Kirjahaku

If it is strange to hear a story for a sermon, it is strange because the church has missed one important fact about the Bible: the Bible has more stories than anything else. It is God's idea from the beginning that the bulk of the Bible is narrative. If over the centuries Christians have become used to sermons being a string of assertions, explanations, or exhortations (with a sprinkling of stories as illustrations), the sermons have not been preached in a manner consistent with how the Bible communicates reality. Most of the Bible is stories. Story sermons do today what Jesus did in his stories -- they sneak up on people. Listeners can ward off moral exhortations, and they become resistant to three points, a poem, and a prayer. Intellectually they can parry with information doled out in a series of reasoned arguments. But stories win us over before we understand what is going on. Stories quietly tip the scale of our minds toward agreeing with God's graciousness. (from the Introduction) In these fine story-sermons believable things happen to believable people, and faith grows -- both theirs and ours. David L. Bartlett Lantz Professor of Christian Communication Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Yale University Divinity School David O. Bales has been a Presbyterian pastor for 24 years. Currently the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Klamath Falls, Oregon, he is also a freelance writer and editor for Stephen Ministries, St. Louis, Missouri. Bales has published sermons in Pulpit Digest, Preaching, and Lectionary Homiletics, and has taught college courses in World Religions and Ethics. In addition to teaching Greek and Hebrew, he instructs lay preachers for his congregation and community. Bales is a graduate of the University of Portland and earned his M.Div. degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

David O. Bales invites preachers of the word to work through the lectionary, allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire and enlighten the process along the way. Throughout the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Bales urges pastors to discover many ways to deliver God's word, reminding them that a genuine acknowledgment of congregational diversity insists upon thoughtfully delivered sermons. Understanding that we learn in different ways and believing that God sets out to reach us in ways accommodated to our understanding, Bales has included a diverse set of sermon resources, incorporating styles such as narrative, exposition, imagistic, assertive, and apologetic. Creatively and intelligently, Bales explores critical themes throughout the scriptures including waiting, suffering, faithfulness, sovereignty, and patience, and he presents three decades of pastoral experience through poignant summaries, ideas, prayers, and stories. Above all else, he stresses a complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit -- a dependence that asks what God wants of us in this world and a dependence that remains patient long enough to hear God's response. Including sermon resources for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, the Lectionary Preaching Workbook is valuable for sermon starters, individual Bible study, and adult study groups. Each Sunday's material includes: - Revised Common Lectionary texts for the day - various themes and possible sermon titles from the scripture readings - commentary on the day's readings and Psalm - possible preaching approaches - a pastoral prayer - numerous illustrations to flesh out the message David O. Bales was a Presbyterian pastor for 33 years. After retiring he taught Introduction to Biblical Greek at College of Idaho for two years. Formerly he taught Greek at Miles Community College, Miles City, Montana, as well as World Religions, Biblical Hebrew, and Ethics. He has researched, written, and edited for Stephen Ministries. His stories, sermons, and articles have appeared in Preaching, Pulpit Digest, Lectionary Homiletics, Preaching Great Texts, Emphasis, Feasting on the Gospels, and StoryShare. He is author of Gospel Subplots: Story Sermons of God's Grace, To The Cross and Beyond, Scenes of Glory: Subplots of God's Long Story, and is co-author of Sermons on the Second Readings, Series II, Cycle A. Bales is a graduate of the University of Portland and San Francisco Theological Seminary.

The New Testament epistles are much more than just a historical record of the early church -- they are also the heart and center of Christian proclamation, helping us to clearly understand how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is part of God's cosmic plan of salvation. In this outstanding anthology of sermons based on the Second Readings from Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary, five distinguished preachers bring their insight to the pastoral letters and draw valuable lessons for the complex challenges posed by life in the 21st century. Each thought-provoking message is filled with compelling stories and illustrations, and offers a clear and authentic vision of Christian faith in the context of daily life. With material for every Sunday and major celebration throughout the entire church year, this resource provides abundant seeds for preaching, teaching, and meditation, and will become a treasured addition to anyone's reference library. This essential resource is useful for: - Fresh homiletical approaches to the lectionary texts - Inspiring preaching illustrations and sermon starters - Understanding scripture passages - Adult study and discussion groups - Personal devotions and Bible study John N. Brittain is Dean of the Chapel at Houghton College in Houghton, New York. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, Brittain has also earned degrees from Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio (M.Div.) and St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland (D.Min.). David O. Bales was a Presbyterian minister for 33 years. Recently retired as the pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Ontario, Oregon, he is also a freelance writer and editor for Stephen Ministries and Tebunah Ministries. Bales is a graduate of the University of Portland and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Steven E. Albertin is the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church of Zionsville, Indiana. Albertin has received degrees from Concordia College (B.A.), Concordia Seminary in Exile, St. Louis (M.Div.), Christ Seminary - Seminex (S.T.M.), and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (D.Min.). Larry Lange and his wife, Julie Wrubbel-Lange, serve as the pastors of Grace Lutheran Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Lange is a graduate of Carthage College (B.A.), the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (M.A. in English), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (M.Div.), and the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (D.Min. in Preaching). Mary S. Lautensleger is the pastor of Stony Hill United Methodist Church in Albemarle, North Carolina. Lautensleger is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (B.M., M.M), United Theological Seminary (M.A. in theological studies), and Trinity Lutheran Seminary (M.Div.), and she is a D.Min. candidate at Hood Theological Seminary.