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Sermons

Sermons that shed light on issues of Christian leadership

Will Willimon: Preachers are a pain

The preaching and leadership necessary for the church to fulfill its mission inevitably produces discomfort in the people and in their leader, writes the theologian and retired UMC bishop.

By Will Willimon Professor of the practice of Christian ministry

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Erin S. Lane: What kind of family is the family of God?

We’ve celebrated church as “family” without ever clarifying what kind of family we’re called to be, says an adoptive mother in this sermon. What kind of family is the church if not an adopted one?

By Erin S. Lane Writer

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Samuel Chuin Ming Oo: What does it mean to be baptized in the name of God?

This baptism that Jesus called us to is fundamentally a call for allegiance -- a “pickling” in the ways of Christ, the English pastor of the Chinese Christian Mission Church in Durham, North Carolina, says in this sermon.

By Samuel Chuin Ming Oo English pastor, Chinese Christian Mission Church, Durham, North Carolina.

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G. Lee Ramsey Jr.: Las Vegas and the violence in God's vineyard

In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, a homiletics professor and UMC pastor finds an important message in the parable of the vineyard owner’s son: Enough is enough. God did not mean for us to live this way.

By G. Lee Ramsey Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics, Memphis Theological Seminary

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Phil Woodson: Who is Jesus?

Hundreds of people, like Peter, left the safety of the ship and threw themselves into the jaws of death to counter a rally of neo-Nazis and white supremacists, writes a pastor at First United Methodist Church Charlottesville.

By Phil Woodson Associate pastor, First UMC Charlottesville

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William B. Kincaid: 'Your anger does not produce God's righteousness'

In a heated political season, a seminary professor was eager to use a verse from James as an indictment of others. But what if he was the intended audience all along?

By William B. Kincaid Associate professor, Christian Theological Seminary

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Richard Lischer: That's when the trouble starts

As Jesus, John the Baptist and M.L. King discovered, tell the truth, and that’s when the trouble starts, says the professor emeritus of preaching. Can the Christian witness make a dent in the culture of lies?

By Richard Lischer James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Duke Divinity School

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Luke A. Powery: There's work to do; or, An open letter to my children

Some may shake their heads in disapproval or approval of the election results, but the bottom line is that there’s work to do, says the dean of Duke Chapel in this sermon.

By Luke A. Powery Dean of Duke Chapel

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William B. Kincaid: The leadership of laughter

Less talk and more joy. Less explanation and more playfulness. Less selling and promoting and more embodying and expressing the sheer wonder and joy of our faith. This is what ministry is meant to be like, grounded in the laughter of God, a seminary professor says in this ordination sermon.

By William B. Kincaid Associate professor, Christian Theological Seminary

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Kara K. Root: The true wisdom

Underneath and behind and inside everything is a deeper wisdom and reality, the heartbeat that keeps the whole world alive: We belong to God; we belong to each other. Let it pulse through you. Let it bring you back to life, says a Minnesota pastor in this sermon.

By Kara K. Root Pastor, Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church

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