Dear ______: Sorry I haven’t written for a while. Between some travels to speaking engagements and countless medical visits as my hand continues to recover I have not been able to quite keep up. But when you wrote that you had a guilty conscience I had to write back. If you were confessing an actual […]
Can You Hit a Home Run Sermon? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: So, you went to hear The Great Preacher. He made you laugh. He made you cry. He left you with new insights about the Bible and your life. I’m not surprised. He is gifted, with well-honed skills. He left you feeling inadequate as a preacher. I’m not surprised about that either — though I […]
Help! I Have to Preach a Sermon this Sunday! (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Wow! You get to preach a sermon to a real congregation in a real worship service for the first time — and before you start your field education. That’s great. I’m glad your pastor invited you. In my last letter I said that this would be easier than preaching in the local rescue […]
Preaching at the Rescue Mission? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Thanks so much for your letters. Sorry I haven’t been able to write back for a while. I tore a tendon in my right hand and it is only now healing enough that I can type. My most recent letters to you were about your preaching class, so this new question fits in […]
Commentaries in Preaching? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Glad to hear that the preaching class is moving from frightening to exciting. Preaching should probably always be both. And you are surely right when you suggest that preaching for a preaching class is very different from preaching every single Sunday in a church. Commentaries in preaching That’s true in quite a lot […]