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No function of the pastor is as visible and stress inducing as preaching. But few pastors feel adequately prepared for this high-stakes responsibility when they begin their ministries. Forged by her experiences as a pastor, preaching professor and college chaplain, Mary Hulst provides practical tips for all pastors, whether ministry newcomers or seasoned professionals.
Adults in your church, small group, or other Christian organization are silently suffering the tragic consequences of having been sexually abused as children or youth. Why aren't they coming forward for help? Their reluctance may be related to wounds given by the faithful--religious people they trusted, who said things like "well, it wasn't rape" or "it's been thirty years--why is this such a big deal?" Such responses from people with religious authority deepen victims' need to shrink into anxiety, depression, and self-degradation. This book offers you the tools needed to undertake caring ministry to adults suffering in the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse. Once you understand the scientific research on such topics as trauma memory, consequences of abuse, and forgiveness, you will appreciate how caring collaboration can create hope and healing. In these pages every reader will find helpful content that will take you from feeling out of your depth to knowing you are empowered to be an effective companion in God's transforming work in the lives of survivors of abuse.
Scott Gibson and Matthew Kim, both experienced preachers and teachers, have brought together four preaching experts--Bryan Chapell, Kenneth Langley, Abraham Kuruvilla, and Paul Scott Wilson--to present and defend their approaches to homiletics. Reflecting current streams of thought in homiletics, the book offers a robust discussion of theological and hermeneutical approaches to preaching and encourages pastors and ministry students to learn about preaching from other theological traditions. It also includes discussion questions for direct application to one's preaching.
Preaching 2022 Book of the Year Haddon Robinson's widely used and influential text, Biblical Preaching, has influenced generations of students and preachers. In The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching, trusted leading evangelical homileticians, teachers of preaching, and experienced pastors demonstrate that Robinson's "big idea" approach to expository preaching still works in today's diverse cultures and fast-paced world. This accessible resource offers an insider's view on figuring out the big idea of each book of the Bible, helping preachers and teachers check their interpretation of particular biblical books and passages. The contributors offer tips on how to divide each book of the Bible into preaching and teaching passages, guidance on difficult passages and verses, cultural perspectives for faithful application, and suggested resources for interpreting, preaching, and teaching. Pastors, teachers, Bible study leaders, small groups, and college and seminary students and professors will find a wealth of valuable information in this resource.
Longing. Hope. Love. Fear. These are just some of the experiences embodied in the infinitely rich Christian life. In Under the Wings of God, seasoned author Cornelius Plantinga explores these facets and more, reflecting on the joys and challenges of a life following God. Rooted in Scripture, this book offers wisdom about topics including the problem of suffering, the nature of Christian virtue, love of God and our neighbor, longing for redemption and reconciliation, humility, and hospitality. Plantinga delves into hard questions with a calm and pastoral authority that offers the perfect antidote for the unrest in the world and the church right now. Each reflection is presented with a Bible text and a brief prayer, useful for personal devotions or small group discussions. Readers will emerge with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Christian life, equipped with timeless insights into the ups and downs of a life lived in the presence of God.
Preaching and music are both regular elements of Christian worship, yet they often don't interact or inform each other in meaningful ways. Theologian, pastor, and musician Noel A. Snyder considers how preaching that seeks to engage hearts and minds might be helpfully informed by musical theory—so that preachers might craft sermons that sing.
Eugene Peterson instilled the love of the local church in his family, and especially his son, pastor Eric E. Peterson. This collection of letters, written over several years by Eric, offers a poignant, pastoral vision for what the people of God are to be about in their personal lives and their life together. You'll find this wisdom for one local church to be warm, winsome, knowing, understanding, and universally relevant. Eric E. Peterson addresses essential questions such as "What is a church? What should a church be doing? What do we owe each other? What can we expect from one another? How do we follow Christ together?" A pastor in the state of Washington, he wrestled with how to grow his infant church into a mature Christian community. This book was born in the midst of a church coming to life, and is a compelling read for any pastor, church leader, or congregant. Purchase individually or together with Letters to a Young Pastor, a book that contains letters written back and forth between Eugene Peterson and his son, Eric E. Peterson.
Describes what it means to be anointed with the Spirit so that one can preach "to raise the dead." In The Holy Spirit and Preaching, James A. Forbes, Jr.--widely hailed as one of the nation's foremost preachers--offers four dynamic lectures originally delivered as the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale University, the most prestigious annual preaching event in the United States. In each of the lectures, Forbes focuses on the Holy Spirit as it relates to preaching. He traces the Holy Spirit's activity in Jesus' ministry and looks at the impact of being anointed by the Holy Spirit. Forbes demonstrates how the Holy Spirit works with the pastor in the preparation and delivery of a sermon. The Holy Spirit and Preaching concludes by focusing on the need for anointed preaching, and the way anointed preaching happens today.
In Reading for Preaching Cornelius Plantinga makes a striking claim: preachers who read widely will most likely become better preachers. Plantinga -- himself a master preacher -- shows how a wide reading program can benefit preachers. First, he says, good reading generates delight, and the preacher who enters the world of delight goes with God. Good reading can also help tune the preacher's ear for language -- his or her primary tool. General reading can enlarge the preacher's sympathies for people and situations that she or he had previously known nothing about. And, above all, the preacher who reads widely has the chance to become wise. This beautifully written book will benefit not just preachers but anyone interested in the wisdom to be derived from reading. Works that Plantinga interacts with in the book include The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario Silence, by Shusaku Endo "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy "Narcissus Leaves the Pool" by Joseph Epstein Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo . . . and many more!
In our Western, post-Christendom society, much of Christianity's cultural power, privilege, and influence has eroded. But all is not lost, says bestselling author Gerald Sittser. Although the church is concerned and sobered by this cultural shift, it is also curious and teachable. Sittser shows how the early church offers wisdom for responding creatively to the West's increasing secularization. The early Christian movement was surprisingly influential and successful in the Roman world, and so different from its two main rivals--traditional religion and Judaism--that Rome identified it as a "third way." Early Christians immersed themselves in the empire without significant accommodation to or...