Ministry Preaching

Long sees parables not merely as creative figures of speech but as GPS devices taking hearers to those places where the event of God is happening all around us. This book provides two chapters for each synoptic Gospel. Two introductory chapters additionally situate this book in the history and theology of the parables' interpretation and address questions that preachers have about preaching the parables.

Almost every pastor feels the pressure to get people in the doors. Often, in their zeal for fruit and growth, pastors and church leaders adopt worldly mechanisms for church growth that end up undermining the very call God has given them. Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, was a pastor to well over 5,000 people in a day long before "mega-churches" were the norm. In Spurgeon the Pastor, Geoff Chang shows how Spurgeon models a theological vision of ministry in preaching, baptism and the Lord's supper, meaningful church membership, biblical church leadership, and more.

Being a pastor is a complex and demanding role, especially for someone leading alone. The majority of pastors find themselves in this position, leading their smaller church with no additional professional assistance. The challenges are many, including loneliness, isolation, self-doubt, overwhelm, feelings of inadequacy, and a constant search for additional resources and volunteers. Where does a solo pastor turn for help and encouragement?

Charlie Dates, Romell Williams, George Parks, Jr., Terry D. Streeter and a cast of pastors and preaching professors collaborate to demonstrate the power of exposition in the cradle of the Black pulpit. The contributors in this volume give examples of African American biblical exposition in every section of the Old Testament and New Testament. They also explain how to preach from narrative, poetical, prophetic, epistolary, and apocalyptic genres throughout the Scriptures.

If you follow the works of best-selling authors Malcolm Gladwell, Faith Popcorn, Daniel Pink, and other trend forecasters, you’ll appreciate learning about over 25 rings of fire that lie ahead for Christians around the world. Len Sweet once again maps the future for the church in this sweeping survey of the 21st century. In the face of eruptive and disruptive culture changes from economics and communications to bioethics and beyond, how do we fight fire with fire, not only catching up to our culture but leading our friends and neighbors toward the feet of Christ?

Those asked to preach amid tragedy know the anxiety of trying to say appropriate things from God’s word that will comfort and strengthen God’s people when emotions and faith are stretched thin. This indispensable resource helps pastors prepare sermons in the face of tragedies by providing suggestions for how to approach different kinds of tragedy, as well as insight into how to handle the theological challenges of human suffering.

Ellen Gould White (1827 - 1915) was a cofounder of what later became known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As one of the five volumes of her Conflict of the Ages series, The Desire of Ages is a book about the life and significance of Jesus Christ. White does not relate the story of Jesus in chronological order, but by theme. The book begins with the prophecy about the name, Immanuel, and proceeds with the birth of Jesus and his later life and ministry, including the miracles of Christ, his teachings to his disciples, and his death, resurrection, and ascension.

Thomas Johnson and Charles Spurgeon lived worlds apart: Johnson, an American slave, born into captivity and longing for freedom and Spurgeon, an Englishman born into relative ease and comfort but, longing, too, for a freedom of his own. Their respective journeys led to an unlikely meeting and an even more unlikely friendship, forged by fate and mutual love for the mission of Christ. Steal Away Home tells a previously untold story set in the 1800s of the relationship between an African-American missionary and one of the greatest preachers to ever live.

As Dr. King prepared for the Birmingham campaign in early 1963, he drafted the final sermons for Strength to Love, a volume of his best-known homilies. King had begun working on the sermons during a fortnight in jail in July 1962. Having been arrested for holding a prayer vigil outside Albany City Hall, King and Ralph Abernathy shared a jail cell for 15 days that was, according to King, ''dirty, filthy, and ill-equipped'' and "the worse I have ever seen." While behind bars, he spent uninterrupted time preparing the drafts for classic sermons....

Short, Accessible Guide to Biblical Theology Helps Churches Avoid Heretical Doctrine.

Craig Groeschel (lifechurch.tv) and his church have hosted an international multichurch campaign called One Prayer, a month-long concerted focus on unifying the many different, diverse churches participating by praying together and serving their local communities. This compilation book features chapters by seventeen passionate church leaders, including Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Jentezen Franklin, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, and others.

Giving Blood is a groundbreaking resource for active pastors, ministry students, and public speakers who want to communicative effectively to a post-modern culture. Giving Blood is one of the first books of its kind to move preaching beyond its pulpit-centric fixation toward more interactive, participatory modes of communication.

What was it like to be a woman in the biblical period? It depended, in part, on who you were: a queen, a judge, a primary wife, a secondary wife, a widow, a slave, or some other kind of "ordinary woman". In Women in the Bible, Jaime Clark-Soles investigates how women are presented in Scripture, taking into account cultural views of both ancient societies as well as our own. Most of Christendom still excludes women from religious leadership, and many Christians invoke the Bible to circumscribe women's leadership in the public square and in the home as well.

What every pastor wants: more time. The clock is every pastor's nemesis. Between meetings, administration, counseling, and other duties, it's hard to find enough time for sermon prep. Unless you change the process. 8 Hours or Less will show preachers how to write the same sermons they've been writing, but in half the time.

"No!" cries author Kevin Wells in this compelling audiobook that showcase how heroic priests can faithfully tread the narrow path of holy self-sacrifice first blazed by the apostles themselves. From scores of insightful interviews with modern priests, exorcists, seminary formators, and even disillusioned laity, Wells here draws forth a blueprint for priestly holiness that can once again fill our church with priests abounding with sincere, supernatural faith, on fire with God's love, and moved by the irresistible impulse to save souls, no matter the cost to themselves.

Here’s the truth: If you don’t get people engaged with your message at the start, they’ll be distracted as your message moves along. With these stories, you’ll have exactly what you need to master the art of the start! These stories aren’t the “Everyone gather around while I tell you a story” kind of stories. And they aren’t the “Once upon a time” kind of stories either. These stories come from weird news, current events, and interesting moments in history. It’s so much fun when you connect them to the topics of your sermons!

Compiled with the intent to improve the preaching standards in churches at the time and to increase pastoral understanding of Christianity, Homilies is a comprehensive overview of Christian theology, the history and impact of the Reformation, and daily applications of faith and doctrine.

Put James and Paul next to each other and some tough-to-answer questions come up. Paul says we're saved by faith alone, not works - and James seems to say the opposite. If you've been around the church for a while, you probably know enough to say "the right thing" if someone asked about these verses. But would your answers hold up to scrutiny? If pressed, would you know what to say? Dive into the life stories of both apostles, learn more about the context of their letters, and discover the truth about the shared message they both proclaimed.

When it comes to interacting with guests, churches typically gravitate towards one of two camps: over-the-top, shock-and-awe, let-us-entertain-you or oh-man,-some-people-just-showed-up, underwhelming experience. Each extreme has drawbacks: on one end, people become the center of the universe. On the other, hospitality is effectively ignored in deference to the "serious business" of worship. People Are the Mission proposes a healthy middle, one where guests are esteemed but the gospel is the goal.

"Tethered to the cross" is how the renowned 19th-century English Baptist Minister Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) described the task of ministry and his approach to preaching. Tracing the development of Spurgeon's thought and his approach to biblical hermeneutics throughout his ministry, theologian and historian Thomas Breimaier argues that Spurgeon viewed the entire Bible through the lens of the cross of Christ.