Author: Administrador

Nathan Aaseng A very elderly gentleman greeted me at the end of the service with a smile and a compliment. “Wonderful, wonderful sermon, pastor!” We had just installed a state-of-the art T-coil hearing system in our church. Knowing this man was extremely hard of hearing, I assumed from his comment that our upgrade had accomplished … Continue reading ““I Couldn’t Hear a Thing””

Karoline Lewis I spent the first part of this week and started writing this column in the hills of Burlingame, California. The beautiful locale was Mercy Convent and Retreat Center for a workshop on Clergy Peer Learning Groups as part of Luther Seminary’s Lilly Grant on the Strengthening of Christian Preaching. Much about this trip … Continue reading “What Makes You Feel Alive?”

Coleman Baker On Monday, May 25, 2015, Americans will celebrate Memorial Day, an annual observance in which we remember those who have died while serving in the military. This commemoration began three years after the Civil War ended. Known then as Decoration Day, it was “a time for the nation to decorate the graves of … Continue reading “Preaching to (and Caring for) Vets: Memorial Day and Beyond”

Karoline Lewis Dear Working Preachers! How many of you were at the Festival of Homiletics this past week? If you were not able to attend, I hope to see you next year in Atlanta! If you were there, then you know this without me telling you, it was a spirited and Spirit-filled week. A week full … Continue reading “Spirit Feelings”

Robert Hoch This is the third article in the series. See Part 2. What do we imagine we are about when we set out to preach? What do we think happens, or should happen, in the sermon or through the sermon? How might we identify the “fruits” of a faithful preaching life? Robert Dykstra of … Continue reading “Retooling the Purposes of Preaching: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Homiletician Part 3”

Karoline Lewis There is no end to power’s deception and corruption. While we don’t need the Bible to corroborate that statement, we seem rather content when it does. The levels of power gone awry narrated in the gospel lesson this Sunday from Mark could be a soap opera or primetime television show at its best. … Continue reading “Power Potentials”

Karoline Lewis I know what you are thinking, Dear Working Preachers. You are hoping that I am going to veer from the lectionary and offer a grand suggestion for a sermon series so as to bypass these five weeks in John six. Wishful thinking. A good try! But you know how much I like John. … Continue reading “Bread of the Preaching Life”

Robert Hoch This is the fourth article in a series. See Part 3. The one great preacher in history, I would contend, is the church. And the first business of the individual preacher is to enable the church to preach. P.T. Forsyth1 Former students will sometimes tell me how they have adapted their homiletical strategies … Continue reading “Enabling the One Great Preacher to Preach: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Homiletician Part 4”

Karoline Lewis #DoItForJohn. A hashtag suggestion by a Facebook friend in response to last week’s column when I invited you to abide in all of John 6. Not letting go. Not bailing on the Bread of Life, but staying with it, doing the hard work of exegesis, sticking with this chapter for the five weeks … Continue reading “#DoItForJohn”

Karoline Lewis Where you come from matters. This third installment of the Bread of Life discourse is all about origins — Jesus’ origins, that is. So, you have to add verses 35-40 back into the reading because when it comes to origins, verse 38 is key, “for I have come down from heaven” and is … Continue reading “Past Matters”