Mark Ellingsen

When it comes to preaching from a lectionary, it can often be a daunting task to create new ways of preaching about a passage that has been around for thousands of years. It would seem that, after a while, there would be no new ways of looking at a scripture passage. A different perspective, however, can be most beneficial in finding a new way to help your congregation see each of the readings. This is the inspiration behind the Lectionary Preaching Workbook series. By providing new insights into each of the readings in the Revised Common, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal Lectionaries, Mark Ellingsen has given pastors everywhere the tools they need to effectively relate the heart of the scriptures to their congregations, combining the best of scholarly techniques with pastoral experience. Each of these illustrations and thematic explorations provide the perfect jumping point for pastors to take a text and create thought-provoking, inspirational messages. Its easy-to-use format and illuminating commentary make the Lectionary Preaching Workbook an essential addition to any pastor's library. Each Sunday's material includes: * a listing of applicable lectionary texts for all the major lectionaries * a daily theme * commentary on each lesson -- Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel * various preaching approaches * a collection of illustrations to help explain the message Mark Ellingsen, a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), has been a professor and department chair at International Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1993. He graduated magna cum laude from Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania) and Yale University, from which he received three master's degrees in divinity, arts, and philosopy, as well as his Ph.D. He has authored sixteen books. He and his wife have three grown children. When he is not writing or teaching, Ellingsen enjoys discussing politics, sports, and playing guitar.

Ellinson demonstrates that awareness of sin is shown to lead to freedom and joy, as the pressure is removed to do and be good all the time. The book's other primary aim is to flesh out an alternative approach to life to Rick Warren's and the dominant American Christian vision. This alternative, life of brave sinning, is rooted in the worldview of the Protestant Reformation (esp. of Martin Luther). When people sin bravely, believing everything done is done in sin, people can get out of the way and recognize that all the good done is done by God despite individual seedy motives. This awareness leads to freedom and joy, since the pressure is now removed to do and be good. In addition, total dependence on God entails a self-forgetfulness that leads to happiness. The bolder one acknowledge's their sin, in failing to take credit for the good done, the more focused on God the individual becomes. Correspondingly this self-forgetful lifestyle is a promising counter-cultural alternative to the cultural Narcissism which so dominates in many segments of contemporary American society. The book provides practical ways to sharpen these insights, to 'own' them. The final chapters of the book aim to clarify why the lifestyle of brave sinning and total dependence on God lead to happiness, with an emphasis on current neurobiological research on happiness and brain function. The book, then, demonstrates both the how and why brave sinning leads to joy, while in so doing offers readers practical advice on living this way. This is an academic book with a lot of practical value.

Despite the results of the 2006 elections, the coalition between Conservative politics and American Christians remains a dominant force in setting the American socio-cultural and political agenda. Ellingsen argues that until this coalition is diminished we will remain a politically conservative nation to the detriment of the poor, the marginalized, the middle class, and nations around the world, as well as to the detriment of the spiritual life in America's churches! Unlike previous books lamenting this Neo-Conservative-Christian coalition, Ellingsen offers the first account of the root (Puritan) causes for this coalition and provides readers with concrete strategies that we can adopt to challenge the tragic pact between so many committed Christians and political leaders that value business and global domination above all else.

Share God's truth in words that engage not only the mind but also the heart with this complete set of insightful and inspiring sermons based on Gospel texts from Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. Five outstanding preachers from diverse denominations skillfully weave together scripture with dynamic stories and illustrations to create eloquent messages for every Sunday and major celebration in the Church year. These stirring sermons pull readers into God's Word by combining deep biblical grounding with an astute understanding of the meaning of Jesus' message and ministry for contemporary living. Offering a vision of God's unconditional love and the grace-filled life, this collection of model messages from an experienced group of master preachers passionately proclaims the Good News, provides a wealth of sermon seeds, and revitalizes the faith of anyone who reads them. 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 Charles L. Aaron Jr. is the pastor of Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Garland, Texas. Aaron is a graduate of Lambuth College (B.A.), Memphis State University (M.S.), Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (M.Div.), and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (Ph.D. in Old Testament). Lee Griess is the Assistant to the Bishop for Mission and Outreach in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Nebraska Synod. Prior to that he served for 15 years as the senior pastor of Luther Memorial Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Mark Ellingsen has had a rich and varied career as both a parish pastor and a seminary professor. Ellingsen is now on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, the largest historic African-American seminary in the United States. Wayne Brouwer has been a pastor in the Christian Reformed denomination for nearly three decades, serving congregations in both Canada and the United States (most recently Harderwyk Ministries in Holland, Michigan). He holds degrees from Dordt College (B.A.), Calvin Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), and McMaster University (M.A., Ph.D.). Chris Ewing has ministered to both French- and English-speaking congregations of the Presbyterian and United Churches of Canada, serving most recently at St. Paul's United Church in Kindersley, Saskatchewan. Ewing is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, McGill University, and Presbyterian College (Montreal).

In an inclusive reading of Augustine, Mark Ellingsen reveals a patterned conceptual richness in Augustine's thought. The Richness of Augustine is a wonderful introduction and a rich ecumenical and historical resource. It is the first introduction that places in focus the significance of Augustine's African cultural and ethnic roots.

This is one of those rare books that effectively puts theology into practice. Ellingsen provides a remarkably comprehensive survey of recent approaches to biblical narrative and shows that not all approaches are compatible. Theological integrity requires that they be used discriminatingly. Then, in the greater part of the book, he explains the homiletical implications. As befits an accomplished theologian who is also a preacher, he gives apt advice and excellent examples. This is also the best book written on narrative theology and preaching. George Lindbeck, Yale University In this excellent book about biblical narrative preaching, Mark Ellingsen has brought together the expertise of the systematician, who has one foot in academics, and the experience of the parish pastor, who has the other foot in the pulpit every week. As a systematician, he criticizes and corrects the contemporary trend toward developing and preaching story sermons, offering a theology of realistic narrative sermons in their place. He also functions as a homiletician, explaining his system of preparing biblical narrative sermons, and caps the entire effort with illustrations from his own homiletical endeavors. This insightful work should provoke discussion among biblical and systematic theologians and, at the same time, prove profitable to pastors seeking to preach the gospel story in interesting, convincing, and theologically valid sermons. George M. Bass, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary

Inspired by the heritage of African-American churches, Mark Ellingsen has created innovative, visionary sermons on Old Testament texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. His messages reflect his unique vantage point as a Lutheran of Norwegian heritage teaching at a historically black seminary, and they are a model for anyone who wants to learn how to relate the Bible to the cutting-edge social issues of our day. Ellingsen suggests that many American Christians have abdicated their responsibility to advocate justice in our society or to talk about what the gospel can do in our lives and society as a whole from Monday through Saturday. Ellingsen believes these Old Testament texts are relevant to our contemporary lives. An all-too-common view of many Christians is look to the New Testament to find the liberating word of God, while viewing the Old Testament as being about the law and the confining demands of tradition. But Ellingsen says that the history of Christianity proves this is not true. He observes that Martin Luther was primarily an Old Testament scholar, and that African-American churches have based many of their traditions of liberation on Old Testament stories and prophetic traditions. Mark Ellingsen's offering of sermons based on Old Testament texts reflects his usual thorough biblical scholarship and his readable, down-to-earth style that consistently render his material useful to both scholars and those seeking the inspiration of a faithful Christian. Richard H. Stough, Publisher King Publications Mark Ellingsen has had a rich and varied career as a parish pastor and a seminary professor. In addition to serving several Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, he has held teaching positions at Luther-Northwestern Seminary and the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. Ellingsen currently is on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, the largest historic African-American seminary in the United States. A regular contributor to several homiletics periodicals, Ellingsen is also the author of ten books, some of which have been used as homiletics texts in many American and Canadian seminaries.

This is the second in a two-volume inclusive church history that pays special attention to Christianity in the southern hemisphere, Eastern Orthodoxy, the church among minority cultures in North America, and the role of women in church history. Beginning with an introduction that situates the Reformers within a medieval milieu, the present volume moves through five-hundred years of history to the present, concluding with the question of whether today's church is a liberating church or a church in decay. Through both volumes in this set, Mark Ellingsen presents church history not merely as a collection of facts but as an opportunity to enter into conversation with the church's richly diverse heritage. He sees the role of church history as: (1) community builder - teaching the faithful their heritage; (2) safety-patrol - sensitizing church leaders to the errors of the past that must still be confronted in the present; (3) liberating instrument - learning to look at reality from the perspective of the other, no longer chained to one's own suppositions and cultural biases; (4) source of theological creativity - providing access to the stimulating insights of the great theological minds of the past. Here, then, is an extraordinarily balanced text, one that provides readers with sympathetic exposure to a variety of credible, scholarly interpretations of major figures and that encourages readers to make their own judgments based on the evidence and with the help of suggested primary-source readings. Leading questions about the material covered are included at the end of each section. Mark Ellingsen is Associate Professor of Church History at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

There really is good news God is still eager to save. Prepare yourself for his coming into your life. He is already present. It is all here; the secret to the good and happy life is already manifest and present. -- from the sermon "We Must Be Blind " The 21 sermons in this book are based on gospel texts, primarily from Matthew and John. Sermons follow the Revised Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries. In his messages, Mark Ellingsen connects preparation through penitence and the new life given in baptism. "The gospel lessons assigned for the season provide excellent occasions to practice such liturgical proclamation," writes Ellingsen. "Penitence and preparation happen in the presence of Christ and the new life he gives. Thus they are Gods work." Mark Ellingsen is pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Asheboro, North Carolina. He is a graduate of Gettysburg College and holds a master of divinity and a doctorate from Yale.