Homiletics

to find community once again. By inviting and incorporating the traditional listeners into the sermonic moment, I think that I might be able to encourage congregations to think of themselves as communities of Christian activists rather than audiences who sit on uncomfortable benches for an hour some weeks. In some ways, Moravians are still using the idea of a communal system of belief in traditions such as our love feast, communion, Holy Week readings, and the brass band Easter sunrise services. We tend to cling to this idea that Christians function better as communities similar to those found in Acts 4, and while Moravian ministers have generally free range to preach in accordance with our own styles, perspectives, and voices, our homiletics rarely reflect the community of believers that share their possessions and gather for meals more than once a month. In Moravian liturgies, we announce that we believe that God’s power will “hold together all space and time and substance,” but we often fail to perform, or even recognize, the work that we must do as congregations to help hold our own communities of service together. I am not proposing that somehow that church community should become the sole focus of every congregation member, but I do believe that congregations have allowed a level of complacency that regulates ‘church’ to a few hours on a single Sunday every other week (sometimes). The sermon, therefore, becomes a moment when ministers might be able to…

Part A 1. Before studying pastoral preaching I thought that pastoral care and preaching were mutually exclusive. I believed that pastoral care was concerned about meeting the needs of the people by shepherding them. This entailed visitations, be it at homes or hospitals, funerals, weddings, and doing things that are expected from a pastor. I believed the preaching was for the edification of the saints. The preaching is a herald of God’s word. The preacher spent a majority of his time in…

Introduction to Speaker Lestor Roloff is the video that I chose to watch for the first observation paper. This man Lestor Roloff is a very interesting character and the recording that was done from his church (assuming because of his confidence) seems to be in the early 90 's. The quality of the video was decent and the church was up with modern technology at the time based on the observation of the overhead that was being used. Mr. Roloff was a very well dress man who had a matching suit…

This case study was a meeting between my District Superintendent and myself. We agreed to meet at a diner half way between each of our residences. This diner is in semi-rural farm country. It was very crowded when we arrived. I was very nervous because the discussion was to be about where I felt I wanted to serve starting this July 1st. The DS and I greeted each other and were seated by the waitress. We then ordered soft drinks and began to converse. He asked how I was doing and what I…

6. Some points for crucified Christ as the liberative homiletic: 6.1. Voice for the voiceless: The voice of the crucified Christ means defending the rights of the poor, having mercy on humble, unimportant people, protecting the weak, and liberating the oppressed. The kingdom in Christ’s name, filled with his Spirit, has to mean caring the rights of the poor, having compassion on the humble, and liberating the oppressed. The transformation of the image of the king into the image of the messiah is…

ministry strategy. As a believer, I am called, to go to all ethnic groups, but as a preacher, God has called me specifically to go to those within my community first. There are a few ways I plan to bring this goal into fruition. First, I want to establish a traveling seminary or a “seminary on wheels”. It will be a mobile theological ministry that will be local, regional, national, and ultimately, international. In many ways, this is already occurring. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area…

It all began in 1900. Mr. Joseph F. Wagner, founder of J.F. Wagner Publishing Co., decided to start a magazine for the Catholic clergy in the U.S.A. He called it The Homiletic Monthly & Catechist, the name it carried until it was changed to the present name in 1919. In those days the format was simple: a sample sermon for each Sunday and Feast Day along with some aids for teaching catechism to children. It stayed that way until 1919. The first editor until 1916 was Msgr. William Brady of St.…

In chapter ten of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation, Stefan Reif examines several contributions that Jewish scholars have made in the biblical interpretation of the Old Testament. According to Reif, Jewish exegesis emphasizes three aspects: the Israelite people, their land, and their language. Another critical component to Jewish exegesis is the Torah; it has been used extensively throughout Jewish history for liturgical and educational activities in synagogues and academies.…

Dingemans second paradigm shift is what he describes as the Church paradigm. Within this paradigm, there are two dynamics that he describes as internal & external. According to Dingemans the internal focuses on the day to day life within the Christian community and explores such things as discipleship, communication, pastoral care, homiletics, and Christian education. He says that the external focuses on the life of the church as it relates to the world around it. The primary focus here is…

I’m not saying that God has not spoken to any other prophet or hasn’t responded to any one else’s prayers. But Moses was the only prophet to have an on going conversation with God on numerous occasions. “Moses is described as the only person who ever spoke to God face-to-face and that God spoke to Moses directly, in plain language, not through visions and dreams.” A body of Torah texts along with homiletic stories, tells that Moses was chosen to lead the Children of Israel because of his…