Over the next few weeks we would like to recommend some books to read about preaching before we get back to watching other Wesleyan sermons for insights, practices, and habits we can learn from. These books are not preaching texts. They are not books you would normally think about in connection with preaching directly. At […]
Tag: preaching
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Preaching Resolutions
New Year is around the corner and you are thinking about your weight, the books you promised yourself you would read, the relationship that you let go fallow, and other such New Years Resolutions. Can we put a few preaching ideas into your mind to consider? The New Year is a great time to evaluate […]
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Gifts for Preachers
Christ is coming and our celebration of his birth is building to its climax. Even in K-mart, Wal-mart, or Target the songs of “our savior” are being sung. If you are a bibliophile (book lover) you may get a gift card to amazon or Barnes and Noble. You may also get a small Christmas bonus […]
My wife and I missed the TV series 24. We were living in the north Maine woods where cable and satellite were unavailable. After the first two seasons were aired, we bought the DVDs for Season One. We were hooked. In fact, we now laugh about going to work red-eyed and groggy because each night […]
You have been born again. You are a new creature. The old has gone, the new has come. You are no longer children of the dark, walk then as children of the light. I write this to you that you may know that you are children of God. And that is what you are! The […]
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Preaching with Convicting Grace
We rarely think of conviction as grace. We think of conviction as truth telling and grace as mercy giving. We act as though truth and grace are two different things. I rather think that any truth that is not full of grace is not truth at all. God is truth, and God is love. They […]
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Prevenient Grace and Preaching
Wesleyans believe in a God who goes before us in all things. We see God in all things, for we believe by faith that God’s spirit goes before us not only geographically, but in every way. The way is prepared for us so that “no temptation faces us except that which is common, and God […]
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SHOULD HOLINESS DIE?
There is only one conclusion regarding holiness with two emotions attached. The single conclusion is that holiness is rarely preached. The emotions attached are relief on the one hand and grief on the other. The relieved: Some among us are relieved that they no longer have to watch men in black suits pound elevated pulpits […]
Two weeks ago we read a challenge by one of our pastors and seminary students to make Easter more exciting than the Superbowl. I do not think that preaching alone can accomplish that goal by any means. I do think, though, that preaching needs to be a part of it. The problem? Most of our […]
Pete is a master preacher. He is a person in whom natural ability, cultivated skill, and divine gifting are woven into a beautiful preaching life. I had not seen Pete for a few years when we were assigned the same table at the wedding reception of a mutual friend. Pete wasted no time, asking me […]