articles relating to the subject of homiletics
In just a few weeks we moved from “many pastors” trying to find a way to extend their sermons life through video to “almost all pastors” trying to learn how to preach better by video. Unfortunately, not all were anywhere close to prepared for this necessary shift to technological delivery. Some churches are so woefully […]
Pastors in developed countries around the world are forced into something they have only rarely attempted: preaching to an audience they cannot see. The covid-19 crisis has forced the same pastors who five years ago were writing about the theological substandard nature of streaming sermons to do just what they condemn, stream sermons. For […]
“I hope these are God’s words, not only mine.” “May you hear God speaking directly to you today, through me or in spite of me.” “May they remember the things I said that are from You, God, and allow the rest to fall away.” If you’ve heard things like this from a pastor at your […]
Part III: Listening to Imagination The Spirit’s work in preaching is always rooted in Scripture; and yet every sermon is an imaginative act. At their best, sermons help the congregation experience God’s presence through a fresh encounter with Christ who is the Word of God. That requires engaging the Scripture as a treasure trove of […]
Interpretation–of our newspapers, our friends’ words, and our Bible–is (by its essence) a cultural act. We read any text through the lenses of our upbringing, life experiences, and the tradition we’ve been taught. When we sit down to write a sermon, we bring all of these lenses into our view of Scripture, along with the […]
Part I: Listening for our Congregation Preachers often think of preparation in terms of preparing what to say. Yet what we say every Sunday emerges from how we listen to the Scripture, to our people, and to the Holy Spirit’s voice. Most sermons are exercises in attentiveness: helping a congregation stop, look, and listen to […]
Which Question Matter? One pastor I have recently come to know and love has been trying to strengthen his biblical study process for preaching. In preparing sermons, he has most often simply followed his hunches and intuitions. Often these instincts include bringing a dozen other small passages into the sermon to support what he says […]
We all have different stories surrounding our relationship with Wesleyan preaching. If you are like me, you were formed in, rebelled from, returned to, called through, and now are serving the Wesleyan church. You may have a different story though. Some preachers I know never saw a Wesleyan church until they were called to preach […]