Most Christians have some idea of what a parable is. Ask an adult Sunday school class and you might hear: “It’s a story!” Another might chime in, “with a moral message!” But the truth is, parables are a very special kind of story with a few key features. And unless we...
The Pastor’s Workshop is hoping to offer an in-person preaching workshop, “Advent in August”, To let us know you are interested, click here. August 7-10: Orange County, CAAugust 21-24: Colorado Springs, CO The Master & His Workshop I...
For most of us “seasoned preachers,” when we come to the conclusion that we need a sermon illustration, our minds instantly think “story.” Many preachers use the words interchangeably, but as we will see, there are quite a few different kinds of ways to illustrate a...
Introduction This message is primarily directed to my friends for whom the word “lectionary” sounds like a disease. I, too, once shared your visceral shudder when someone uttered the phrase “lectionary preacher.” At the time, my cursory thoughts about lectionary...
Something I’ve noticed over time is that, while we Protestants try to live “sola scriptura (by scripture alone),” a large number of traditions have crept into our theology and praxis over time. One of those areas is in the realm of preaching. When I was in seminary,...
August 2018 Recently I had the opportunity to preach at a church located in a residential neighborhood in a large U.S. city. I actually preached two weeks in a row, both on the same topic, both in the book of James. There were two very different responses from one...
