Constructing a Community
Walter Brueggemann writes in the book Testimony to Otherwise: The Witness of Elijah and Elisha an page 5:
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Author: Sherman Haywood Cox II
A Tale of Two Preachers
1 Corinthians 13:11 states, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” The other day, I reflected on two preachers. Both were considered great preachers during their college years. One preacher used to put together pieces of the “shouting portions” of other preachers and parlayed that into many speaking engagements. However, over the years, his preaching has gotten much more sophisticated. He continued to work on his preaching.
A Tale of Two Preachers Read MoreSurface Needs or Deeper Needs
Marva Dawn in her helpful work A Royal “Waste” of Time writes
Many of the bad decisions that are made about worship touch only the surface needs of our society and not the hidden influences or powerful forces that make true worship both difficult and essential.
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Preaching for Healing or a Cure
Kathy Black provides a helpful distinction in her book A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability. She speaks of the difference between what she terms “Cure” and “healing” on pages 50-51. She writes:
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Should I Write a Draft of my Sermon?
Preachers who preach from a full manuscript have no choice but to answer yes to the question. However what about those of us who preach from an outline or from even fewer notes? Must we prepare a full manuscript? This is a good question. I think that the benefits of preparing a full manuscript whether you use it or not far outweigh the liabilities. I want to describe a few of the benefits.
You Spend More Time on Rhetoric
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Engaging the Society
Ben Bacon asks an interesting question in the comment section of the post “What’s Missing from Your Preaching.” He writes:
Engaging the Society Read MoreGreat observations, Sherman. Our social structures and customs are not the same as when the biblical writers first penned the Bible. In a way, all preaching engages the culture because of the unique nature of the scriptures themselves. What principles would you encourage for engaging/critiquing your own culture in a sermon? What place does it hold in the sermon itself?
Responses about the Prosperity Gospel
We don’t get many comments on SoulPreaching.Com. However this post on the prosperity Gospel has elicited a number of interesting ones that I didn’t want the readers to miss. The original article can be found here: http://shermancox.wpengine.com/prosperityfalse.
A Deeper Joy
Dr. Michael Williams wrote:
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Preaching from the Margins
The Jazz Theologian has just written an article for reflection. The article is entitled “Marginal Christianity.” In that article, Robert Gelinas uses Dr.
Preaching from the Margins Read MoreThe Prosperity Gospel’s False Promise
Marvin McMickle, in his work Where Have All The Prophets Gone writes about one of the biggest heresies that has grabbed hold of the church. This one is the idea that Christians are some how immune from suffering, sickness, or pain.
The Prosperity Gospel’s False Promise Read MoreUnderstanding The Struggle
Some preachers preach a message that demonstrate that they are disconnected from the pressures and pains of the lives of their congregants. No doubt being a pastor has unique challenges, but some preachers are not able to translate their own struggles into something that can be useful to the congregation.
Preaching an Old West Theology
William Willimon in The Intrusive Word writes that “We ought to preach as if we were opening a package that could be packed with dynamite.” By that he means that we should expect dislocation, surprises, and jolts. Too often we package our sermons in a neatly finished package where we know all the answers and God always acts the way we expect. We create a world in the sermon that is much unlike our own world.
Good Always Wins?
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The Power of God is not Theory
Olin P. Moyd writes in The Sacred Art: “The power of God is not Theory. The power of God is action.” What Moyd is getting at is that when we preach about the power of God, it is important not to turn it into a theory. I remember when I was taking Calculus in college.
The Power of God is not Theory Read MoreTwo Tips That Will Improve Your Preaching
There are many things that you can do to improve your preaching. However there are two specific things that will help others understand what you are attempting to say in the sermon. The first of these is to shorten your sermon.