The Witness of Preaching, Second Edition

The Witness of Preaching, Second Edition
Author: Thomas G. Long
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2005-10-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611642280

This thorough and detailed revision of The Witness of Preaching is even clearer and more helpful than the first edition. Long has updated the language, expanded the key chapter on biblical exegesis, and included more examples of sermon forms, illustrations, and conclusions. He continues to critically engage the best thinkers in the field of homiletics, bringing into the conversation both important new voices and the latest works of those who appeared in the first edition. In addition, he addresses some of the new forces at work, such as the use of video clips and PowerPoint presentations in sermons.

The Witness of Preaching

The Witness of Preaching
Author: Thomas G. Long
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780664229436

This thorough revision of this classic text is even clearer and more helpful than the first edition. Long has updated the language, expanded the key chapter on biblical exegesis, and has included more examples of sermon forms, illustrations, and conclusions.

The Witness of Preaching, Third Edition

The Witness of Preaching, Third Edition
Author: Thomas G. Long
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2016-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611647630

This is a newly revised edition of one of the standard introductory preaching textbooks on the market today. Beginning with a solid theological basis, veteran preacher and best-selling author Thomas G. Long offers a practical, step-by-step guide to writing a sermon. Long centers his approach around the biblical concept of witness. To be a preacher, Long posits, is to be a witness to God's work in the worldone who sees before speaking, one whose task is to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about what is seen." This updated edition freshens up language and anecdotes, contains an extensive new analysis of the use of multimedia and its impact on preaching, and adds a completely new chapter on plagiarism in preaching. Included for the first time are four complete sermons, with Long's commentary and analysis. The sermons were written and originally preached by Barbara Brown Taylor, Cleophus J. LaRue. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, and Edmund Steimle. With this third edition, The Witness of Preaching reaffirms itself as the essential resource for seminary students as well as new and experienced preachers.

Preaching from Memory to Hope

Preaching from Memory to Hope
Author: Thomas G. Long
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2009-03-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611640091

In this compelling and hard-hitting book, respected preacher and teacher Thomas Long identifies and responds to what he sees as the most substantive theological forces and challenges facing preaching today. The issues, he says, are fourfold: the decline in the quality of narrative preaching and the need for its reinvigoration; the tendency of preachers to ignore God's action and presence in our midst; the return of the church's old nemesis, gnosticism--albeit in a milder form--evidenced in today's new "spirituality"; and the absence of eschatology in the pulpit. Long once again has his finger on the pulse of American preaching, demonstrated by his creative responses to these challenges. Whether he is calling for theologically smarter and more ethically discerning preaching, providing a method of interpretation that will allow pastors to recover the emphasis on God in our midst, or encouraging a kind of "interfaith dialogue" with gnosticism, he demonstrates why he has long been considered one of the most thoughtful and intelligent preachers in America today.

Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible

Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible
Author: Thomas G. Long
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing
Total Pages: 150
Release: 1989
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Long argues that the literary form and dynamics of biblical texts can and should make a difference in the kinds of sermons created from those texts, not only because of what the texts say but because of how they say it. He presents a methodology for taking the literary characteristics of biblical texts into account in the text-to-sermon process and then applies that methodology in separate chapters on preaching on psalms, proverbs, narratives, parables, and epistles.

One Year to Better Preaching

One Year to Better Preaching
Author: Daniel Overdorf
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2013-09-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0825439108

One Year to Better Preaching provides preachers with fifty-two hands-on exercises that sharpen their homiletical skills. The book is designed particularly for those who preach each week—and have been, perhaps, for some time—to help them get out of the rut of the routine and infuse their preaching with new sparks of creativity, fresh approaches to sermon preparation and design, and sharpened verbal and nonverbal communication skills. Novice preachers, also, will find the exercises useful in developing their preaching abilities. Each chapter includes instructions for an exercise, tools and suggestions needed for the exercise, comments from preachers who completed it, and recommended resources for further study The exercises address eight categories of homiletics: • Prayer and Preaching • Bible Interpretation • Understanding Listeners • Sermon Construction • Illustrations and Applications • Word Crafting • The Preaching Event • Sermon Evaluation Readers can complete the exercises in the order presented, which address different categories week to week, or they can sharpen their skills in a particular category over a period of weeks by using the chart provided. They might also work through the exercises in collaboration with other preachers. One Year to Better Preaching will leave a preacher reinvigorated and better equipped to proclaim the Word of God skillfully, passionately, and effectively.

Preaching from the Soul

Preaching from the Soul
Author: Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 87
Release: 2010-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426720807

Careful biblical interpretation; insights into contemporary life; polished delivery; humorous anecdotes; these are the building blocks of preaching that genuinely reach people. Right? Wrong, says Ellsworth Kalas. We have all encountered preachers who seem to know all the fine points of exegesis and inflection, yet whose sermons leave us surprisingly unmoved, aware that we were in the presence of good speaking, but not great preaching. The difference, Kalas reminds us, lies in that hard-to-describe, yet essential quality known as soul. Soul is the collection of those perspectives and convictions that matter most to the preacher. Soul preaching means offering one's particular ideas, attitudes, and convictions fully to the congregation. When one preaches with soul, one engages the biblical text with the core of one's values and beliefs. Soul preaching is, in other words, simply giving the whole self to the task of proclamation. While the concept may sound simple, the reality is anything but. In the clear, insightful style for which he is known, Kalas takes readers on a path of discovery, introducing them to the unique gifts that they can bring to preaching, and the best way to engage those gifts in preparing and delivering the sermon.

The Mission of Preaching

The Mission of Preaching
Author: Patrick W. T. Johnson
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2015-02-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830897127

We hear plenty of discussion about missional theology, missional leadership and missional church planting. But what about missional preaching? In this groundbreaking work, Patrick W. T. Johnson develops a new missional homiletic to aid preachers in their witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in this post-Christendom world.

Preaching Without Notes

Preaching Without Notes
Author: Prof. Joseph M. Webb
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2010-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426720637

In this important book, Webb makes two central claims. First, that effective preaching without a manuscript is not a matter of talent as much as it is a matter of preparation. Preachers can learn the practices and disciplines that make it possible to deliver articulate, thoughtfully crafted sermons, not from a written page, but as a natural, spontaneous act of oral communication. Throughout the book, the author offers specific examples including a transcript of a sermon preached without manuscript or notes. Second, that the payoff of learning to preach without a manuscript is nothing less than sermons that more effectively and engagingly give witness to the good news.

Overcoming Sermon Block

Overcoming Sermon Block
Author: William Powell Tuck
Publisher: Energion Publications
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2014-04-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1631990233

When called on to preach, whether you are a pastor or lay preacher, do you sometimes find yourself blocked? "Writer's block is a common complaint from many authors. They reach a point sometimes when they simply cannot produce anything worth reading. Preachers often encounter this same kind of roadblock when they attempt to prepare sermons."- William Powell Tuck With this opening sentence, Dr Tuck brings his many years of experience as professor and pastor and freely gives some "nuts and bolts" of sermon preparation and "pots and pans" essential for effective preaching. This book is not about the philosophy or theology of preaching but about preparing for, writing, and preaching a sermon. While the reader may quickly find a solution to this week's sermon, Dr. Tuck also gives ideas and plans for long-term preparation to open a new pathway, moving sermons from a burden to a blessing for the writer as well as the intended listener. Anyone called to preach can benefit from reading this book.