Colossians
God Is Love — The Liturgical Witness Of First John
Worthy The Lamb — The Liturgical Witness Of Revelatio -
Pastor : Readings From The Patristic Period
$26.00Add to cartPatristic theology is primarily pastoral. Yet often the study of writings from the first six centuries of the church is pursued in ways that make the polemical, philosophical, and political aspects stand out. But if one reads around those texts that are profiled in these ways, the pastoral concerns will emerge. Even contemporary interests in social, economic, and deconstructionist approaches locate much of the data for their questions within or near texts that also can be looked at for the descriptions of shepherding the flock. Thus it is likely that any who read ancient Christian literature will find this volume helpful. The introduction is masterful. No other volume known to me does that so well through the translated words of ancient leaders. Whatever historical surveys one finds helpful, they cannot replace this guide. It is done with such competence and flair that specialists who are historians with no particular interest in ministry other than its being a feature of the early church will need to consult it. Those, however, who as believers and ministers are attempting to serve contemporary congregations will devour this book. No seminarian should be without it
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Christian Spiritual Formation In The Church And Classroom
$25.99Add to cartIn this thought-provoking volume, Johnson counters what she sees as “wrong-thinking” in much contemporary Christian education by offeirng forceful ideas about spiritual formation and faith development. The author challenges the way the entire discipline of Christian education is currently approached.
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Ethics In Ministry
$29.00Add to cart1991 Academy of Parish Clergy Book Award recipient. ”Deserves commendation and a large readership. The authors have touched sensitively on a wide range of issues with a wisdom that is practiced and practical.”—Christian Ministry. Deals with truth-telling, authority, salary, burnout, confidentiality, and more.
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Servant : Simple Story About The True Essence Of Leadership
$27.00Add to cart1. The Definitions
2. The Old Paradigm
3. The Model
4. The Verb
5. The Environment
6. The Choice
7. The Payoff
187 PagesAdditional Info
In this absorbing tale, you watch the timeless principles of servant leadership unfold through the story of John Daily, a businessman whose outwardly successful life is spiraliing out of control. He is failing miserably in each of his leadership roles as boss, husband, father, and coach. To get his life back on track, he reluctantly attends a weeklong leadership retreat at a remote Benedictine monastery.
To John’s suprise, the monk leading the seminar is a former business executive and Wall Street legend. Taking John under his wing, the monk guides him to a realization that is simple yet profound: The true foundation of leadership is not power, but authority, which is built upon relationships, love, service, and sacrifice.
Along with John, you will learn that the principles in this book are neither new nor complex. They don’t demand special talents; they are simply based on strengthening the bonds of respect, responsibility, and caring with the people around you. Perhaps this is why The Servant has touched readers from all walks of life-because its message can be applied by anyone, anywhere-at home or at work.
If you are tired of books that lecture instead of teach; if you are searching for ways to improve your leadership skills; if you want to understand the timeless virtures that lead to lasting and meaningful success, then this book is one you cannot afford to miss. -
How To Preach A Parable
$23.99Add to cartIn this pratical and insightful guide, one of the nation’s most respected preachers shows how to use the structure of Jesus’ parables to preach highly effective sermons. During the past decade, NT scholars have dne fresh and exciting work on the style and function of Jesus’ stories. Now Eugene L. Lowry–in clear, step-by-step fashion–shows how he and other well-known preachers use and develop parables to create lively and interesting sermons.
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Cowherding Christians Cycle A
$12.95Add to cartIf you and your parishioners don’t know much about sheep, you might find a shepherding Savior difficult to fathom; but if you grew up on a family farm anywhere in rural America, you might know something about cows. And you just might find it easier to relate to a cowherding Savior. It is this type of familiar, experiential approach to God’s word that makes this collection of model homilies so unique — and so meaningful.
Messages include:
– Where Are the Lilies Now?
– Jesus’ Hospital
– Cowherding Christians
– A House for God
and seven more!
For use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionary texts -
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 3 Cycle A
$42.95Add to cartPractical preaching strategies to help the over-burdened parish pastor communicate God’s Word in vital, meaningful ways.
This is the first volume in CSS’s third series of popular preaching workbooks — Designed to help you get the most out of every moment you spend in sermon preparation.
Special Features Include:
– Commentary on Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Common lectionary texts
– Sermon Starters for First Lesson, Second Lesson, and Gospel texts for every Sunday in Cycle A
– “Theological Clues” to help you explore the relationships among all the texts for each Sunday
– Wide Margins and Stay-flat binding for ease of use
– Overviews of preaching challenges and possibilities for each liturgical season
– Extensive Bibliography of exegetical and homiletic resources for Cycle A preaching
– And All-new Insights from one of CSS’s most well-respected and successful authors
This workbook is an exercise in liturgical, as well as lectionary preaching. It springs from the rationale that most lectionary helps ignore the liturgical setting of the lessons assigned to the various Sundays. It is this author’s contention that the exegetical/homiletical process begins with the church year. The year, cycles, seasons, Sundays, and festivals establish the themes and provide theological clues for worship and, particularly, preaching, especially in the first half of the church year. This approach is the outgrowth of the author’s doctoral dissertation and two of his books, “The Renewal Of Liturgical Preaching” and “The Song And The Story.” Both deal with preaching from the lectionary texts in the context of the worship, work, and lives of the people of God. -
New Testament Exposition
$22.99Add to cartExpository preaching is an elusive ideal. Many preachers aspire to it, few are acknowledged masters. For most a gap exists between the sermon that addresses the needs of the hearers and one that methodically plumbs the depths of Scripture. New Testament Exposition is written to bridge this gap and bring together the disciplines of preaching and exegesis. In this book Liefeld addresses the three main concerns of expository preaching: What is the text saying? How can its message be communicated in ways that are appropriate to the passage, the seeing, and the goals of the sermon? How can the message meet the real needs of the congregation in a way that is consistent with the purpose and function of the text? This book demonstrates how these concerns can be brought together in a sermon, and it is this thoughtful, practical approach that makes the book so valuable to preachers and seminarians. The book is divided into three parts. Part I explores the characteristics of expository preaching. Part II deals with preparing the text and addresses such areas as practical exegesis, exegetical outlines, narratives and compositional patterns, semantic patterns, and underlying assumptions of the text. Part III discusses application of the text by asking, What is the function of the text? What are the needs of the congregation? How can one preach to inner heart needs as well as to the external circumstances facing the congregation? New Testament Exposition is not vague theory, nor is it esoteric study beyond the grasp and time of the busy pastor. Throughout the book Dr. Liefeld reflects his experience in the classroom and pulpit, and his concerns as scholar and pastor are clearly seen in the final chapters of this volume. Chapter 9 examines preaching from difficult texts: How might one handle parables, miracle stories, obscure passages, culturally related texts? The final chapter provides a demonstration of all that is discussed throughout the book by walking the road through the actual preparation for a sermon.
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From Anticipation To Transfiguration Cycle A
$14.95Add to cartThe Advent season is one of expenctancy and anticipation. But it is not fulfilled completely in the Nativity. For it is not until the Transfiguration that God’s people can even begin to really understand what the fulfillment of God’s promise might mean.
Joe E. Pennel Jr. takes his reader on that journey “From Anticipation to Transfiguration” with the sensitive insight that Christmas is not the end but the beginning of God’s promise to his people.
Messages include:
– Shaped by the Future
– Away with the Stable
– The Called Ones
– Fog-Cleared Moments
and thirteen more!
For use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries. -
Rooted In Remembering Cycle A
$12.95Add to cartOld Testament texts are often neglected by preachers of God’s word, but the writers of this collection have taken the time to contemplate the unity of God’s message to his people from ancient to modern times. That message is explored with warmth and insight in this richly varied collection of First Lesson homilies.
Messages include:
– Pentecost’s Promises
– Expectations of a Vital Faith
– The Cry for God
– A Faith to Live By
and eleven more!
For use with Common Lectionary texts.
Contributing to this cross-generational family effort are James G. Cobb, James K. Cobb, John M. Cobb, John W. Cobb, Judith A. Cobb, John D. Mauney, and W. Dexter Moser, all ordained pastors in the Lutheran Church in America. -
Fashion Me A People
$36.00Add to cart“Curriculum” as described in Maria Harris’s book is an exciting process embracing the entire course of the church’s life. It concerns the creative and educational powers used to “fashion a people.” Encompassing the total teaching mission of the church, it includes community, service, worship, proclamation, and instruction of all the members from birth to death. Contains “Reflection and Practice” exercises at the end of each chapter.
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Prophets Bread Cycle A
$12.95Add to cartFrom the author of the vastly popular “Gospel Horizons” series, comes this new collection of deeply thoughtful, personal; yet, universal responses to First Lesson lectionary texts for the Advent season.
Drawn from the author’s own searching questions and sensitive insights, these model homilies will deepen your understanding of the proclaimers and prophets who were sustained by the word of the Lord.
Messages include:
– God as Woodcutter
– The Glance of God
– What God Sees
– Six Cloudy Days
and thirteen more!
For use with Common Lectionary texts. -
Revelation For Today
$20.99Add to cartRevelation is the Bible’s most puzzling book. Though it has inspired some of the world’s greatest literature and art, to many readers the book remains a total mystery–a hodge-podge of strange, mystical symbolism and obscure references. Now James M. Efird provides a clear, readable look at the meaning of Revelation. Probing the mysterious book to its very core, Efird offers the best of modern scholarship in an accessible way. Efird places Revelation in its historical context (approximately AD 90), and explains its message for us today. Revelation for Today features an appendix on ways to teach the book, designed for pastors and church school teachers.
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Weaving The Sermon
$28.00Add to cartUsing images connected with the art and craft of weaving, Christine Smith discusses the special vision that women bring to the task of preaching. She looks at the significance of feminist theology, psychology, and philosophy in terms of their impact on the preaching of all men and women. Among other topics, she considers the authority of the preacher, God language, and global feminism.
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Master Has Come
$12.95Add to cartJesus and his kindom are the focus of this seven-part preaching series for Lent and Easter Day. Thomas Pilgrim, a seasoned proclaimer and an effective parish pastor, brings the reader and the listener face to face with Jesus and his claims upon Christian disciples. Well illustrated and carefully outlined, Pilgrim’s messages are appropriate for a Lenten Sunday or Lenten mid-week preaching series. Each message is accompanied by an appropriate and easy-to-tell children’s object lesson.
The author develops the theme in this way:
The Master Has Come
To Proclaim God’s Kingdom
And Calls Disciples
And Is Moved With Compassion
To Build His Church
And Is Calling For You
To Face Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)
To Be Lord of Life (Easter Day) -
Finally Comes The Poet
$29.00Add to cartThis manuscript was prepared and presented as the 1989 Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School. The Beecher Lectures are by definition addressed to the subject of preaching. In these lectures, the author has sought to address the crisis of interpretation the preacher faces in our culture, which has either dismissed or controlled the text. Preaching as an act of interpretation is in our time, demanding, daring, and dangerous.
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Pastoral Ethics : Professional Responsibilities Of The Clergy
$27.99Add to cartLike most community leaders, clergy are constantly asked to make decisions that have far-reaching effects. For clergy, the matter is particularly complicated because of the many arenas in which they operate–counseling, church management, community affairs, ecumenical relationships, denominational politics, and others.
In Pastoral Ethics, Gaylord Noyce looks at clergy as professionals, and shows what can be learned from the professional ethics of other disciplines. He also demonstrates the special responsibilities (and opportunities) that affect those who are ordained. A book at once practical and prophetic, Pastoral Ethics is the standard for a new generation.
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Taking On The Gods
$25.99Add to cart“Taking on the gods is a significant responsibility of pastoral counseling. Confronting those psychic structures, forces, and images which masquerade as God; bringing love, faith, and hope into the lives of persons; and being an extension ministry of Jesus Christ walking in the hells of human existence are all ways of expressing the true evangelistic purposes of pastoral counseling. The thought of taking on the gods in one’s clients and in oneself may seem like arrogance or a humbling and awesome challenge. Nevertheless, taking on the gods is at the heart and soul of pastoral counseling.” –from the author’s Introduction
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Channeling Grace : Sermons For Lent And Easter Sundays In Ordinary Time Cyc
$12.95Add to cartWILL THE REAL JESUS CHRIST ARISE? WHO WAS JESUS CHRIST? AND WHAT IS THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS RESURRECTION? IF YOU FIND YOURSELF WISHING YOU HAD MORE TIME…IDEAS…ENERGY FOR SHARING THIS CRUCIAL MESSAGE WITH YOUR CONGREGATION, YOU WILL APPRECIATE THESE NINETEEN FRESHLY INSIGHTFUL SERMONS BY CARL L. JECH. WITHIN ARE SERMONS FOR EVERY CYCLE C GOSPEL TEXT DURING LENT AND EASTER FROM THE COMMON, LUTHERAN, AND ROMAN CATHOLIC LECTIONARIES, INCLUDING: THE PIETY THAT ISN’T LOVE IS DOWN TO EARTH SOME WOMEN’S STORIES WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO? COLORIZING JESUS BECOMING WHAT YOU ARE AND THIRTEEN MORE USE THESE COMPLETE SERMONS AS PRESENTED — OR AS INSPIRATION FOR YOUR OWN ORIGINAL MESSAGES.
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Senses Of Preaching
$24.00Add to cartWritten in conversational style, The Senses of Preaching is a thought-provoking book using anecdotes to take a careful look at the relationship between preachers and congregations. Thomas Long provides insight into faith and life as well as preaching and homiletics. He offers preachers a better understanding of the whole concept of their craft and complements it with sermon-starter ideas. This compact volume shows preachers how to develop and implement a preaching experience that encourages the hearing of the gospel.
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Christian Education : Seeking To Become Like Jesus Christ
$24.99Add to cartThis is a book that relentlessly pursues defining the goams of Christian education and then offers a plan in keeping with those goals. So many books in the field assume the goals and simply describe the methods. Not so Larry Richards. His biblical and theological analysis conveys an excitement that makes Christian education a mission, not just a responsibility. And still his approach is eminently practical, insightful, and motivational.
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Childrens Ministry : Nurturing Faith Within The Family Of God
$27.99Add to cartA book that integrates a biblical and theological understanding of the child and the most useful insights of developmental psychology. This is a unique volume combining both biblical and theological foundations for children’s ministry with a careful assessment of the other major issues in nurturing children: developmentalism, the context of learning and growth, values, cognitive abilities, and social relationships. In this one comprehensive volume an integrated approach to children’s ministry emerges, compelling the student and practitioner alike to latch on to its theological handles and pull.
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Ministry : A Theological Pastoral Handbook
$12.99Add to cartThis highly praised handbook on ministry is an essential resource for clergy and laity alike–clear, readable, theologically sound, and pastorally wise. Traces the development of ministry from New Testament times through Vatican II to provide pastoral guidance for priests, nuns, teachers, and others who are called to the ministry.
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Congregations
$32.00Add to cartC. Ellis Nelson–noted author, Christian educator, and church leader–collaborated with and collected the works of ten leaders experienced in congregational affairs. The result was CONGREGATIONS: THEIR POWER TO FORM AND TRANSFORM. This book is designed as a resource that helps ministers and lay leaders understand the dynamics of congregations so that they may use that spiritual energy to invigorate their own congregations.
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Reformed Imperative
$25.00Add to cartOne of the most articulate interpreters of the Reformed tradition, John H. Leith is concerned about the reliance of mainline churches on such approaches as better management techniques and a quest for relevance as the means to halt membership decline. He reaffirms the Reformed tradition and calls upon the church to say what no one else can say. Leith writes that too often sermons are moral exhortations which can be delivered more effectively at Rotary or Kiwanis clubs. Many are political and economic judgments on society presented with greater wisdom and passion at political conventions. Other sermons offer therapies better provided by competent psychiatrists. He urges the church to use its only unique skill-the ability to interpret and apply the Word of God through sermons, teaching, and pastoral care.
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Counsel For Pastors Wives
$22.99Add to cartDr. Diane Langberg, a licensed psychologist, offers sympathetic and realistic answers to fourteen questions from pastors’ wives, questions that are often asked. In answering the questions Dr. Langberg addresses not only the particular women who asked them, but also those who are looking in over the shoulders of these women. Some of the answers are simpler than others. All of the answers require acts of faith, renewed patience, and wisdom that must come from God. With these divine resources come healing and possible solutions. Counsel for Pastors’ Wives is a good prescription for people who want to be helped and healed and for people who want to help the healing. It is not merely for pastor’s wives, it is for concerned laypeople as well
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6 Presents From God
$12.95Add to cartAdvent is a time to think about gifts. Who should receive them? How much should they cost? What do the people on our list “need” most of all? We scramble every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, trying to “take care of our gift list.”
Here is a refreshing second look at the whole area of giving and receiving gifts. When all is said and done, it is not us but God who is the gift-giver. By his rich giving we are graced for life and for eternity. Throughout the season of Advent and Christmas, share with members of your congregation the good news of God’s enormous generosity. Look together at the “gift list ” God assembled for us once where shepherds watched and angels sang.
These six sermons are each supplemented with simple object lessons for young children. The author focuses on God’s gifts to us of:
Angels
Mary
Shepherds
Wisemen
The baby Jesus
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Call In The Clowns
$12.95Add to cartChildren love stories. (So do their parents.) The Sunday morning worship hour is a perfect time to take five minutes to gather the children and share a story with them. When the youngest in the congregation understand what is being shared, all who are older will as well.
These fifty object lessons are based on gospel texts. Many but not all are from the gospel of Luke, including familiar parables of Jesus such as the prodigal son and the good Samaritan. Each story makes use of a familiar household object, such as a paper bag, a candle, some construction paper, or a balloon, in order to make a simple teaching memorable to young learners.
Anyone who loves children and can tell a story can share the stories in this book. It may be the pastor, a Sunday church school teacher, a gifted (or simply dedicated) lay person, or a parent of younger children. The stories can also be used effectively in the church school classroom or in the Christian home. -
Reading The Signs Cycle C
$12.95Add to cartIf you are like many parish pastors, you find the Christmas season to be the most frustrating season of the church year — so much to do, so much to celebrate, so much to say — and so little time to prepare it all!
That is why J. Ellsworth Kalas has prepared these twelve thoughtful sermons — to help you present the meaningful and coherent messages you want your congregation to hear during this busiest of seasons.
Within are sermons for every Cycle C gospel text during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons from the Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries, including:
– The Signs of Summer
– The Hinge of History
– Songs of the Season
– Return to the New
– From Empty Nets to Full Lives
– Awake to GloryUse these complete sermons as presented — or as jumping-off points for your own meaningful messages.
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44 Ways To Increase Church Attendance
$21.99Add to cartAre you still suffering over the sight of empty pews? Have your efforts been more than exhaustive in expanding your congregation? Have you maximized your brainstorming potential for bringing in new members?
If you have reached what appears to be your limit, then no longer fret, 44 Ways To Increase Church Attendance can open the doors of both your church and mind. With proven techniques for building a body for Christ, church leaders can increase their membership and then free themselves to focus on other important missions for God. Schaller’s suggestions will energize leaders and put their churches on the road of abundance.
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Ministerial Ethics And Etiquette (Revised)
$22.99Add to cartNow revised, Ministerial Ethics and Etiquette has been hailed as “an authoritative standard,” the book that “answers almost every question of ministerial ethics which may arise.” Nolan Harmon, who has authored each successful edition since 1928, studied the ethical codes of conduct of five major denominations and secured the expert opinions of eighty-six leading pastors, Harmon uses this wisdom to show ministers how to conduct themselves etically in virtually every phase of ministry.
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Faith Development And Pastoral Care
$22.00Add to cartJames Fowler’s work as the originator of faith development research – his use of the theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson for theology – has been widely acclaimed for it’s profound impact on the field of religious education, and for it’s promise for other fields.
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Preaching Through A Storm
$24.99Add to cart1. I’ve Been In The Storm So Long
2. Predicting A Storm
3. Maintaining Relationships
4. The Eye Of The Storm
5. The Identity Of Evil
6. If It Had Not Been For The Lord
7. The Preacher’s Friend
8. Tragedy Or Triumph?
9. The Storm Is Passing Over
10. Preparing For The Next Storm
11. Storms Keep Coming224 Pages
Additional Info
The context was a building program for an urban congregation. The beginning bore no omens of controversy. But before long, both the pastor (the author) and the congregation found themselves in a storm that threatened the church’s very existence and the pastor’s future in ministry. It is common in this kind of storm that neither the preacher nor his flock will expect to hear from God. But the arresting message of this book is that it is often through the preaching itself that God speaks to the issues of conflict. It is through preaching that the issues are resolved, and neither the pastor nor the people are left unchanged. By example and by precept this book shows how to weather a storm in the only successful way — by preaching through it under the guiding hand of a compassionate God who knows our human anguish. This is a book you cannot afford to ignore. For, as one preacher puts it, you’re either “coming out of a storm, in a storm, or heading for a storm.” -
Death
$30.00Add to cartA compelling handbook for pastors, counselors, adult discussion groups. It encourages personal reflection. William Phipps deals honestly and openly with the cultural and human issues surrounding death. His comprehensive resource covers definitions of life and death, life expectancy and quality of life, terminal illness, suicide, grief, funeral practices, body disposal, violent death, nuclear war, handgun control, the death penalty, how to explain death to children, and theories of life after death.
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Homiletic : Moves And Structures
$39.00Add to cart”This is the most encyclopedic work of the modern period. Preachers really serious about the challenge of effective preaching will reap the rewards of serious interaction with a model master craftsperson,”—Preaching. Relates preaching to all human discourse.
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New Hearing : Living Options In Homiletic Method
$23.99Add to cartPreaching is in crisis. Why? Because the traditional, conceptual approach no longer works, says Richard L. Eslinger. It fails to capture the interest of listeners and is not sufficiently Scripture-based. The time has come to listen to new voices, new methods. And that is what A New Hearing provides.
Eslinger offers as “living options” the work of five preeminent–though quite different–preachers who represent the “cutting edge” of preaching in the 1980s: Charles Rice and the storytelling method; Henry Mitchell and the black narrative method; Eugene Lowry, who bridges the narrative and inductive methods; Fred Craddock and the inductive method; and David Buttrick, who emphasizes the structure and movement of biblical material.
Eslinger devotes an entire section to each preacher. He explicates each man’s technique, shows how it differs from the traditional “three points and a poem” approach, and presents one sample sermon from each. Eslinger then critiques these “new homileticians,” delineating the strengths and weaknesses of their respective methods.
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Resurrection Promises
$12.95Add to cartJesus’ resurrection is a time for setting earthquakes shaking in the soul. The seven excellent Easter messages in this book will help to make that happen in your congregation. Leonard Budd and Roger Talbott have combined well-crafted stories, most of them imaginative fiction pieces, with solid exposition of texts from Old and New Testaments. These messages will provide preaching resources for the entire Easter season.
Two additional resources expand the usefulness of this volume:
* Prayers and readings for each Sunday follow each message.
* There are study/discussion questions for an adult forum group which can assemble following worship, or in the week following, to discuss the message. Each set of questions is preceded by “group-builder” get-acquainted and growth exercises. -
Co Creating : A Feminist Vision Of Ministry
$28.00Add to cartExamining the thought of prominent feminist theologians and the views of practicing clergywomen, Lynn N. Rhodes articulates a vision of ministry that can enrich the whole church. She focuses on the feminist approach to the vital questions of authority, salvation, mission, and vocation
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Draw Us Nearer To You Lord
$12.95Add to cartOver one-hundred responsive prayers are included in this useful resource. They may be used either as beginning “Calls to Worship” or at another place within the service. The author has organized the material in eight categories:
Christ’s Life
The Holy Spirit
Christian Values
Consecration
The Christian Life
Gratitude and Praise
The Church
Special OccasionsBy using one prayer each week, a congregation will have a new prayer for each worship service for two entire years.
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Handbook Of Church Discipline
$14.99Add to cart11 Chapters
Additional Info
This is a handbook for pastors, elders, and all Christians who want to see how Scripture presents the process of discipline that should operate in the Christian community. It was written in response to an urgent need. In order to help church leaders deal with the sorts of problems that require the church to respond with discipline, the author has developed the book around the five steps of corrective discipline found especially in Matthew 18:15 — 17. Because there is not merely one kind or one stage of discipline, church leaders must learn how to discern. And once the right discernment has been made, then the right action can follow. This is a simple and very readable little handbook. The influence it can and should have on the church is, however, quite profound -
How To Help People Change
$12.99Add to cart“While touching on many aspects of counseling, this book . . . is specifically designed to elucidate the process of counseling. I have often mentioned and illustrated that process, but not in the focused and systematic way that the four-step biblical process is set forth here . . . . This book presents a fresh perspective not only on how to counsel, but also on what measures to take at what stages of counseling.” (from the Preface) Change is the essential goal of the counseling process. And Christian counselors recognize, as the author is so concerned to remind us, “Substantial change requires the alteration of the heart.” How does a Christian counselor work in order to bring about this kind of change? The answer is found, of course, in Scripture — in 2 Timothy 3:14–17, to be specific. Jay Adams is well-known as a counselor who bases his whole approach to counseling on Scripture. This book offers the interested reader an unparalleled opportunity to see both how he discovers and applies biblical principles and the way in which Scripture functions as the basis of his approach to counseling. This book answers not only the question “How does a counselor help people change?” but also “How does Scripture operate as the source of a counselor’s method?” It is a book that has much to say about the ongoing discussion of the relationship between theology and psychology in the enterprise of Christian counseling.
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Shepherding Gods Flock
$26.99Add to cartShepherding God’s Flock is both a textbook for students of pastoral ministry and a handbook for pastors. In its three parts most of the tasks of pastoral ministry are outlined, and a practical approach to those tasks is developed. Jay Adams is well-known for his practical and thorough approach to the many issues of Christian counseling. That same practicality and thoroughness is found in this unparalleled handbook on pastoral ministry. Not only does it offer pastors one of the best resources in print; it provides church elders orientation and practical guide to aspects of ministry for which they have responsibility. It is truly a shepherd’s handbook. The book is divided into three parts: Pastoral Life deals with the pastor, his calling, and the general care he provides the flock. Pastoral Counseling provides an overview of the task and a general approach for pastoral counselors. Pastoral Leadership offers a perspective on the ways the pastor can lead the church in its many tasks and responsibilities.
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Solving Marriage Problems
$19.99Add to cart“Counselors unanimously find that marriage and family problems outnumber all other counseling problems combined,” writes Jay Adams. “For that reason alone, counselors should want to learn all they can about marriage counseling.” This is a book to help counselors understand and deal with typical problems that arise in a marriage. The approach is to offer not merely solutions, but biblical solutions. Chapter by chapter, each problem that is brought into focus is addressed by Scripture, and a solution arising from Scripture is developed. Unless one understands what a biblical marriage is supposed to be, it is difficult to solve marriage problems. For that reason, Dr. Adams spends the first few chapters developing a biblical model. Then he treats many of the specific kinds of problems that typically arise: life patterns, priorities, children, sex-roles, in-laws, etc. This is a book that belongs on every pastor’s and every counselor’s shelf.
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Cradle The Cross And The Crown Series A
$13.95Add to cartDesigned for use by pastors who preach on lectionary texts, this set of model sermons focuses primarily on lections from the gospel of Matthew, the gospel appointed for use during Cycle A. Texts on which Dr. Bass’ messages are based include: The preaching of John the Baptist; the Matthew cycle of stories describing Jesus’ birth, including the flight into Egypt and the coming of the wise men; the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry; several texts from the Sermon on the Mount; and the Transfiguration story.
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Theology Of Christian Counseling
$26.99Add to cartA Theology of Christian Counseling is a book that connects biblical doctrine with practical living. Salvation, that central concern of Protestant theology, is often too narrowly defined. It is thought to be “being saved from the consequences of sin.” But God is doing much more. He is making something new out of the old sinful nature. He is, in Christ, making new creatures. “No counseling system that is based on some other foundation can begin to offer what Christian counseling offers . . . No matter what the problem is, no matter how greatly sin has abounded, the Christian counselor’s stance is struck by the far-more-abounding nature of the grace of Jesus Christ in redemption. What a difference this makes in counseling!” In this book the reader will gain an insight into the rich theological framework that supports and directs a biblical approach to counseling. And the connection between solid theology and practical application will become compelling. This is a one-of-a-kind. Don’t ignore it!
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Christian Counselors Casebook
$24.99Add to cartThis companion volume to Competent to Counsel and The Christian Counselor’s Manual is designed to help the user assimilate and apply the principles of nouthetic counseling. It is an excellent tool for any Christian counselor who is striving to develop a scriptural approach to counseling. Because it is a workbook based upon actual counseling experiences, the cases are typical of the variety of problems according to biblical norms, practice in laying out biblical plans of action, and familiarity with a variety of types of problems. By working through the many cases provided, the counselor will be better able to identify and respond to the issues that typically confront Christian counselors. This is not merely a book for the classroom; it is a tool for all sorts of training and personal development programs.
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Preaching With Purpose
$22.99Add to cart“The amazing lack of concern for purpose among homileticians and preachers has spawned a brood of preachers who are dull, lifeless, abstract and impersonal; it has obscured truth, hindered joyous Christian living, destroyed dedication and initiative, and stifled service for Christ.” (from chapter 1) Preaching needs to become purposeful, says Jay Adams, because purposeless preaching is deadly. This book was written to help ministers and students discover the purpose of preaching and the ways that the scriptures inform and direct the preaching task. Preaching with Purpose, like the many other books of Jay Adams, speaks clearly and forcefully to the issue. Having read this book, both students and experienced preachers will be unable to ignore the urgent task of purposeful preaching. And the people of God will be the better for it.
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Marriage Divorce And Remarriage In The Bible
$18.99Add to cart19 Chapters
Additional Info
The book succeeds at being exactly what the author wanted it to be: “a comprehensive, lucid, accurate study presented in a readable and practical style” It is a valuable resource for the pastor, the counselor, and the church leader, as well as other individuals who are struggling to understand and apply scriptural principles to the problems of divorce and remarriage. -
Altar Prayer Workbook Series A
$15.95Add to cart“Altar Prayer Workbook” is a helpful and practical tool for the creative pastor who wishes to localize and personalize the “general” or “day” prayer during the weekly worship service. For each Sunday in Year A of Common (Consensus), Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries, Earl Albrecht has provided prayer petitions with congregational responses, themes based on the church season, and the gospel theme for the day. Space for each sunday’s local prayer petitions is provided on the facing page opposite each prayer in the workbook. Additional prayers are included for Ascension Day, Corpus Christi, Reformation Sunday, and All Saints.
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Colors Of Christmas
$7.95Add to cartSis colors which appear on chancel hangings suggest six salient themes for preaching in the Advent and Christmas seasons. H. Michael Nehls has drawn on familiar colors for this series of object lessons and sermons. Each object lesson includes the use of a colored ribbon which is given to the child to wear; those who are present for six messages will have the entire “ribbon rainbow” pinned to their clothing the last time.
The messages to be shared with the congregation include:
Green, the color of Life
Purple, the color of Royalty
Red, the color of Sacrifice
Blue, the color of Eternity
White, the color of Purity and Holiness
Gold, the color of Wealth and Riches -
Minister As Crisis Counselor (Revised)
$27.99Add to cartChapter Titles Include:
The Minister, The Congregation, And Community Crisis Services
Intervening In The Suicidal Crisis
The Minister And Divorce Crises
Intervening In A Pathological Grief Reaction: A Case Study
The Minister’s Role And Functioning In The Crisis Of Grief
Intervening In Family Crises
Intervention Procedures
Methods Of Crisis Counseling
Crisis Theory: Definition, Description, Dynamics
The Minister As Crisis Counselor.Additional Info
Long recognized as the definitive crisis-counseling volume for the active minister, The Minister as Crisis Counselor is now thoroughly modernized to incorporate recent contributions to the field. David K. Switzer offers a comprehensive examination of both the theory and the method of crisis counseling as it relates specifically to active working pastors. -
Sevenfold Path To Peace
$12.95Add to cartJesus made peace by the blood of his cross. What more appropriate theme for a Lenten preaching series could there be than “The Sevenfold Path to Peace”? Here is a sample of this skillful proclaimer’s insight (from the first sermon):
“I saw a sixth grader, on his way up the alley to school, throw a firecracker over the fence of our yard and into the chicken coop. I was as angry as I ever have been in my whole life. The chase was on! Down the alley, a hesitating wonder as to how he had vanished into thin air, spotting him darting from under a bush like a rabbit, over a five-and-a-half foot wall, then over a six-and-a-half foot back wall, I took the gate, across the church parking lot, and finally trapped him under the camper parked in a neighbor’s yard. Winded and outaged, I yelled that I wanted to “kill” him, but instead took him to the school principal to do the disciplining. I didn’t like the feeling that raged in me. I was even frightened by it. I certainly experienced the truth of the words of Eleanor of Aquitaine: “We are the origin of war.””
Messages include:
– Is Peace Attainable?
– Desire Peace
– Peacemaking: Active, not Passive
– Peace as Shalom
– The Gift of Peace
– Peace Through Sacrifice
– Proclaim Peace -
Letter Writing In Greco Roman Antiquity
$35.00Add to cartDo the New Testament epistles follow conventional forms? Stowers analyzed thousands of ancient letters, both formal and personal, and constructed useful classifications based on the letters’ social functions. He quotes hundred of letters, shows how to ”read” them, and illuminates the structure and purpose of New Testament letters.
