Preaching
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Interpreting The Bible
$30.00This volume provides preaching students and clergy with introductory knowledge of current approaches and methods in biblical studies, familiarity with the questions and aims that pertain to them, and facility with various methods of biblical exegesis. Approaches to biblical interpretation are then examined in light of the questions and concerns that arise specifically in the context of preaching. Methods of biblical interpretation are reviewed and explained in succinct fashion and related directly to the dynamics that give rise to the sermon and shape exegesis for sermon preparation, namely, the preacher’s engagement with the text, the author’s context, and the congregation. This volume enables preachers to approach the biblical text with greater clarity.
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Preaching The Atonement
$32.00Preaching the Atonement is a unique teaching tool that offers a theological discussion of ten important Bible passages connected with the sacrifices of Christ. It brings historical and literary questions about the text into dialogue with Christian tradition in order to draw out the implications of the passage for preaching the doctrine today. In each chapter, a complete sermon on the passage in question is presented, followed by a commentary that sets the sermon in the context within which it was preached and highlights the strategy of the preacher in the theological interpretation of the text and its incorporation into the rhetoric of the sermon.
Sermons are provided by the authors as well as David Southall, Spurgeon’s College, London, UK; Kent Anderson, Northwest Baptist Seminary, British Columbia, Canada; A. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary; and David Schlafer, Episcopal priest and preaching consultant, Washington, D.C.
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Psalms For Preaching And Worship
$45.99A full, stimulating discussion of the psalm readings in the Revised Common Lectionary by notable contributors. Highlights the literary, spiritual, and theological dimensions of Israel’s prayerbook. There is also a rich discussion of imagery, along with drawings from ancient artifacts, based on Keel’s Symbolism of the Biblical World.
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More Power In The Pulpit
$28.00In this companion and sequel to the best-selling Power in the Pulpit (Westminster John Knox, 2002), which has sold over 11,000 copies, more of Americas best-known and most influential African American preachers describe how they prepare their sermons. Each preacher also presents a sermon that highlights his or her particular method of sermon preparation.
Contributors to this volume include: Willette Alyce Burgie-Bryant, William S. Epps, C. E. McLain, Otis Moss Jr., Otis Moss III, Veronica R. Goines, Cynthia L. Hale, Melvin V. Wade Sr., Raquel A. St. Clair, and Walter S. Thomas Sr.
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Preaching From Memory To Hope
$27.00In this compelling and hard-hitting book, respected preacher and teacher Tom Long identifies and responds to the most substantive theological forces and challenges facing preaching today. The issues, he says, are fourfold: the decline in the quality of narrative preaching and the need for its reinvigoration; the tendency of preachers to ignore Gods action and presence in our midst; the return of the churchs old nemesis, Gnosticism, evidenced in todays new spirituality; and the absence of eschatology in the pulpit.
Long once again has his finger on the pulse of American preaching, demonstrated by his creative responses to these challenges. Whether he is calling for theologically smarter and more ethically discerning preaching, providing a method of interpretation that will allow pastors to recover the emphasis on God in our midst, or encouraging a kind of interfaith dialogue with gnosticism, he demonstrates why he has long been considered one of the most thoughtful and intelligent preachers in America today.
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Write Stuff : Crafting Sermons That Capture And Convince
$28.00In this book, gifted preacher Sondra Willobee shows how to enliven sermons by using the techniques of great writers. With clarity and wit, Willobee explores the joyful process of crafting effective sermons. The book includes three sections: (1) hook, how good sermons begin with something that grabs listeners attention; (2) book, how to shape a sermon with narrative pulse and ascending emotional intensity so that listeners experience the gospel; and (3) stone, how good sermons use specific, concrete language. By explaining these techniques, offering many examples, and reflecting on her own successes and failures, Willobee has provided a resource that will rekindle the creativity of experienced preachers and help new preachers develop their own compelling voices.
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New Intrepreters Handbook Of Preaching
$73.99The New Interpreter’s Handbook of Preaching is a major reference tool for preaching, with articles on every facet of Christian sermon preparation and delivery. This resource is both scholarly and practical. It focuses on the most distinctive feature and greatest strength of homiletics as a discipline: It is rooted in interdisciplinary scholarship and it develops theory geared to practice. Its theory arises out of the study of both excellent preaching past and present and actual sermon preparation and composition. When theory and practice critique each other, it is possible to produce guidelines that assist greater excellence and economy in preaching the gospel. Excellence in standards is an area in which homiletics needs to grow, and this project will be both a means to encourage and develop it. A guiding question throughout will be, Will it preach? The answers will be offered in the sense that “here is something that works well,” rather than “here is something to try.”
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Performance In Preaching
$30.00While there are no shortage of texts offering advice on the writing and delivery of sermons, most of them adopt a fairly traditional approach to the subject. This volume takes a unique approach by examining the role of performance in preaching.
The contributors, who teach in seminaries and divinity schools across the nation, bring a variety of theological and denominational perspectives to the subject. They are united, however, in their concern for the importance of the performance of the sermon-not in a shallow or theatrical sense but as an essential aspect of bringing God’s word to life for the congregation. To that end, they offer wide-ranging studies that examine theological, artistic, and musical aspects of a compelling performance.
This volume inaugurates the Engaging Worship series from Fuller Theological Seminary’s Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts. It offers an innovative approach and alternative perspectives to the subject of preaching that will engage and challenge clergy who are already in the pulpit as well as students in seminary classes. The volume comes with a 90-minute companion DVD that complements the text, covering practical subjects that range from warm-up exercises to the mechanics of oral presentation.
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Should We Use Someone Elses Sermon
$19.99A short but definitive study of the growing problem of pulpit plagiarism, which people are reluctant to talk about, with suggestions on how to avoid the problem or deal with it if it comes to light in a church.
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Celebration And Experience In Preaching
$22.99Henry H. Mitchell’s great contribution to the study of preaching has been his insistence that the homiletical practices of the Black church are gifts to the whole church. Nowhere has he made this point more forcefully than in Celebration and Experience in Preaching. In this classic text he advocates a way of preaching that genuinely engages all aspects of the congregation’s attention, especially the ability to both understand and to feel the sermon’s message. In this revised edition Mitchell builds on this groundbreaking work by examining in greater depth the multiple ways in which we experience the preached word, by defining the different kinds of claim on the behavior of the hearer that biblical texts express, and by exploring various genres of sermon to discover the concrete manifestations of celebration and experience.
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Bosquejos Para Predicadores 4 – (Spanish)
$15.99Sermon outlines on social action, spiritual growth, special days, Holy Week, leadership, the Parables in Matthew, the Our Father, apostles creed, the family, prophecy, and the Fruit of the Spirit.
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Bosquejos Para Predicadores 3 – (Spanish)
$18.99Biblical messages about Elias, Samson, David, Eli, Tare. Searches for the “true significance” of various topics. Death, blessings, the commandments, the healing miracles, etc. are some of the 40 topics covered.
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Bosquejos Para Predicadores 2 – (Spanish)
$18.99200 New Testament outlines for pastors which are organized alphabetically by title. At the end of the book, there is an index to help pastors find Biblical texts for their messages. Written by Silva, a seasoned pastor.
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Bosquejos Para Predicadores 5 – (Spanish)
$18.99This volume of sermon outlines is dedicated to the topics of pastoral formation and the role of the Christian pastor. Also included are outlines on such topics as the spiritual armor of the believer, doctrines, the death of Jesus and allegorical themes in the Bible.
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Preaching The Gospel Of Mark
$44.00In this engaging treatment of the Gospel of Mark, Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm combines biblical scholarship with a close reading of the Gospel text to meet the needs of preachers today. Swift and purposeful, the Gospel of Mark proclaims Gods reign and urges the participation of all Gods people in the witness of the good news that God has transformed human reality through Jesus Christ. This insightful commentary helps that message come alive while providing pertinent suggestions about how preachers can proclaim this message to todays churchgoers.
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Teaching Preaching As A Christian Practice
$40.00Preachings most able practitioners gather in this book to explore and explain the idea that preaching is a practice that can be taught and learned. Arguing that preaching is a living practice with a long tradition, an identifiable shape, and a broad set of norms and desired outcomes, these noted scholars propose that teachers initiate students into the larger practice of preaching, in ways somewhat like other students are initiated into the practice of medicine or law. The book concludes with designs for a basic preaching course and addresses the question of how preaching courses fit into the larger patterns of seminary curricula.
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Preaching The Story That Shapes Us
$19.99Foreword
Introduction
Part 1: The Theology And Narrative Of Biography:
The Calling And The Called
1. Before I Had A Thumb To Suck
2. The Love Of The Game
3. The Call
4. Spoking It
5. A Vulnerable God
6. Fleas In The Parsonage
7. IWish She’d Learn To Cuss
Part 2: The Bible: Where The Words Come From . . .
and What They Do
8. God Speaks
9. The Written Word
10. Reading . . . Or Being Read?
11. Hearing
12. Tribute To A Friend And Mentor
13. Theological Assumptions
Part 3: Getting Ready To Preach
14. Sensing And Attending
15. Inquisitiveness
16. Looking For Trouble
17. AWorld Of Images And Experiences
18. Pausing To Let The Text Do Me Good
19. Don Wardlaw Again
20. Consulting With The Scholars
21. Exegeting The Congregation
Excursus 1: On A Corporate Vs. Individual Theology Of Worship-
Invitation To The Dance
Excursus 2: On The Use Of Power-Siding With Power
22. The Shape Of The Sermon
23. Public Speaking For Pastors
24. Top 10 Don’ts
25. The Worship Plot
Part 4: Anthology Of Sermons
New Eyes-Luke 24:13-35
Touched-Luke 4:14-30
Seeing Past The Labels-Luke 7:36-50
Hollow Laughter, Holy Tears-Luke 6:17-26
Divine Backing-Luke 9:28-43
God’s Blog-Jeremiah 31:31-34
Neb’s Nightmare-Daniel 4
Deep In Our Bones-Exodus 2:1-25
Eternal Optimism-Romans 8:18-30
You Can’t Hide Family Resemblance-1 John 3:4-10
Enemies-Psalm 109
Dirty Hands, Pure Hearts-Matthew 5:8
Notes
BibliographyAdditional Info
In our world, stories matter. Methods and systems are beneficial because they provide structure and help keep us on the right road; but the motivation and courage to keep walking the road, come from the stories we hear and see and experience-stories that inspire hope and bring us face-to-face with God.For ministers, the call to preach is a call into a story that forms and shapes us. It’s about stumbling into revelation as life unwinds and scripture unfolds. It’s about listening to God’s voice and then sharing it with others. It’s about recognizing that when people gather to hear a sermon, God speaks. And it’s about understanding that when He speaks, He speaks through you.
Preaching the Story That Shapes Us is more than a textbook on preaching. It’s an empowering call for preachers to present a picture of the kingdom of God already at work among us, recognizing that the work of preaching is not just about arranging words-it’s about people. With elegant prose and crafted reason, Dan Boone weaves together scripture, personal narrative, structure, and theological reflection to provide a satisfying, efficient guide to narrative preaching. From exploring the importance of biography to walking readers through creative processes that shape the sermon, Boone shows preachers how to awaken lives and share the stories of God that reveal who we are and lead us to who we will be.
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Words Fitly Spoken
$14.93For every minister, from the time they step out of the seminary doors to the last time they step behind the pulpit, preaching the word can be one of the most daunting tasks they face on a week-to-week basis. What can I say that has not already been said? How can I make the scriptures come alive in the minds of my congregation? How can I relate events that happened thousands of years ago to what my congregation faces in their daily lives?
Illuminated by the scriptures themselves, Words Fitly Spoken explores in-depth the nuances of the homiletic craft. From the proper use of hyperbole and imagery to methods for how to elaborate imaginatively on the scriptures, this is a comprehensive resource for pastors struggling with delivering effective sermons. Sample sermons are included with each chapter, showing how each method can be applied in a typical Sunday morning service.
Every pastor is charged with speaking words of life to his or her congregation. Words Fitly Spoken is a beneficial tool to help pastors of all denominations to more powerfully deliver the wonderful, life-changing message of the gospel.
David von Schlichten is the pastor of St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church in Youngstown, Pennsylvania. He is currently an adjunct lecturer in history at St. Vincent College (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) as well as the book review editor for Lutheran Partners magazine. He was educated at Drew University (Madison, New Jersey) (B.A.), Kutztown University (Kutztown, Pennsylvania) (M.A.), Lutheran Theological Seminary (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) (M.Div.), and Lutheran Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) (D.Min.).Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Guide To Preaching And Leading Worship
$24.00One of the world’s most admired preachers here offers his practical and sage advice for some of the most basic tasks of ministry: preparing, delivering, and evaluating sermons; planning, leading, and evaluating worship services; offering public prayers; and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In addition, Willimon provides creative suggestions for involving laity in worship.
Ideal for beginning ministers and seasoned veterans alike, A Guide to Preaching and Leading Worship will assuredly become a standard must-have for mainline Protestant clergy.
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Knowing The Context
$30.00While everyone might affirm that preaching needs to engage its listeners deeply, the initial move for novice preachers is to think this can be attained by livelier content and delivery of the sermon. All too quickly, however, one learns that there are many factors beyond what a preacher says and how she or he may say it that affect whether proclamation can actually be heard. Effective preaching requires the complex work of knowing the context in which preaching occurs, while avoiding the twin dangers of pandering to a situation’s particulars or generalizing them into stereotypes. Knowing the Context reveals how to engage contexts for preaching, especially ways to examine contexts more responsibly, so that the sermon might more amply bring the word of Scripture to bear on the worlds and lives of listeners.
In one of the initial titles in the Elements of Preaching series, James Nieman shows how preaching is oriented to specific locales, cultural situations, audiences, and occasions. Unlike other books that tell preachers how to preach to specific audiences, Knowing the Context helps readers analyze the situations in which they find themselves and shows how text and context are in a continuing dialogue and how to tailor sermons to their context. Keyed to online sermon samples and other Web-based features to enhance teaching.
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Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 5 Cycle B (Revised)
$62.43Bigger, stronger, better! This newly revised edition of Russell Anderson’s best-selling Lectionary Preaching Workbook retains all of the great features that have made it an indispensable tool for busy pastors who need a helping hand with their weekly homiletic research and want to make the most of their limited preparation time. Combining concise but insightful textual notes with a wide range of creative preaching ideas, each chapter provides plenty of starting points for developing stimulating sermons that make the scriptures come alive for the people in the pews. In addition to a convenient sermon planning template plus overviews of Mark (the featured Gospel narrator in Cycle B) and each liturgical season, every week’s material includes:
* a listing of applicable Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal lectionary texts
* a theme for the day
* brief commentary on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel lessons
* a prayer for the day
* theological reflections exploring the relationships between the texts
* several possible preaching approaches, each with a suggested title and “sermon angle”
* additional illustrations to assist in fleshing out the messageAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Preaching To A Post Everything World
$25.00Zack Eswine starts this unique pastoral resource with a captivating question: Could I now reach who I once was? Challenging the idea that today’s preachers must do away with biblical or expository preaching if they are to reach non-Christian people, Eswine offers a way of preaching that embraces biblical exposition in missional terms. Recognizing all of the different cultural situations in which the gospel must be preached, he gives preachers practical advice on preaching in a global context while remaining faithful to the Bible.
Pastors, seminarians, and church and ministry leaders who speak in various contexts will welcome this fresh, thoughtful examination of bringing the Word to today’s multi-everything, post-everything world.
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So That All Might Know
$20.99Most preachers experience the conundrum of reaching some people in the congregation, and not others. Does this mean some people are more “tuned in” to the gospel than others?
*Argues that differences in responsive behavior results from diverse intelligences and learning styles represented throughout the congregation
*Draws from recent research indicating that people receive and process information and communication in widely different ways
*Shows preachers how to craft sermons to speak to each multiple learning style each time they step into the pulpit
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Steeped In The Holy
$19.95Steeped in the Holy seeks to reclaim the spiritual foundations for preaching, inviting clergy and students to see preparation and preaching not as an intrusion, but as an opportunity to engage with God, and to develop practices that deepen our relation with God and feed our preaching.
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Stewardship Companion : Lectionary Resources For Preaching
$35.00With deep pastoral sensitivity and solid biblical knowledge, Mosser draws one passage from each week in the three-year lectionary cycle to provide a brief reflection on how that passage can be used to teach and preach about stewardship.
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Practice Of Preaching (Revised)
$31.99The best-selling preaching textbook – now revised!
Paul Wilson’s The Practice of Preaching has introduced a generation of students not only to the “how” of preaching, but also to the”why.” In this thoroughly revised edition, Wilson has strengthened this essential textbook even more, principally in two ways. First, he has further emphasized the role of practices in preaching, leading the reader through the preacher’s week as she or he constructs and prepares to deliver the sermon. Second, he has surveyed the current debate in homiletics over what preaching the text means, and constructed a far-reaching theological argument that the sermon’s most central task should be about preaching the gospel.
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Majesty Of God In The Old Testament (Reprinted)
$30.001. Magnifying The Incomparability Of Our God Isaiah 40:9-31
2. Magnifying The Greatness Of Our God Daniel 4:1-37
3. Magnifying The Word Of Our God Numbers 20:1-13
4. Magnifying The Wonderful Name Of Our God Jeremiah 32:1-44
5. Magnifying The Pardoning Grace Of Our God Micah 7:11-20
6. Magnifying The Holy Spirit From Our God Zechariah 4:1-14
7. Magnifying The Awesome Character Of Our God Psalm 139:1-18
8. Magnifying The Glory Of Our God Ezekiel 1:1-28
9. Magnifying The Grace Of Giving From Our God 1 Chronicles 29:6-19
10. Magnifying The Holiness Of Our God Isaiah 6:1-13Additional Info
Reviews ten of the most outstanding Old Testament texts that highlight the majesty of God.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Hearing A Film Seeing A Sermon
$28.00New Testament scholar and pastor Timothy Cargal offers preachers effective ways to help parishoners comprehend scripture and theology in sermons through the use of popular films. He offers the basics of interpreting films, and includes sample sermons.
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Preaching Christ From The Genesis A Print On Demand Title
$48.99A masterful guide to interpreting and proclaiming the Word in Genesis
The author addresses various issues encountered when preaching Christ from Genesis, including literary and historical interpretation, the narrative sermon form, and the common lack of preaching on this foundaitonal Old Testament book. He presents seven ways of preaching Christ.
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Telling Gods Story
$26.99Table Of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction1. Homiletics As Biblical Hermeneutics
2. Eclipsing The Biblical Narrative: The Narrative Contours Of North American Christianity
3. Weaving The Story: The Biblical Narrative And A Homiletic Rhetoric Of Turning
4. Weaving The Story: Sermonic Exhibits
5. Weaving The Story And The Rhetoric Of Pastoral Care
Conclusion
IndexAdditional Info
Presents a new model of preaching that aims to connect the biblical text with a congregation so that they are formed into a true Christian community. Wright critically surveys current theories of preaching and the variety of hermeneutical practices, providing clear guidance and practical direction for faithful preaching.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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In Other Words
$25.99In recent years, popular new forms of Bible translation have emerged “The Message, The Book of God, The Living Bible” proving many modern biblical seekers are looking for a kind of Scripture-to-English guidebook. This exceptional book offers a similar avenue to pastors wanting to reach their congregations in a fresh way. Rather than discussing preaching in general or even a specific approach to preaching, In Other Words focuses on a way of engaging the biblical text for preaching. Cosgrove and Edgerton combine critical acumen, creative imagination, and pastoral discernment to form contemporizing restatements of scripture, speaking timeless truths in modern speech. Describing their “incarnational translation,” the authors invite readers to imagine what the text might have looked like if produced in the preacher’s own culture, time, and place. Drawing on translation theory, genre studies, and recent hermeneutical theory, they offer a comprehensive theory of incarnational translation and a set of specific guidelines and examples for carrying it out. In Other Words is not a new method of preaching, but a new way of engaging and presenting the biblical text in preaching, one that is well suited to contemporary approaches and trends.
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Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 5 Cycle A (Revised)
$59.93Bigger, stronger, better! This newly revised edition of Russell Anderson’s best-selling Lectionary Preaching Workbook retains all of the great features that have made it an indispensable tool for busy pastors who need a helping hand with their weekly homiletic research and want to make the most of their limited preparation time. Combining concise but insightful textual notes with a wide range of creative preaching ideas, each chapter provides plenty of starting points for developing stimulating sermons that make the scriptures come alive for the people in the pews. In addition to a convenient sermon planning template plus overviews of Matthew (the featured Gospel narrator in Cycle A) and each liturgical season, every week’s material includes:
* a listing of applicable Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal lectionary texts
* a theme for the day
* brief commentary on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel lessons
* a prayer for the day
* theological reflections exploring the relationships between the texts
* several possible preaching approaches, each with a suggested title and “sermon angle”
* additional illustrations to assist in fleshing out the messageAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Preaching The Parables Series 4 Cycle A
$18.68Richard Sheffield preaches and writes with clarity and conviction. He has a rare gift of interpreting parables so they are accessible to his audience while retaining their heavenly truth for our lives. He has a heart for God, and that comes through in this book.
Rev. David E. Gray
Former Acting Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
Presbyterian Chaplain, American UniversityWhen Richard Sheffield sang “I Love to Tell the Story” as a child, he never dreamed that he would end up telling that age-old story for his life’s work. Yet “telling the story” is a vital form of communication for preachers and the most effective way to reach audiences with God’s powerful plan of salvation. People love to hear stories, sing about stories, and tell stories — but above all, they remember stories! Jesus knew this; indeed, he was a master storyteller himself. Jesus’ most powerful sermons — the parables — were simply earthly stories with heavenly meanings, using such common imagery as salt and light, sheep, a mustard seed, weeds, lamps with oil, and workers in a vineyard.
Preaching the Parables expands on 14 of Jesus’ parables appearing in Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary and brings them into a more modern setting. In Sheffield’s hands, the stories he loves to tell are as varied as familiar songs in the hymnal: he uses the children’s song “The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock” as a springboard for a vivid portrayal of the difference between wise and foolish builders; “This Little Light of Mine” provides further insight into Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5; and the plaintive wail of “The Ninety and Nine” reminds us — just like Luke 15 — that if we were the only wandering sheep, our wonderful shepherd would seek for us until we were found.
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How To Preach The Miracles Cycle A
$28.68With contemporary stories and insight into ancient texts, John Sumwalt invites readers into the mystery of God’s active, palpable presence in the world. When we decide to live in God’s presence, we are in position to see, hear, believe, and experience the miraculous in our daily lives.
Bishop Rueben P. Job
Author of Living Fully, Dying Well
Former editor, The Upper RoomSince modern culture explains the world through scientific rationalism, there are many people in our pews who are skeptical about miracles. No matter how credible the source, our society tends to view those who speak of miracles as purveyors of superstition and magical thinking. That presents a significant problem when discussing the resurrection and the other miracles recorded in scripture — so what can the preacher do?
John Sumwalt says the answer is to “begin, like Jesus did, by telling stories of the mysterious, saving presence of God. This is the realm in which Jesus did his miracle work, a dimension of reality that is readily accessible to all who are hungry for it. Tell the miracle stories from the Bible along with those that are happening in our own time.” In this fascinating volume, Sumwalt brings a storyteller’s perspective to nine miracle passages in Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. His rich biblical commentary is filled with numerous illustrations and tellable stories, including over 30 contemporary accounts of miracles.
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Great Omission
$34.93If Jesus were still alive and preaching in the United States today, would he be building a huge church structure? Would he be talking about the “trigger” issues, the hot topics that seem to dominate our pulpits? Would he be marching in the streets — either against or in favor of — abortion, gay rights, or repealing the death penalty? It is Robert Blair’s contention that Jesus Christ would not be politically active or trying to overtly influence the government. He believes Jesus would simply be preaching the same simple gospel that he preached 2,000 years ago. Should not his followers be doing what he would do? Should not it be our primary objective to preach the good news to every person on the planet? By doing that, and by personally assisting the poor, Reverend Blair believes that the followers of Christ would best glorify God.
Hoping that every minister in the United States will “read and heed” this book, Blair believes that laypersons will also benefit from reading The Great Omission. Too often laypersons are wishing to honor God but they receive garbled signals from the church leadership about the church’s main purpose. This book will become a lightning rod for change in returning our churches to the biblical message, and suggesting the right methods to tell it.
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Preaching Words : 144 Keys In Homiletics
$35.00Highlights the most important ideas in homiletics and preaching, offeirng short explanations of these ideas, what scholars of preaching are saying about them, and how they can help in today’s preaching.
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Preaching As Testimony
$38.00By exploring the historical, theoretical, and practical elements of the tradition of testimony, Anna Carter Florence seeks in this much-anticipated book to establish the historical and contemporary validity of women’s preaching and to introduce testimony to a new generation of preachers and teachers.
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Finding The Story
$24.93In Finding the Story, James Ayers examines the art of narrative preaching and shows how storytelling can help people in the pews hear God speaking to their hearts through scripture. Ayers analyzes ways to illuminate texts that are difficult to preach, and provides a wealth of creative approaches for making them accessible ? such as looking at Psalm 137 through the eyes of a slave who watched his child dashed against the rocks, or seeing Matthew and Luke’s Christmas narratives through the eyes of a bitter man whose only son was killed in Vietnam. Finding the Story offers a dynamic avenue into some of the very thorniest texts and topics of the Bible ? enabling readers to find and share unique opportunities for encounters with God!
Finding the Story is a must-have tool for all ministers who:
? long to connect with their congregations on a deeper level;
? struggle with how to preach doctrinally heavy passages without putting listeners to sleep;
? wonder how to relate the imprecatory psalms to modern-day situations; and
? want their people to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit rather than the droning of a shepherd who feels the same things they feel, but sometimes finds it difficult to share those feelingsAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Forgiveness The Jesus Way
$19.93Finding the Story, James Ayers examines the art of narrative preaching and shows how storytelling can help people in the pews hear God speaking to their hearts through scripture. Ayers analyzes ways to illuminate texts that are difficult to preach, and provides a wealth of creative approaches for making them accessible — such as looking at Psalm 137 through the eyes of a slave who watched his child dashed against the rocks, or seeing Matthew and Luke’s Christmas narratives through the eyes of a bitter man whose only son was killed in Vietnam. Finding the Story offers a dynamic avenue into some of the very thorniest texts and topics of the bible — enabling readers to find and share unique opportunities for encounters with God!
Finding the Story is a must-have tool for all ministers who:
long to connect with their congregations on a deeper level;
struggle with how to preach doctrinally heavy passages without putting listeners to sleep;
wonder how to relate the imprecatory psalms to modern-day situations; and
want their people to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit rather than the droning of a shepherd i 1/2 one who feels the same things they feel, but who sometimes finds it difficult to share those feelings.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Graceful Speech : An Invitation To Preaching
$35.00In this introductory text, Lucy Lind Hogan helps the reader understand the theological task of becoming a preacher, the craft of writing the sermon, and the importance of communicating the gospel in the present world. In doing so, she creates a book that is more holistic than any other homiletics text currently on the market.
Hogan begins with a theological rationale for preaching, which serves as a basis for understanding the identity of the preacher. She then explores the context for preaching, showing how to interpret a scriptural text, design a sermon, and use illustrations and examples. She also discusses preaching for special occasions, the use of different technologies in preaching, and the importance of delivery. The book includes questions for reflection.
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Choosing To Preach
$35.70Traditional forms of ministry-including the sermon- are being scrutinized and challenged, leaving pastors confused over how best to communicate to today’s listeners. This forward-looking textbook delivers a strong call to ministers to indeed choose to preach biblical sermons. But while preaching itself is non-negotiable, the exact form it takes can be much more flexible. Several models of sermon preparation are provided, using questions to guide the way. As you discern your message from the Bible, will you begin with the text (deductive) or with the listener (inductive)? Will you focus on the idea (cognitive) or the image (affective)? The choices you make lead to five possible sermon structures (declarative, pragmatic, narrative, visionary, and integrative), each of which is described in detail and related to well-known contemporary preachers, including John MacArthur, Rick Warren, Eugene Lowry, and Rob Bell. Includes discussion questions, practical exercises, and accompanying CD-ROM.
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Fully Alive Preacher
$28.00Mike Graves begins this book with the question “If preaching is intended to enliven the church, why is it killing so many ministers?” His answer? Because it has become divorced from the vitality and diversity of the preacher’s daily life. He invites preachers to discover how preaching can be renewing rather than draining.
Graves includes four valuable sections on sermon preparation but also provides brief lessons, exercises, questions for reflection, and invitations to do such things as walk, read, and nap. In the end, the cure for homiletical burnout is life itself, especially the ordinary pleasures often ignored or pushed aside by the complicated job of ministry. This is a perfect book for both new graduates and experienced preachers.
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Communicating For A Change
$19.99Speakers and preachers—follow this instructive parable to keep your message alive and your audience alert! By knowing your destination before you leave (identifying the major premise you want to communicate), using your turn signals (transition ahead!), and employing five other practical points, you’ll be on the road to success—and drive your message home!
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Whatever Happened To Delight
$25.00Preaching is an art, Barrie Shepherd argues, and the sermon is an art form, an exercise in creativity and imagination. But all too often preaching suffers from a lack of imagination and a loss of the joy, wonder, and delight that attracted the crowds to Jesus’ words two thousand years ago.
In this book, based on his 2003 Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School, Shepherd hopes to encourage the preacher toward a more creative vision for the sermon. His approach is spontaneous, eclectic, intuitive, and daring. Shepherd’s purpose is to encourage the preacher to think of life as filled with God’s presence, to search for the presence, and to use images and words to unveil that presence. The end result is a sermon that is full of joy, wonder, astonishment, and delight.
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Experimental Knowledge Of Christ
$16.00Biographical Introduction
Sermon 1: The Danger Of Losing One’s Soul While Seeking To Gain The World
Sermon 2: The Experimental Knowledge Of Christ
Sermon 3: The Duty Of Listening To The Gospel As The Voice Of Christ
Sermon 4: Praying For The Spirit
Sermon 5: The Greatness Of The Peace Of God, Which Above Understanding
Sermon 6: The Funeral Sermon Of King George III
Sermon 7: The Coming Of The Son Of Man
Sermon 8: Christ The Physician
Sermon 9: God Attending To The Contrite In Spirit
Sermon 10: God Choosing And Calling Men
Sermon 11: The Saints Loving Christ And Delighting In HimAdditional Info
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Conversations With Barth On Preaching
$30.99Readers of William H. Willimon’s many books have long discovered the influence of Karl Barth, one of the most significant theologians of the twentieth century. In this new book, Willimon explores that relationship explicitly by engaging Barth’s work on the pitfalls and problems, glories and grandeur of preaching the Word of God. This Swiss theologian, says the author, expressed one of the highest theologies of preaching of any of the great theologians of the church. Yet too much of Garth’s understanding of preaching lies buried in other sources. Willimon brings this material to light, introducing readers to Barth’s thought on both the meaning and the practice of preaching.
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Preaching And Teaching The Psalms
$32.00Renowned and beloved psalms scholar James Luther Mays shares in this book some of his most influential ideas about the psalms and shows the reader how this rich Old Testament poetry can be taught and preached in the church. The book’s editors, Patrick Miller and Gene Tucker, have carefully brought together Mays’s best insights into the meaning of the psalms and shown us in his sermons how a master with a love for the church handles these beautiful texts.
Mays begins by explaining the basic concepts needed to understand and interpret the psalms and reviewing the scholarship and trends in psalms interpretation. Throughout he treats the psalms not just as ancient texts for scholarly study but as the basis for prayer and faith in the church today.
The book’s second section contains Mays’s expositions of nine different psalms, including Psalm 8, Psalms 22, and Psalm 23, and eight of Mays’s sermons on the psalms. The book is ideal for clergy who want to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the psalms, as well as further their skills in preaching and teaching the well-loved Old Testament poetry.
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Stewards Of The Story
$24.00In this insightful study, James Earl Massey offers an expanded version of the Twelfth Annual William E. Conger, Jr. Lectures on Biblical Preaching that he delivered at Beeson Divinity School in February 2004. Through a unique collection of informative lectures and illustrative sermons, the highly esteemed teacher and preacher considers four dimensions of the preacher as steward of the gospel story. Pastors will warmly welcome this book as it provides them with both practical guidance and insight about their identity as preachers.
James Earl Massey is Dean and Professor of Biblical Studies and Preaching, emeritus, at Anderson University School of Theology in Anderson, Indiana. Prior to moving to Anderson, he was for five years Dean of the Chapel and University Professor of Religion and Society at Tuskegee University. Prior to that, he served for twenty-two years as senior pastor of the Metropolitan Church of God in Detroit. For five years he served as speaker on the Christian Brotherhood Hour, the international radio broadcast of the Church of God, in Anderson, Indiana. He has preached and lectured at more than one hundred colleges, universities, and seminaries in the United States and on four continents. He is a life trustee of Asbury Theological Seminary and served on the editorial boards of Christianity Today, Leadership, Preaching, and The New Interpreter’s Bible. His several books include The Responsible Pulpit, Designing the Sermon, The Burdensome Joy of Preaching, and Sundays in the Tuskegee Chapel. He is a frequent featured speaker at national preaching conferences and workshops.
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Preaching Without Contempt
$40.00Helps preachers to identify the ways the Christian preachers perpetuate the long tradition of Christian anti-Judaism.
Addresses: supersessionism, portrayals of the law, pharisees, relationship between the testaments, preaching the passion, and misrepresentations of Judaism.
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Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 8 Cycle C
$59.93Creating a fresh sermon every Sunday that speaks to the people in your pews can sometimes seem like an overwhelming challenge — but if you have the all-new edition of CSS’ acclaimed Lectionary Preaching Workbook at your fingertips, you’ll never feel that way again! With penetrating reflections on Cycle C lectionary passages and a thorough discussion of preaching themes plus a rich variety of supporting illustrations, this comprehensive volume is the perfect starting point for your weekly homiletic research. Carlos Wilton combines a scholar’s deep insight into the biblical texts with a pastor’s practical understanding of how to connect them with modern life, and his astute commentary is sure to stimulate your thought process and provide plenty of seeds for developing messages with maximum impact. A handy, easy-to-use sermon planning template is also included to facilitate the process of building your sermon. The Lectionary Preaching Workbook is an indispensable tool that helps you to powerfully proclaim God’s Word while getting the most out of your limited preparation time.
Each Sunday’s material includes:
* a listing of applicable Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal lectionary texts
* a theme for the day
* commentary on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel lessons
* possible preaching approaches
* a pastoral prayer
* numerous illustrations to flesh out the messageAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Hear My Voice Cycle A-C
$37.43Of the four lectionary texts for each Sunday, the Psalms are the least frequently used as a basis for sermons — yet the Psalms are incredibly rich in the very life substance that makes preaching relevant. From personal suffering to the absence of God, from national failure to the burden of personal sin, the Psalms are filled with the pathos of the human struggle for and with God. If you want to tap into this abundant source of sermonic material, Hear My Voice is an invaluable tool that you won’t want to be without. It’s a comprehensive collection of informative homiletical commentaries on the Psalm texts drawn from the pages of the acclaimed preaching journal Emphasis. Covering the complete three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, these brief explorations provide numerous starting points for developing solidly scriptural sermons that also speak to contemporary life. Convenient features include cross-referencing of multiple occurrences of the same text so that you can consider alternative approaches, plus a helpful index. While targeted primarily to preachers and homiletics students, Hear My Voice is an inspiring volume with accessible commentary for anyone who wants a better appreciation of the Psalms and how they speak to us today.
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Voices Of Repentance
$16.18This book offers busy pastors a complete package of thematically related resources for Lenten preaching and worship. With services for each week in Lent plus Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday, as well as a Good Friday tenebrae service, Voices Of Repentance provides everything needed to create compelling worship throughout the Lenten season, either for a midweek series or for regular Sunday services. Each week’s resources feature a monologue sermon that tells the story of someone who sought redemption in the baptismal waters of the Jordan. These spiritual contemplations view the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion from a unique perspective — that of everyday people who lived through them. Each service also includes a children’s object lesson and a convenient order of worship.
Monologues feature these characters:
* John the Baptist
* a Pharisee
* a Sadducee
* a well-dressed man
* a well-fed woman
* a tax collector
* a Roman soldierAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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From Pew To Pulpit
$18.99In recent years, many lay preachers and bivocational pastors have assumed responsiblity for weekly preaching in local churches. While many of these individuals can preach a fairly good sermon, they haven’t necessarily gotten detailed instruction in the how-tos of preaching. This practical guide addresses choosing the right text and topic; listening to one’s first impressions of the text; keeping liesteners in mind; making engaging use of stories; and delivering with passion. It also includes suggestions for resources, including Bibles, commentaries, other print resources, and websites.
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Wondrous Depth : Preaching The Old Testament
$34.00Ellen Davis is concerned by what she calls a “shallow reading” of Scripture–a reading of what we think we already know instead of an attempt to dig deeper for new insights and revelations. Wondrous Depth is a collection of essays in which Davis argues for a more engaged reading of Scripture that opens the reader up to new knowledge and understanding. Davis also demonstrates that preaching and biblical interpretation are essentially related to one another in that it is essential for preachers to engage in thorough reading and interpretation of Scripture from the pulpit and to encourage their congregations to read the Bible with depth and sensitivity as well.
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Pulpito – (Spanish)
$23.99Only book available that addresses the distinctive issues and character of preacing in Hispanic congregations. The authors discuss important historical, theoretical, and methodological issues in Hispanic homiletics. Includes ten sermons.
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Guide To Preaching
$20.99Preaching can be an extremely daunting experience for many but is an essential part of any service or Christian occasion. It is so important for the preacher to engage with their listeners and present their message clearly. A Guide to Preaching will do just that – an authoritative, comprehensive yet immensely readable book containing a treasure chest of facts, styles, inspiration and lively examples from around the world for old hands or those new to preaching. A Guide to Preaching covers every aspect of the task of preaching, from planning a sermon that takes account of biblical, personal, church and liturgical background through to using stories, imagination, dialogue, drama, news bulletins and much more. An entire chapter is devoted to developing the skills of rhetoric, and it includes plenty of practical advice and examples to help you understand, develop and review your own style. Roger Bowen has edited this guide with contributions from David Edwards, David Gitari, Simea Meldrum, Esther Mombo and Vinoth Ramachandra. “”This is a helpful book from which most preachers will learn something.”” Stella Mills, Rural Theology (vol. 5, issue 68)
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Praying Congregation : The Art Of Teaching Spiritual Practice
$48.33“I believe that God is calling all of us into deeper prayer and is longing for our congregations to become places of prayer,” writes Jane E. Vennard. Pastors and others who want to develop their skills as teachers of prayer and spiritual practices will find in this book not only wisdom for themselves but easily accessible lesson plans, so that they can share Vennard’s insights with others while infusing the activities with their own spirit and creative ideas.
Readers are invited to gently explore questions such as, Who taught you to pray and how? What do you believe about prayer? What is your image of the God to whom you pray? And, What is prayer anyway? Through this book, readers’ hearts are made ready to explore the wonder of strengthening their relationship with God through prayer.
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Empowering Your Preaching (Student/Study Guide)
$41.65Revitalize your preaching ministry with “Empowering Your Preaching”. This one-day course is an intense spiritual, mental, and practical encounter. Find your spirit empowered as you work though each chapter and receive a fresh new hunger to preach the Word.
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Your Faith Has Made You Well Cycle B
$19.93This is an admirable example of pastoral theology at its best. Aaron’s discussions of the historical background and theological significance of each text are thoroughly informed and articulate. Equally helpful are the insights he brings to the understanding of the pastoral implications of each text and the strategies appropriate to preaching the text. This book proves that some of the best biblical theology for pastors can be written by a pastor.
David Bartlett
Lantz Professor of Preaching
Yale University Divinity School
The moving accounts of Jesus’ astonishing power to cast out demons and heal physical ailments are singularly compelling preaching texts with rich possibilities for proclamation — they have much to teach us about God’s grace and the ministry of the church, as well as the spiritual dimension of evil. But these passages are also fraught with homiletic peril, presenting preachers with a tangle of problems and conflicting beliefs. In light of modern scientific knowledge and technological sophistication, some Christians question if these miracles really occurred. Others wonder why only some people experience such healings, and there is a temptation to simplistically equate lack of healing with lack of faith. Should we expect similar miracles today? What is the link between faith and wellness? And most important of all, what do these strange yet fascinating stories mean for us today?
Your Faith Has Made You Well helps preachers negotiate this minefield with a detailed exploration of eleven miracle narratives appearing in Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary. It’s packed with stimulating ideas and illustrations for developing dynamic sermons, including a supplemental chapter with numerous examples of contemporary miracles and healings. Each miracle is examined from several perspectives to produce a holistic understanding:
? historical background — What Old Testament narratives or ideas are reflected in the story? What do we know about the understanding of medicine and health in Jesus’ time?
? literary analysis — How does the plot unfold? How are the characters developed? What literary devices are employed?
? theological reflection — What does the text affirm or imply about God, creation, the ministry of Christ, salvation, and the meaning of evil? What does it teach us about faith, the Christian life, and the mission of the church?
? pastoral reading — What insight does the text give us about the human condition
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When God Speaks Through Change
$50.00Anyone who has preached at a wedding and a funeral in the same week can attest to the power of the occasion to impact the preaching event. At times, a congregational transition looms so large in a sermon that it becomes the lens through which scripture is interpreted, the congregation is addressed, the preacher is heard, and God is experienced.
Homiletics professor and parish pastor Craig Satterlee reflects in this accessible, provocative volume on how to integrate such significant events in a congregation’s life into the preaching ministry of the church. Rather than offering a blueprint for preaching, however, he walks alongside pastors, seminarians, and other congregational leaders who want to make sure the gospel, not an agenda, is preached.
Issues considered include: (1) the benefits and risks of using preaching to address the transition, (2) how preaching collaborates with other congregational processes involved in the transition, (3) how scripture and the transition interpret one another, (4) how to incorporate the transition into the form, content, and delivery of the sermon so that the gospel and not a program or agenda is proclaimed and heard, and (5) how the transition affects the preacher’s ability to proclaim and the congregation’s ability to receive the message.
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More Alive Than Ever
$16.18The Gospel of John has a unique function – unlike the synoptic Gospels, which provide chronological accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, John weaves the story and words of Jesus around seven miracles that he calls “signs.” These signs are the visible evidence that Jesus is the source of true life. Through his spoken words and healing power, Jesus’ inspiring life force flows outwardly to all who believe in him.
This in-depth exploration of the miracle stories in John’s Gospel helps you discover how to tap in to this powerful life force and become more alive than ever. Each chapter studies the scripture text of a miracle to identify the quality associated with it, then offers numerous illustrative examples demonstrating how this “sign” or trait can positively influence daily living.
With thought-provoking discussion questions included, More Alive Than Ever is an excellent resource for small group Bible study or adult Sunday school classes. Its convenient illustration index also makes this a rich source of meaningful metaphors and stories for preaching. But even more, it’s stimulating reading for anyone who wants greater insight into these marvelous accounts of God’s power at work.
Chapters include:
? Joy Is Like The Rain
John 2:1-12? Trust Is An Umbrella
John 4:46-54? Hope Can Be Moving
John 5:1-9? Bread Is Always Needed
John 6:1-14? Peace Is Like A Flowing River
John 6:16-21? Seeing Is Getting The Mud Out Of Your Eyes
John 9:1-41? New Life Is Like A Grain Of Wheat
John 11:1-44Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Retelling The Story
$16.18Is the typical didactic sermon still an adequate vehicle for communicating essential biblical truth? In this provocative and enlightening volume, Larry Lange contends that story sermons are a far more effective way to proclaim the Good News in a modern world that largely communicates through narrative-driven multimedia spectacle.
The powerful stories in the Bible don’t need to be turned into morals or ideas to convey the gospel. But because they were composed in a radically different cultural context, they may require additional explanation or interpretation to make them relevant for contemporary audiences. So how can a preacher add narrative elements to these stories without diminishing their dramatic impact or changing their meaning?
Retelling The Story outlines an innovative process for retelling biblical stories that utilizes fictional elements and contexts yet remains faithful to the scriptural text. Several creative and homiletical issues are comprehensively examined, and six sample sermons are included to illustrate various aspects of this process at work. Inject exciting new life into the old, old story with this primer for developing dramatic sermons that touch hearts and minds and souls.
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Preaching As Pastoral Caring
$24.95Preaching as Pastoral Caring is the thirteenth in a series of books devoted to presenting examples of preaching excellence from parishes throughout the Episcopal Church. This volume addresses the difficult and essential area of pastoral preaching as a kind of spiritual leadership in which compassionate healing and courageous confrontation are experienced not as polar opposites, but as inseparable.
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Homiletic Of All Believers
$32.00Preaching, says professor and author O. Wesley Allen Jr., should be considered as a form of conversation. The church, after all, is a community of conversation that exists in part to interpret God’s purposes for the world and to participate in those purposes. The idea of the sermon as a conversation, then, is not simply a style or form of preaching but an integral expression of the nature and purpose of the church. Allen proposes that the sermon should take on the character of a conversation with the congregation. The preacher does this by incorporating an exploration of a text, doctrine, or situation with the give-and-take among different voices that marks genuine conversation. Through attentive listening to multiple voices in the Bible, Christian tradition, congregation, and beyond, the preacher seeks to help the congregation come to the most adequate interpretation of God’s presence and purposes. Allen also proposes that sermons themselves, over weeks and months, can and should be in conversation with each other, thereby having a cumulative effect over time. Allen not only proposes this new concept of preaching but also carefully demonstrates its practical application. This helpful book for clergy and seminary students includes sample sermons.
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Living Between The Advents
$12.95As we prepare each year to celebrate the Incarnation, the Advent season reminds us that we live in an interim period between the First and Second Comings of Jesus Christ. In this book of twelve riveting sermons on a variety of Advent themes (all based on texts from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary), Michael Ruffin explores the challenges of Christian living in this time between the First and Second Advents — particularly the tension between the modes of patience and action. Though we await Jesus’ return with hopeful anticipation, Advent waiting is active waiting. Ruffin’s messages invite readers to share in the richly rewarding life of faith, while providing abundant comfort and inspiration for those who endeavor to live as disciples of Jesus in the modern world.
Preachers looking for an imaginative illustration or observation to stimulate their sermons will find ample material in this book. But this is much more than just a reference for ministers preparing to preach during Advent — it’s also an excellent resource for spiritual reflections reminding us that the good news in these days between the Advents is that Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us.
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Celebrating Holy Week In A Post Holocaust World
$28.00An ongoing issue for clergy as well as Christians in general is how to approach New Testament narratives about the crucifixion of Jesus in relation to Jews, Judaism, and the horrific events of the Holocaust. The popular movie “The Passion of the Christ” has brought one aspect of this problem into widespread public attention. The events of Holy Week pose particular challenges for clergy and congregations. In this book Henry Knight helps us deal with Holy Week texts in light of our post-Holocaust world and provides practical examples of prayers, liturgies, and resource material to help pastors prepare for and lead worship and teach during this important time in the life of a congregation.
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Preaching The Parables Series 3 Cycle B
$23.68esus used his parables to teach ordinary people with common problems; yet because these simple stories contain universal truths that transcend time and culture, they still strike a powerful chord and provide us with important lessons about God’s kingdom. Preaching The Parables offers a gold mine of informative background material on each of the seven parables appearing in Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Dallas Brauninger probes these familiar texts with a fresh, imaginative viewpoint, revealing what they tell us about God and inviting further reflection on what they mean for modern living.
Preaching The Parables is much more than just a sermon preparation resource — it’s also an excellent bible study tool, exploring questions like:
? What dimension of the soul that needs tending does the parable address?
? What is the parable’s surprise?
? What moves us into hope?
? How does its point become obvious?
? How do its characters relate to us today?
Brauninger identifies points of action, examines significant terms, and engages in imaginary exchanges with a variety of characters. The complete text of each parable is also included, along with an analysis highlighting similarities and differences in parallel passages. And there’s a convenient “word study” index for locating key concepts from parables in all three lectionary cycles.
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Preaching Parables To Postmoderns
$33.33Preface
1.Postmodernity
The Nature Of Change
The Premodern And Modern Ages
The Postmodern Experiment
Characteristics Of Postmodernity
2.Parables: A Window Of Truth For Postmoderns
Definition Of Parable
Relationship Of Jesus’ Parables To The Hebrew Tradition
The Purpose Of The Parable
Characteristics Of The Parables Of Jesus
Interpreting The Parables For Preaching
Steps In Developing The Homiletical Text
Preaching Parables To A Postmodern Age
3.A Study Of Parables For Sermon Preparation
Parable One: The Sower (Matthew 13:1-23)
Parable Two: The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35)
Parable Three: Laborers In The Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
Parable Four: Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
Parable Five: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
Parable Six: The Friend At Midnight (Luke 11:1-13)
Parable Seven: The Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-14)
Parable Eight: The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-32)
Parable Nine: The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)
Parable Ten: The Pharisee And The Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14)
Conclusion
4.Four Sermons
Sermon One: The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35)
Sermon Two: Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Sermon Three: The Good Samritan (Luke 10:25-37)
Sermon Four: The Prodigal Son (Luke 15-11-32)Notes
Bibliography
IndexAdditional Info
Stiller argues that Jesus’ parables, through their narrative, personal, and oral dimensions and reversal of expectations, provide unique access to Christianity for those whose experience and hopes we label “postmodern.”Aligning contemporary scholarship with today’s cultural assumptions, Stiller offers preachers a working knowledge of postmodern sensibilities, an understanding of the parable genre, an analysis of ten parables, and a sample of how one might preach them effectively.
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Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 8 Cycle B
$62.43The challenge of creating a fresh, incisive sermon every Sunday can sometimes seem overwhelming — but if you have the all-new edition of CSS’ acclaimed Lectionary Preaching Workbook at your fingertips, you’ll never feel that way again! With penetrating reflections on Cycle B lectionary passages and a thorough discussion of preaching themes plus a treasure trove of supporting illustrations, this comprehensive volume is the perfect starting point for your weekly homiletic research. Carlos Wilton combines a scholar’s deep insight into the biblical texts with a pastor’s practical understanding of how to make them come alive for the people in your pews, and his astute commentary is sure to stimulate your thought process and provide plenty of seeds for developing messages with maximum impact. A handy, easy-to-use sermon planning template is also included to facilitate the process of building your sermon. The Lectionary Preaching Workbook is an indispensable tool that helps you to powerfully proclaim God’s Word while getting the most out of your limited preparation time.
Each Sunday’s material includes:
? a listing of applicable Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal lectionary texts
? a theme for the day
? commentary on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel lessons
? possible preaching approaches
? a pastoral prayer
? numerous illustrations to flesh out the message
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Preaching Paul
$23.99Helpful and insightful strategies for preaching from the writings of Paul.
Few biblical figures are more compelling to preachers than the apostle Paul. The story of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus is a favorite example of the way that God turns lives around. His writings contain the earliest witness we have to the Christian gospel. His message of God’s offer of grace in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is deeply appealing. So why is it that when it comes time to choose a text for this Sunday’s sermon, preachers so often choose something other than Paul? When Brad Braxton asked himself that question, he realized that preachers are often daunted by the size and complexity of the Pauline corpus.
Drawing on his expertise as a New Testament scholar and homiletics professor, as well as on his experience as a pastor, Braxton offers the reader tools with which to wrestle more effectively with the complex, yet essential, message of Paul. Eschewing either a solely historical approach or a completely spiritual one, the author brings the two together to explore the meaning of Paul’s message in its original context, as well as its contemporary application. Written with imagination and depth of understanding, this book is for anyone who wishes to know Paul better and to preach from his letters more effectively.
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More Profound Alleluia
$23.99Two questions lie at the heart of this rich, suggestive book: What are the theological implications of worship? and What are the liturgical implications of theology? Convinced that worship and theology are integrally related, the authors of A More Profound Alleluia show in practical terms how liturgy and doctrine fruitfully illuminate each other.
Each chapter pairs an element of the worship service with related Christian teachings, clearly demonstrating how the great doctrines of the faith find their natural expression in the drama of worship and how the liturgy in turn finds its corollary in doctrine. The interrelation of theology and worship is illustrated with anecdotes from congregational life, resources drawn from church history, and themes from novels and films. Each chapter also includes two hymn texts that exemplify orthodox doctrine communicated through song.
A More Profound Alleluia will be a valuable text for courses in theology or worship, will help worship leaders to plan services with greater theological depth, and will enhance worship for Christian believers generally.
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Seeds Of Heaven
$22.00This wonderful collection of sermons by renowned preacher, author, and speaker Barbara Brown Taylor is based on the Gospel of Matthew. Each of the fifteen sermons, three of them appearing here for the first time in print, is based on a reading from Matthew, including Exceeding Righteousness (Matthew 5:17-20), The Problem with Miracles (14:13-21), Family Fights (18:15-20), Once More from the Heart (18:21-35), Beginning at the End (20:1-16), and On the Clouds of Heaven (24:29-44).
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Without A Net
$21.18Does the idea of speaking without a manuscript in the pulpit make you feel like a trapeze artist trying to negotiate a high wire without a net? There you are, balancing delicately in the stratosphere and holding on for dear life with nothing but you and your ballet shoes, wondering “Why, oh why, didn’t I bring even a sliver of paper up here to catch me when I fall?”
For many pastors, preaching without notes is a terrifying prospect — yet reading verbatim from a manuscript prevents a sermon from being natural and spontaneous. This book shows how you can learn to preach freely without needing the net of written reminders, while still retaining full control over your material. It presents a concise and workable method for creating memorable sermons that connect with listeners. By focusing on delivery, Shepherd casts the entire sermon preparation process, including both study and composition, in a completely new light. Using this approach will make it easy to preach sermons without notes, because they were meant to be preached in the paperless pulpit.
Featuring a user-friendly design, Without A Net is a convenient, instructive text for both beginning and experienced preachers. In addition to a complete system for constructing and delivering a sermon from start to finish, there’s a brief outline of the entire process that allows you to quickly locate more details on specific topics. A concise “nutshell” summarizes each chapter’s highlights, and there are plenty of pithy “hints and tips” to help you with the essential steps. Several sample sermons are also included so you can see how this approach actually works.
Preaching without a net may seem like magic to congregations. But there’s no real secret; the answer is right here in this book. With a little practice, one day they’ll be asking you too, “How do you do that?”
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Playing With Fire
$16.95The discipline of homiletics can be undertaken via many approaches. In Playing with Fire, David J. Schlafer offers an invitation to the art of preaching by way of metaphor. Metaphors are perhaps the best teaching techniques at our disposal, and two–fire and play–dance together across the pages of this book. Fire is multisensory and mysterious, life nurturing and life threatening, and the history of preaching is a story of sacred fire sharing. How can those called to proclaim the Gospel tend and transmit this fire? Perhaps by playing with it, by participating in God’s own sacred play.
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Jazz Of Preaching
$20.99What if preachers were as contagiously joyful in their preaching as Louis Armstrong was in his playing and singing? As rich in their sermonic renderings as Sarah Vaughan was in her musical vocals? As honest about heartache as Billie Holiday was every time she sang about the blues of life? As alluringly clear as the angelic voice of Ella Fitzgerald? As tenaciously uninhibited in the action of creating as Duke Ellington?
Of course, this is too much to ask of people, even those called by God. However, it is not too much to ask this question: Can preaching be enhanced through the metaphor of jazz? Can an understanding of the inner dynamics of jazz–its particular forms, rules, and styles–inform one’s practice of preaching as well? Can jazz’s simultaneous structure and spontaneity help preachers better understand their own art? The answer to these questions, says Jones, is an unqualified yes. He explains how one can dramatically improve one’s preaching through understanding and applying key elements of the musical art form known as jazz. No musical background is necessary; all examples are well explained and tied in with preaching.
The key elements include innovation (what one commentator refers to as “the experimental disposition of jazz”), improvisation, rhythm, call and response, honesty about heartaches, and delight. After discussing the reality and role of each of these elements in jazz, and how they can be important for preaching as well, each chapter concludes with five exercises for applying the jazz element to preaching preparation and performance.
Drawing on a deep love of jazz and enlivening the discussion with insights drawn from the realities of African American preaching, Jones introduces readers to rich and rewarding possibilities for constructing and delivering the sermon.
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Moderatism Pietism And Awakening
$58.99The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church is a multivolume study by Hughes Oliphant Old that explores the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mount Sinai through modern times. In Volume 5, Moderatism, Pietism, and Awakening, Old brings the story of preaching up through the eighteenth century, showing how, after the tumultuous age of the Reformation, preaching in the eighteenth century was driven in several very different directions. The book’s first chapter considers moderatism, an inevitable reaction against the high tensions of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. In the second chapter Old discusses pietism, examining the contributions of Philipp Jakob Spener, Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Samuel Davies, and other preachers. The remaining seven chapters delve into a variety of national or denominational schools of preaching.
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Word Made Plain
$45.00Preaching mediates the word of God into a cultural matrix. And no American preaching has done so more effectively and powerfully than African American preaching, claims noted homiletician James Harris. Known for its rhetorical strength, social-justice orientation, and dead-on connection to the community’s lived experience, black preaching is here analyzed and proposed as a model for all preaching.
Harris grounds black preaching in the self-understanding of the historic black church and its most prominent preachers, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Samuel Proctor. Harris also explores the hermeneutical and aesthetic dimensions of preaching, especially at the intersection of sacred text and the broader culture. He then lays out the specific distinguishing characteristics of black preaching, including verbal cadence and rhythm, use of gestures, and, most thoroughly, the narrative model of the sermon. His last chapter, “Preaching Plainly,” provides specific instructions on how to put the sermon together employing this model.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Preaching The Calendar
$25.00Pastors face a perennial challenge of knowing how to treat special days in the calendar. For days marked in the church year, the challenge is how to speak a fresh word about a familiar theme or story. For days marked in the civil calendar, the challenge is to discern within secular celebrations appropriate connections with the Christian gospel. In Preaching the Calendar, masterful preacher Ellsworth Kalas discusses the importance of embracing holidays and special days as occasions when sermons can enlarge and deepen spiritual yearnings. His words of wisdom demonstrate how this type of preaching can be done well and serve as valuable sources of stories and sermon illustrations for pastors eager to help people find new and renewed relationships with God.
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Preaching Hebrews
$26.58The Rochester College Sermon Seminar and the series of books it has inspired have been built on the conviction that Christian preaching today needs revision. Such reforming begins with a close and faithful reading of Scripture, an engagement so serious that the world of Scripture ultimately sets agendas and invents expectations for meaningful life…In this present volume, too, we wish to grant the book of Hebrews the opportunity to pull all of us into the world it envisions, allowing it the power to judge, convict, and form us into a community God desires. This is not an easy task for several reasons, most notably the fact that the world of Hebrews is quite alien from our own…Like previous volumes in the Rochester Lectures on Preaching, the current work is divided into two parts. The first is a collection of four related essays meant to orient the reader to the world clearly conceived in Hebrews. The second half appropriates this orientation with sermons for particular Christian congregations.
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Preaching As Prophetic Calling
$21.95Preaching as Prophetic Calling is the twelfth in a series of books devoted to presenting examples of preaching excellence from parishes throughout the Episcopal Church. This volume addresses the difficult and essential area of preaching a prophetic word. What does a prophetic sermon look like without being shrill, and without being filled with “musts,” “oughts,” and “shoulds”? This collection of sermons includes examples of prophetic preaching that are visionary and that speak in ways that offer radical comfort as well as radical challenge.
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Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series 7 Cycle C
$48.68Delivering a fresh, timely reflection every week on assigned scripture passages is a formidable challenge for even the most resourceful preacher. So when you’re short on time or need creative ideas to jump-start your sermon preparation, the newest edition of this classic CSS resource is just what the doctor ordered! Prominent pastor, former seminary president, and prolific author Jerry Schmalenberger draws on the experience of a lifetime in the ministry to help you prepare vital, incisive messages that are sure to connect with the people in your pews. The Lectionary Preaching Workbook explores a variety of approaches for Cycle C lectionary passages, providing you with plenty of practical aids for effectively proclaiming God’s Word.
Each chapter includes:
* a listing of the applicable Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal lectionary texts;
* a theme for the day’s service;
* commentary on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel lessons;
* suggestions on preaching possibilities;
* an outline of possible sermon moves;
* a prayer for the day; and
* additional illustrations to flesh out the message.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Preaching The Parables Series 3 Cycle C
$28.68Jesus used his parables to teach ordinary persons with mundane concerns about the kingdom of God; and because these simple stories contain universal truth that transcends time and culture, they still strike a powerful chord with us nearly two millennia later. Preaching The Parables provides a gold mine of background material on each of the eighteen parables appearing in Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Dallas Brauninger brings a fresh, imaginative approach to these familiar texts, probing them to reveal what they tell us about God and inviting further reflection on what they mean for us today.
Preaching The Parables is more than just a sermon preparation resource; it’s also stimulating reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how God speaks to us through the parables. Modeled on the format of Brauninger’s popular Preaching The Miracles series, each chapter in Preaching The Parables includes five sections:
* Text — the entire parable text is reproduced, eliminating the need to flip back and forth to a Bible
* What’s Happening? — a synopsis of points of action within the story, defining its movement, conflict, and change or resolution
* Spadework — significant terms are examined through a survey of Hebrew and New Testament writings
* Parallel Scripture — similarities and differences with parallel stories in the other Gospels are highlighted; where the story is unique, parallel words and concepts are examined
* Chat Room — readers are creatively engaged in a variety of imaginary online exchanges, ranging from interviews with parable characters to browsing ideas to self-driven conversations.
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Preaching And Reading The Old Testament Lessons Cycle C
$26.18Prominent author and biblical scholar Elizabeth Achtemeier provides an outstanding preaching and study resource with this collection of brief expositions on all of the First Lesson texts contained in Cycle C of the Revised Common and Lutheran Lectionaries. Infused with her customary insight into the Hebrew scriptures, this compendium of Achtemeier’s stimulating contributions to the preaching journal Emphasis furnishes a plethora of fruitful starting points for preparing sermons solidly rooted in the Bible yet connected to modern life. But as the book’s title suggests, this volume isn’t just for preachers and homiletics students — it’s also a powerful commentary for study groups and personal devotional reading. Achtemeier’s unrelenting focus on the promises of God appearing in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament, combined with her outstanding scholarship, make these faith-filled essays an enriching resource for anyone who wants a clearer understanding of God’s Word contained in the scriptures.
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Preaching The Parables Series 2 Cycle C
$34.93Parables provide insights and lessons that are timeless. When they are employed in preaching the hearer receives images which are easy to remember. Preaching the parables provides a means of communicating the teachings of Jesus for modern Christians.
With each parable Keeney includes:
Scripture Text so readers do not have to refer to the Bible
The theme of the parable
The context of the parable
how it fits into the church year
how it relates to the other scripture passages for the day
Some issues that the parable addresses
Ideas for preaching the parable
Creative illustrations which can be used in preachingAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Voicing The Vision
$26.95For more than a decade popular homiletics professor Linda Clader has been helping her students become attentive to how the Holy Spirit is speaking to them, and eventually through them to the congregation. In Voicing the Vision she shares her ideas about what preachers can do to be open and receptive to the Spirit once the exegesis is done.
Clader’s approach to inspired and prophetic preaching is a holistic one, filled with suggestions about how the preacher’s spiritual life and practice affect openness to the Spirit, as well as how various creative exercises can create spaces in which the Spirit can flourish. Her careful analysis of the biblical texts that illuminate how the Spirit works in those texts is supplemented by practical suggestions for noticing how the Spirit also works in the everyday life of preacher and congregation.
This book will be a welcome companion for the seminarian who is just learning to preach, as well as the seasoned preacher who is looking for new inspiration
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