Image of a Preacher The image of the preacher that most resonates with me within our readings is that of Paul Scott Wilson. Wilson brings to light the image of the preacher as storyteller or moviemaker. “If we imagine that we are directing a film we allow ourselves to think and compose sermons in a visual manner- which is how most of us think in any case.” This resonates with me a lot because personally I am a huge fan of movies. I am a visual learner, and like many in my own generation who have grown up with television, the internet, and other forms of digital media, I have a limited attention span. For this reason, the preacher needs to assume the role of a storyteller who can paint word pictures within the sermon. These word pictures …show more content…
Zinzendorf advocated for preaching in the language of the people, especially in the mission field, so that they can understand the gospel properly. I am in this same camp, but I would also say that preaching in the language of the people not only means speaking the language, but also speaking plainly enough that it is on everyone’s level. Zinzendorf did not typically preach from a high pulpit, but rather sat or stood behind a table near the eye level of the people. While a pastor should strive to be more knowledgeable when it comes to theological and biblical questions, they should not make a big deal of this knowledge or hold it over the heads of …show more content…
Within the Moravian Church I would say this means the sermon should help lead the congregation towards a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Preaching should meet the people in the congregation where they are, because preaching theology that just goes over everyone’s heads is simply pointless and ineffective. I think people sometimes get a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to theology, but I don’t think this means sound theological doctrine should be excluded from the sermon. Rather, I think it is important to relay theology within stories, personal experience, and other creative aspects. The sermon should include theological insights that are profound enough that they inspire thought and pondering but not so profound that they make people constantly scratch their heads. The sermon should touch on personal experience to the extent that it makes the sermon more personal, relatable, and human, and yet it shouldn’t be so personal that the focus shifts from God to the individual preaching. In terms of creativity I think a preacher can be as creative as they want to be as long as what they are doing still makes sense to the congregation. It is good to at least have some form of structure in place to keep thoughts organized towards conveying one main point or “so what”
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
The church has a problem. The eternally relevant message with which she has been entrusted no longer readily finds a willing ear. According to Henderson, the solution lies in first understanding how our world thinks and then, beginning where people are at, bring them to see "the functional relevance for their lives of the actual relevance of our message". In high school speech classes, we were taught to "know your audience." As a careless high schooler, I didn't really care what she meant, but it eventually made sense (once I actually decided to think about it). You wouldn't use sock puppets to explain math to accountants; you wouldn't use in-depth power-point presentations to explain math to first graders. With this in mind, why do many Americans still try to talk about Jesus using the methods used thirty years ago? Why do we use Christian "jargon" to explain Christianity to those outside the faith? Henderson contends that modern American Christians must change their approach to sharing the faith in order to fit modern America. The pattern of Henderson's book is straightforward: he examines a particular aspect/mindset/value of modern Americans; he then gives ideas about how a Christian might share Words of Eternal Life with such an American. Henderson's writing is both straightforward and enjoyable. He gets right to the heart of the American mindset, then illustrates it with descriptions from scenes from popular movies, personal anecdotes, jokes, etc. In all, Henderson does the modern Christian a great service in writing "Culture Shift." Jesus told Christians to tell others about him ("Go, therefore, and baptize all nations...") and Henderson can help us along the way through this book
Prophets of the Hood is the most detailed and a brilliantly original study to date of hip hop as complicated and innovative literary story form. It is written with a refreshing harmonious combination savvy significance rigor as well as brave and creative narrative verve. Imani Perry’s research is an interesting analysis of late twentieth century in American great culture. Prophet of the hood is an excellent and unique book. It draws up a clear division between the negatives and positives involved in hip hop. She takes the discussions of rap to a deeper and greater levels with an insightful analysis of the poetic and political features of the art form. Being a fan and a scholar, Perry is aware the art, tradition of hip hop through an analysis of the song lyrics.
As a Christian counselor, we have the power of the Word on our sides, but so many of us do not understand how to properly apply scripture into the counseling relationship in an effective manner. In Interventions that Apply Scripture in Psychotherapy, Garzon (2005) attempts to accomplish the following; educate individuals on the various techniques one can use to apply scripture, and to encourage and stimulate God ordained creativity in the hopes to create new techniques and methods for applying God’s Word in the counseling relationship.
DS9010 Research Methods and Design Aung, James Hatun Summary (Yaghjian, Chapter 1) January 24, 2013 Lucretia B. Yaghjian’s book, “Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers” consists of three parts. The first part contains four chapters, the second part has two chapters and the third part has four chapters.
Lee includes Scripture, Gospel, Hymns, Prayers and concludes the sermon in an “Amen” (37) by switching the posture to the audience. Perelman examined, “Every technique promoting the communion of the speaker with his audience will decrease the opposition between them” (79). Since Lee’s meaningful sermon consisted of the most essential techniques, her audience recognized her authority and capability to preach. She not only knew about the role of a minister, but also knew how to carry out her responsibilities as a minister, which enforced the appeal to ethos from the audience’s point of view. Lee compelled the audience to reconceive their discrimination of women
John MacArthur is a well-known and sometimes controversial pastor that holds a strong conservative viewpoint of the Scriptures. As a graduate of Talbot Theological Seminary, MacArthur’s ministry has covered a wide spectrum of Christian fields including pastor, author and radio host. MacArthur currently serves as the Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sunny Valley, California. For over 45 years his pastoral ministry at Grace Community Church has given evidence of a deep abiding love for the exposition of the Scriptures. Beyond his role as pastor, MacArthur serves as the president of the Master’s College and Seminary, which functions to train men to work in various areas of Christian ministry. As a successful author, MacArthur continues to write many books ranging from culturally and theological relevant issues to New Testament expositional commentaries and study guides. Macarthur also serves as the lead teacher of Grace to You, an everyday radio and television ministry, which centers on verse by verse exposition of Scripture. MacArthur is not known for shying away from controversial topics that Christianity struggles with. He seeks to use scripture to help modern Christians think through these topics.
Speeches functioned as great tools for inspiring and motivating people. A passionate and charismatic speaker could often change a group of people’s view of the world with just a short speech. A perfect example of this phenomenon can be seen in the leaders of religious groups such as Matthias and Joseph Smith. These two men both possessed the ability to make people pi...
“The call is something that is an indescribable joy and an indefinable burden at the same time.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 32). There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a congregation of the redeemed moving forward in their faith. However exciting this may be, it is usually not the thrill that propels the pastor in his service. It is the burden placed on the pastor by God that compels him in his work. The pastor understands that he is largely responsible for the work of God being accomplished by his faithfulness to his calling. “All through the Word of God and down through the annals of history, when God has moved it has almost always been attended by the preaching of the Word.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 31)
So I would say being a pastor or church leader is the epitome of transformative learning. Throughout the Chapter I the authors make reference to Mezirow 's (1991) Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning and Fostering Critical Reflections in Adulthood (Mezirow and Associates.) These earlier textbooks weighed heavily upon psychotherapy, psychology, sociology and philosophy. It is Mezirow that opines that meaning exists within the individual person rather than in an external form such as a book. And the meaning we develop is crafted and shaped by human interaction and experience.
Throughout the first 400 years that Christianity was present in the world it changed dramatically. It started small in an area near the eastern Mediterranean area but within these 400 years, it grew to encompass the whole of the Mediterranean and its surrounding. Throughout this time of growth, there was also much change within the beliefs of Christianity with the main belief centering around Jesus Christ. While Christianity grew and made it to new areas it was introduced to new people that interpreted the different scriptures and preaching of what it meant to be a Christian. Some of the most influential writings in these years came from Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century writer, Christian, theologian, and bishop. He expressed his beliefs of what made a Christian a Christian within his writing. One of his most famous writings, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, highlights the idea of the Holy Trinity and the Rule of Faith in the interpretation of the bible. Irenaeus believed that the Rule of Faith was ultimately necessary and required when reading and interpreting the word of Christianity saying, in the words of Isaiah, “If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand” (paragraph 3). In the eyes of Irenaeus, the Rule of Faith is one of the main things that makes a Christian a Christian.
Love Yourself as Hearers. Above all, the preachers should consider first the audience or “hearers” when preparing a sermon. As stated in this book, “we need to learn how to introduce, develop, and conclude our subjects in a way that interests hearers” (Galli and Larson, 1994, p. 16). In other words, we need to learn how to modify our words, sentences, paragraphs, stories and illustrations to deliver the message and impact the lives of our audience.
It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so.
It is important for a pastor to know the nature of the situation that he is preaching. Different events, like funerals and weddings, call for a different style of preaching. After this, McDill talks about having an effective presentation. The writer of the book thinks this is best done when a speaker preaches without notes. Right before finishing the book the author deals with the design of the sermon, this is the process of shaping a sermon to fit its purpose.
It is important for me to remember when preparing a sermon, that it is not about the preacher, but through preaching, God the Holy Spirit does the work of giving God’s