Imaginative Preaching
Imaginative Preaching

Author: Geoff New

Publisher: Langham Global Library

Published: 2015-10-14

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1783688998

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From generation-to-generation there has been an anguished cry from preachers about preaching – there is no imagination! The Scriptures present the wondrous hope and vision of “Kingdom Come” and yet contemporary preaching can often be mute and blind by comparison. This book explores what is possible when the Scripture to be preached is prayed through the agency of two ancient prayer disciplines: lectio divina and Ignatian Gospel Contemplation. Through the experiences of eight vocational pastor-preachers this study tracks the difficulties, discoveries and delights as they commit to utilizing these prayer disciplines as part of their regular sermon preparation. The reader will be orientated to what a biblical imagination entails and how praying the Scriptures affects the preacher, sermon and listener. Careful explanation of how to pray using lectio divina and Ignatian Gospel Contemplation is included. This work is, in places, a raw examination of the forces that regularly conspire against the preacher as they endeavour to faithfully expound the Scriptures. The study is a rousing exclamation of the joy experienced when a preacher’s imagination and their preparation is formed by the Spirit, bringing the Scriptures to bear on all who speak and hear it.

Preaching and Teaching with Imagination
Preaching and Teaching with Imagination

Author: Warren W. Wiersbe

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 1997-02-01

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1585588490

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No more dreary three-point sermon outlines! Wiersbe coaches preachers to creatively proclaim the living Word so hearers experience God's truth changing their lives.

Creative Styles of Preaching
Creative Styles of Preaching

Author: Mark Barger Elliott

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9780664222963

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Elliott describes several different styles of contemporary preaching. A discussion about each style--such as narrative, evangelistic, African American and topical--is followed by two example sermons from such preachers as Tony Campolo, Barbara Brown Taylor, Sam Proctor, Fred Craddock and William Willimon.

Novel Preaching
Novel Preaching

Author: Alyce M. McKenzie

Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0664233228

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In this lively and accessible book, Alyce McKenzie explores how fiction writers approach the task of writing novels: how they develop their ideas, where they find their inspiration, and how they turn the spark of a creative notion into words on paper that will captivate the masses. McKenzie's study shows how preachers can use the same techniques to enhance their own creativity and to turn their ideas into powerful, well crafted sermons. Novel Preaching offers a wealth of advice from successful fiction writers, including Isabelle Allende, Frederick Buechner, Julia Cameron, Annie Dillard, Natalie Goldberg, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Melanie Rae Thorn, and also includes a number of sample sermons from McKenzie herself.

Igniting the Heart
Igniting the Heart

Author: Kate Bruce

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2015-09-30

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0334053218

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Kate Bruce argues that imagination can help to engage the hearer in a sermon which seeks to evoke rather than to inform. Imagination frames how we see the world and ourselves in it. As such it has a vital role in how preachers see the preaching task itself, which in turn affects how we go about the task.

Voicing the Vision
Voicing the Vision

Author: Linda L. Clader

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0819225592

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Popular homiletics professor Linda Clader has been helping her students become attentive to how the Holy Spirit is speaking to them, and eventually through them to the congregation. In Voicing the Vision she shares her ideas about what preachers can do to be open and receptive to the Spirit once the exegesis is done. Clader's approach to inspired and prophetic preaching is a holistic one, filled with suggestions about how the preacher's spiritual life and practice affect openness to the Spirit, as well as how various creative exercises can create spaces in which the Spirit can flourish. Her careful analysis of the biblical texts that illuminate how the Spirit works in those texts is supplemented by practical suggestions for noticing how the Spirit also works in the everyday life of preacher and congregation. This book will be a welcome companion for the seminarian who is just learning to preach, as well as the seasoned preacher who is looking for new inspiration.

The Prophetic Imagination
The Prophetic Imagination

Author: Walter Brueggemann

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780800632878

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In this challenging and enlightening treatment, Brueggemann traces the lines from the radical vision of Moses to the solidification of royal power in Solomon to the prophetic critique of that power with a new vision of freedom in the prophets. Here he traces the broad sweep from Exodus to Kings to Jeremiah to Jesus. He highlights that the prophetic vision and not only embraces the pain of the people but creates an energy and amazement based on the new thing that God is doing. In this new edition, Brueggemann has completely revised the text, updated the notes, and added a new preface.

Creative Preaching on the Sacraments
Creative Preaching on the Sacraments

Author: Craig A. Satterlee

Publisher: Upper Room Books

Published: 2003-10-01

Total Pages: 117

ISBN-13: 0881776629

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Creative preaching can help you move the sacraments to the center of your congregation's spirituality by making scripture, personal experience, and the sacraments intersect in such a way that a wealth of meanings surfaces. Satterlee and Ruth seek to expand the range of meanings and associations people bring to the sacraments. They examine in-depth how theology, scripture, context, and timing relate to effective sacramental preaching. Six sample sermons are included: "In Whom Do You Place Your Trust?" (baptismal sermon by Stephen Castleberry) "The Water of Life" (baptismal sermon by Heichler) "The Kiss of Peace" (exchange of peace sermon by Craig A. Satterlee) "The Ultimate Business Luncheon" (Communion sermon by Lester Ruth) "Crumbs Under the Table" (Communion sermon by Cathy Felber) "A Short, Multisensory Baptismal Sermon" (adapted from Ambrose) Recommended for pastors as a practical guide for preparing sermons that will make the great truths of God visible and tangible in the sacraments. Designed especially for clergy, chaplains, and catechists.

Preaching the Light of the Word
Preaching the Light of the Word

Author: Michael E. Connors, csc

Publisher: Liturgy Training Publications

Published: 2024-04-01

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 1618334905

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“We come to know God through His story, through His wonderful works in the history of salvation” (Sacrosanctum concilium, 35.2). Effective preachers do more than retell this story—they make informed imaginative connections that help contemporary listeners engage with these ancient texts. In Preaching the Light of the Word: Enlivening the Scriptural Imagination, scholars and experienced preachers share their wisdom on how Scripture shapes and inspires preaching." Featuring contributions from Fr. J. Michael Joncas, Rita Ferrone, Fr. Donald Senior, cp, Ann Garrido, Thomas Long, Sr. M. Catherine Hilkert, op, Fr. Jude Siciliano,op, and Michael E. Connors,csc, this imaginative collection of essays will challenge the reader to discover: How preachers are to understand revelation and the divine inspiration of the scriptural texts. Sound approaches to biblical interpretation. How to bridge the chasm of years to find meaning for today in these ancient texts. An understanding of scripturally based preaching. How the biblical text informs and inspires preaching and can lead the assembly into a deeper relationship with God.

Jump into the Story
Jump into the Story

Author: Ray R. Friesen

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-02-27

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1532670427

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Preaching is a challenging, privileged, and awesome responsibility. As important as mining the text for its meaning and message and making connections to our twenty-first-century world is the responsibility to engage the imaginations of the people in the pews (or chairs). In this book, Ray Friesen--life-long preacher and retired pastor--has provided twenty examples of how to be creative and engage those imaginations. Most were written under the pressures of bi-vocational ministry (preaching forty times a year as half-time pastor and operating a mediation practice). They are offered to you, not as sermons for you to preach, but as examples of what is possible, even with all the other responsibilities you may have. Each sermon and type of creativity will create an opportunity to set your imagination and creativity free to engage the imaginations, hearts, and dreams of your parishioners.