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.
Recently published
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?
Link to author Erin S. Lane
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Erin S. Lane
Writer
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.
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.
Link to author G. Lee Ramsey Jr.
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G. Lee Ramsey Jr.
Professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics, Memphis Theological Seminary
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.
Link to author Phil Woodson
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Phil Woodson
Associate pastor, First UMC Charlottesville
Lisa L. Thompson: Preaching and teaching about gun violence
Guns and gun violence may not be addressed in Scripture, but human dignity, the sanctity of life and other matters that speak to the issue and resonate with Christians’ core beliefs are, says the Union Theological Seminary homiletics professor.
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?
Link to author William B. Kincaid
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William B. Kincaid
Associate professor, Christian Theological Seminary
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?
Link to author Richard Lischer
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Richard Lischer
James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Duke Divinity School
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.
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Luke A. Powery
Dean of Duke Chapel
What I learned from preaching the entire Gospel of John
Preaching on John for nearly a year helped a congregation and its pastor enter deeply into the biblical narrative in a new way.
Link to author Prince Raney Rivers
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Prince Raney Rivers
Senior pastor, Union Baptist Church
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.
Link to author William B. Kincaid
By
William B. Kincaid
Associate professor, Christian Theological Seminary
