Laughing Our Way to the Truth (A Guest Post)
Enjoy this guest post from Rolf Jacobson, Luther Seminary Professor of Old Testament and the Alvin N. Rogness Chair of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry: “Preachers can learn from comedians—especially from stand-up comics. Because like us, they stand up in front of a gathering of people with nothing other than a microphone for protection.”
What Your Parishioners Wish They Could Tell You (A Guest Post)
(A guest post). Ever wonder what your listeners are thinking week to week? Consider these three suggestions from a life-long parishioner to ensure your messages connect at a soul-level.
The Embodied Word (A guest post by Steve Thomason with an excerpt from The Visual Preacher)
“People learn in many different ways. Pure words are very difficult for many people. Pictures and visual cues help connect the dots for a vast majority of the people in our pews. Read on for practical ways to combine visual communication with the Word of Scripture and the words of your sermon, so that, when you are done preaching, your listeners will say, ‘We have seen Jesus.’”
Preach Specifically: Dignity Is in the Details
Language changes and, as a result, so does our culture. If we want to be part of changing the narrative, we can improve the specificity of our language. We can tell better stories with more informed word choice.
Getting Away from the Page: How to Preach from the Heart
For those who want to get away from the page but don’t know how to get started, and for those who fear “all the things” that can happen when not using a manuscript, Dr. Giver-Johnston’s book offers practical tools to move in that direction, step by small step.
Preaching + Advertising? (A Guest Post)
“Both preaching and advertising struggle to get a message across in a world cluttered with noise that makes it hard for anyone with ears to hear. Because of this common struggle, the two communicative disciplines share a lot of the same concerns and methods. This means that a lot of what I learned was less of a radical re-thinking of preaching and more a confirmation of some standard elements of homiletical methodology to which advertising methodology offered some new nuance.”
A Stewardship Sermon Series on Psalm 50:14 (Part 2 of 2)
This is the second of a two-part blog series , “A Four-Week Stewardship Sermon Series on Ps. 50:14..” The sermon series is titled “To Know God Is to Thank God.”
Psalm 50:14: “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and make good your vows to the Most High.”
Week One: Offer to God
Week Two: A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
Week Three: Make Good Your Vows
Week Four: To the Most High
A Four-Week Stewardship Sermon Series on Ps. 50:14
This four-week sermon series on stewardship brings an oft-referenced verse to life by closely examining its meaning. Read on for ideas to preach this stewardship season.
The #1 Thing You Gotta Know About Good Sermons (you can't get there if you don't know where you're headed)
"That was a good sermon."
"Wow! That sermon hit home!"
"I'm going to think about this one."
"That was your best sermon ever."
You've probably heard all of these comments.
But can you articulate what made the sermon good?
On Preaching and Patriotism: A Work in Progress
July 4th is the USA’s Independence Day, and this year it lands on a Sunday. You might not be a U.S. resident, but you probably face the same questions in whichever country you call home. People around the world blur the lines between national observances and Christian holidays, making preaching on or around those days tricky. Below is an approach to preaching and patriotism to help you preach the gospel so people can hear it.