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Parson's Porch Books is delighted to present to you this series called Sermons Matter.We believe that many of the best writers are pastors who take the role of preacher seriously. Week in, and week out, they exegete scripture, research material, write and deliver sermons in the context of the life of their particular congregation in their given community.We further believe that sermons are extensions of Holy Scripture which need to be published beyond the manuscripts which are written for delivery each Sunday. Books serve as a vehicle for the sermon to continue to proclaim the Good News of the Morning to a broader audience.We celebrate the wonderful occasion of the preaching event in Christian worship when the Pastor speaks, the People listen and the Work of the Church proceeds.

If a pastor could dream up and plant the perfect church, what would it be like? Realistically, a minister accepts the church he gets. John Killinger once said, "The trouble with churches are that they fill up with people." All types of people. I dream about a church that is so loving, where my gifts would be valued, and my passions would flourish. My dream congregation would be full of joy. I would never be embarrassed to call it my spiritual home. The church would be so amazing than any non-Christian who visited would never want to leave.Being an empathic minister and a therapist, I know and understand emotions. Each emotion-fear, anger, anxiety, guilt, and joy according to research-is real and distinct as colors and shades are to an artist.Emphatic skills are not unusual. Everybody has these skills. We are sensitive and intuitive. We feel what some people never acknowledge. We can't figure out what emotions are. For the past five years, I have traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to share in a twelve-million-dollar study of joy funded by the Templeton Foundation.

If the average preacher cited Hezekiah 3:16 in a sermon, the average churchgoer wouldn't blink an eye. The Bible is still the world's best-selling book, but few people have actually bothered to read it. Even those who consider themselves Bible-literate are often surprised to discover new truths from Scripture. Reading through the Bible in a year is highly valuable for the Christian life. Spending fifteen to twenty minutes in dedicated Bible study daily has been shown to have a greater impact on spiritual growth than any other factor. Seriously studying the Bible gives the Christian greater knowledge about what the Bible says (and doesn't say), leads the Christian to ask difficult questions about the nature of God and this life, and helps the Christian to apply the teachings of Scripture to the world around him or her.

Parson's Porch Books is delighted to present to you this series called Sermons Matter.We believe that many of the best writers are pastors who take the role of preacher seriously. Week in, and week out, they exegete scripture, research material, write and deliver sermons in the context of the life of their particular congregation in their given community.We further believe that sermons are extensions of Holy Scripture which need to be published beyond the manuscripts which are written for delivery each Sunday. Books serve as a vehicle for the sermon to continue to proclaim the Good News of the Morning to a broader audience.We celebrate the wonderful occasion of the preaching event in Christian worship when the Pastor speaks, the People listen and the Work of the Church proceeds.Take, Read, and Heed.David Russell Tullock, M.Div., D.Min.

I'm really a morning person, if left to my own devices. When I'm involved with someone (when I was married or when I'm dating someone) that schedule gets pushed to the back. For one thing, I seem to pick night owls. But for another, it is hard to find one-on-one time before kids are in bed, which means staying up. But when I am left on my own, I tend to go to bed at the same time as the kids - 9 or 9:30, read for maybe 30 minutes and then crash. That means on the other end, I often wake up at 5 or 5:30, long before there is any movement from the children. I like going to bed at the same time as the kids. There is often a little more conversation than otherwise as I tuck the kids into bed. And I find I love those quiet morning moments. I look out the window and watch the birds and other wildlife. I notice the plants and trees. I think, I pray. Sometimes I eat, sometimes I read. But mostly it is time between me and my Creator to just be. No matter what else is going on, that quiet time centers me, grounds me, reminds me of the big picture. Before the hustle and bustle of the day, it helps me to slow down and take my time. Before being inundated with news and media and the traumas of the world, it helps me to just see the beauty out my window and in whatever corner of the world I am currently sitting. This time helps me to be peaceful and to put that peace into my heart to strengthen me for more chaotic moments. It reminds me to be grateful for each breath and for each day as it comes. No doubt the day will hold challenges. But I am fortified to meet them through this morning routine of peace and quiet. It is one of life's big gifts. And I am grateful.

When we hear "Listen to this," most of us are all ears. It is a good way to capture the attention of folks to whom we want to tell a story. That phrase holds the promise of hearing something interesting, or informative, or funny. As for the words "mostly true" as a part of the book's title, we suspect that is the case with every story that is told. On the question of truth, the words of Susan Estrich ring true: ". . truth is a construct, infected with the biases of the teller. " A story, true or not, comes from a particular point of view from a teller who may concentrate on parts of the story that another teller might leave out. As Bryce Stevens has said, "In the telling, we discover ourselves. And in the listening, we learn that none of us is alone." We hope that will be the case for the people who read this book and hear our stories

I know the importance of James McReynolds' work. If more people noticed all the joys that surround them every day, exploding like fireworks in their dark and glorious skies, there would be fewer wars, fewer crimes, and more sheer excitement about being alive.This book bristles with Jim's thoughts about the joyful life. He talks about it on every page. No one can read the book without coming away thinking about joy and what it means to his or her life. I wish it were required reading for everybody, regardless of age or stage of life. There would be an immediate and noticeable leap in the world's wellness quotient!

The days of building a church, hiring a pastor and staff and finding volunteer Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders, and then opening the doors and people come because that's just what people do-those days are over. The so-called "attractional church" approach to following Jesus and growing the Kingdom that I was taught in seminary as little as 20 years ago simply doesn't work anymore. The church has become marginalized in its influence, often represented in the public square by its most extreme members. Among ever-growing numbers of people, the church is not seen merely as irrelevant and benign but as an active force for misogyny, homophobia, nationalism, and social regression. Among those demographics who in any way represent the church's future, the idea of awaking Sunday mornings, piling the kids in the car, and going to Sunday school and worship… well, that isn't even on their radar. A church can build the biggest buildings with the best preaching and teaching and worship and it pretty much won't matter: people aren't going to come, no matter what the voice promised.

A longtime friend of mine, Dr. Arthur Crisco, asked me to do some volunteer writing for a Christian mission organization, for which he is the volunteer editor. Art requested me to write eighty short pieces on what he called The Jesus Story. The outline came from Dr. A.T. Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels. The eighty writings were going to be put into leaflet form. They were to be simple, for persons who may have never heard of Jesus or possess a Bible.When I completed the assignment, Art suggested that I put them in book form for use as a personal devotional or study guide for groups. This book is the result of revising and reducing those writings to two pages each.

Parson's Porch Books is delighted to present to you this series called Sermons Matter.We believe that many of the best writers are pastors who take the role of preacher seriously. Week in, and week out, they exegete scripture, research material, write and deliver sermons in the context of the life of their particular congregation in their given community.We further believe that sermons are extensions of Holy Scripture which need to be published beyond the manuscripts which are written for delivery each Sunday. Books serve as a vehicle for the sermon to continue to proclaim the Good News of the Morning to a broader audience.In this book of sermons, Katina Sharp provides for us a nest of sermons which are imaginative and provocative. Her style and skill as a preacher is evident in the content and structure of each sermon. The book serves as a resource for other preachers and readers alike.We celebrate the wonderful occasion of the preaching event in Christian worship when the Pastor speaks, the People listen and the Work of the Church proceeds.Take, Read, and Heed.

"Holiday" means "holy day", a concept that has its roots in communities where people have lived their lives according to a religious calendar. The Christian Church moves to a different rhythm than does much of society around it. That is what Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost-all the seasons of the Church year-are about. Following the seasons of the Church year, and celebrating the high holy days, is a way we remember who we are and to whom we belong. We are reminded that this world is God's world, despite the way things often look.Of course, Christians know that all days and seasons are holy, even those the Church calls Ordinary Time. At times through the year, the Church's high holy days converge with days that in some ways the culture around us remembers, and in some sense marks as holy. Continually, there are events in our society and the world that demand a faithful word from the pulpit. These sermons follow much of the Christian year, seeking to speak to the ways Jesus and the Scriptures challenge and guide our living of these days.

The sermon in this collection titled "Open Hearts, Willing Spirits" describes a time in Pat's life when she experienced God making a "way open" in her life, when God called her out of her previous life and into this thing she and I call "ministry." I happened to be present when she received this call, as she notes, and I happened to walk alongside her as she responded to it, but the journey is all hers - all her courage, all her openness, all her vulnerability.And now, it seems clear to me from reading the sermons in this collection, she has brought all of those experiences of her life, and all of her gifts as a writer, into her new life as a preacher. I think it was because she was a writer before she became a pastor that she knew how to tell a story, that she could take people with her words from point A to point B, that she was able to communicate important truths.

I am grateful for this opportunity to share some of the work that I have prayed and labored over for more than forty years. Try as I might, I have never completed a sermon manuscript and thought to myself: "There, it's done." Sermons, I believe, are, by the power of the Holy Spirit, more than completed manuscripts or extemporaneous words-eloquent or simple-proclaimed by the preacher, but a means by which God speaks a word that sometimes challenges, frequently comforts, and always communicates the good news of what God has done and is doing through Jesus Christ in our lives and the life of the world.I would be remiss if I did not thank David Russell Tullock for the invitation to submit these sermons for publication, my friend Will Deming for his kind words in the Foreword to this book, and my wife Mary Schutt Weaver, who edited the manuscript and who for almost fifty years has encouraged me, listened to me Sunday after Sunday, and gently offered constructive criticism along the way. Being a preacher's spouse is no easy task, and she has fulfilled her role with grace, humor, and steadfastness. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the late Elizabeth Achtemeier, who taught me and others homiletics at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Her voice has echoed in my mind many times as I crafted Sunday sermons.

This book is a poetic memoir of the Robert Lewis and Jessie Pearl Cole family. Saint Augustine said that God loves each one of us as though each is the only one to love. My parents never read Augustine's Confessions, but they lived the truth of this faith statement. They daily loved each of their thirteen children as though each was the only one to love. This book is dedicated to them.

This study is about dialogue, exploration, and strengthening faith. The objective is to have people explore the details of their beliefs and feelings about their personal faith, and its application to modern life. The hope is that all participants will grow in understanding and adoration of God.

I believe that God put him in my path at just the right time. We hope that you will enjoy these vignettes, as they are composites of women that Wayne ministered to during his forty-seven years of ministry. He has given us much in these stories that are charming, humorous, and insightful. Thank you, my dear Wayne, for sharing your gifts with the world.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pals, Pets, Pigs, and Potatoes!Pals, Pets, Pigs, and Potatoes was produced as a service-learning project by Cleveland State Community College English Composition II students in a unique partnership with Taylor Elementary School first grade students. The two groups of talented students wrote and illustrated the amazing stories making up this delightful collection.Literacy and creativity are important aspects of growing up, but we don't always realize how important they are for adult lives. In the same way that reading is necessary, we often need creative thinking to function well in our jobs, homes, and families. As with any skill, practice helps performance. This project was challenging at times for the college students, but they will certainly not forget this exercise in creativity. For the children who participated, we hope they can keep using those creative skills. For our readers, we hope this book of fun short stories will bring grins and giggles. Read on to meet the loveable and zany characters of Pals, Pets, Pigs, and Potatoes!

In this book I am sharing one basic truth: God saves us to transform us into Christ's image and to flow through us in the saving of others. This truth is so important to God that He mentions it over and over again in the Bible. It can hardly be missed, unless you have become blinded to it. And that can happen when we allow something else to take its place. Unfortunately, many western Christians no longer believe that a saved person must be a witness of Christ. Wrong conclusions about being "saved by grace" and being objects of "the love of God," have led many to a selfish, comfortable, passive lifestyle of unfruitfulness.

This book on the church of Thessalonica confronts us as Bible-believing Christians with the strategic and visionary way early followers of Christ understood the good news of the Gospel, internalized it and lived accordingly--with great impact. Rev. Dr. Ed Gross succeeds in confronting Christian readers with the amazing love of God in and through the life and witness of the Thessalonians. Through reading, reflection and discussion the reader will feel the pressure early Christians and those still persecuted faced, as well as the glorious hope they embraced in the midst of harsh conditions - and through it may experience growth in understanding discipleship and being true witnesses of the risen Christ.

In offering these sermons to a wider readership, I am seeking to repay a debt. It is a large debt, because in many ways my Christian life has been shaped and enriched by sermons, beginning with the sermons I heard in the church in Glasgow where I grew up and where Dr Harry Thompson made scripture vividly alive. My indebtedness continues through the numerous occasions when I have been ministered to by the sermons of others, including published sermons-as many of my footnotes will demonstrate.

f you have offspring and live long enough, you will hear them say, "Daddy, you've told that story before…a thousand times. I could even tell it for you and not miss a word." As the number of children increases the repetition multiplies because you forget to whom the story has been told. Well, you don't want anyone to feel left out of the fun, so you retell it anyway, while they plan for your time in a nursing home.

ON DECEMBER 28, 2012, BARBARA AND I celebrated our 50th year of marriage. Most of our friends would ask her, "Barbara, how did you put up with him all those years?" Admittedly, it has not been easy for her. She started dating me because she thought I needed help and she became my helpmate and soul mate. Today, she used her computer skills to show me how to cut and paste the manuscript of this book. She has been a fantastic mother to our three grown children, mother-in-law to our children's spouses, and grandmother to our three grandchildren. God has been the source of Barbara's strength. She has worked as a school teacher, church worker, Disaster Relief worker and homemaker. Most of all she has been a faithful, loving wife. Our stories are about our Christian walk. The success that we have had we attribute to our attempt to follow the steps of the Master Teacher, Jesus. We acknowledge that we owe much to Carson Newman University where we met, dated, married, where I taught for 35 years and where several members of our family have graduated. We are happy to continue to support CNU with financial resources and volunteering our time on campus. Over the 35 years at CNU I kept a file of my favorite quotations which are included throughout this book and are credited where possible.Thanks to Benita Claiborne, there are fewer mistakes in this book because of her fine eye for errors, to Bethany Carpenter for her computer skills in assisting with page arrangements, and to Dr. Connie Bull for proof reading the manuscript.Thank you to all who read my previous book, "Daddy, You Have Told This Before." A professional educator in Iowa read it and called me "the Will Rogers of Tennessee." A friend, who was a college president, said mine was the only book he had read twice, except for the Bible. Many responses from readers have been encouraging.

Many of the stories of women in the Bible have been sadly neglected. These imaginative interpretations of just a few of these remarkable characters give even familiar stories a fresh perspective and allows the listener to enter into their reality in a different way, bringing them to life once more. They allow us to capture the emotions of these very different women as we rediscover the eternal truths of faith and love, betrayal and grief, victories and defeats.Chancel drama need not be intimidating. It can be as elaborate or as simple as you like. These narratives have been performed as one woman playlets complete with costuming to sermons delivered from the pulpit while wearing just a simple scarf as a headdress.The sermons can also be used as the springboard for a group Bible study or a discussion on the roles of the characters in their own time as well as similarities and differences with our lives and times. Such groups do not need to be limited by gender as these narratives will touch the hearts and minds of both men and women with a deeper understand of their lives and the role they played in God's story of love and grace.Enjoy!

I have designed this book to help Christians who are ready to walk with Jesus. And especially for those who have had some basic training in the elements of NT Discipleship. As you start, if you are extremely blessed, you may become a disciple in 100 days. It took the Apostles over 1000 days in the direct, miraculous, personal presence of God, Himself! That is why 100 days might not be nearly enough time. But, with the Holy Spirit's help, it could be more than enough. And you could even find yourself so blessed that God uses you to start a Disciple Making Movement (DMM), which reaches your entire area for Christ! This has happened before and is happening today. Why not in and through you? God's great love is for you and your region, too!

The purpose of the study was to determine which factors related to congregational receptivity toward the use of visual media in preaching by exploring factors including generational group, gender, dogmatism, postmodernism, and postliteracy. The study consisted of a researcher-designed, cross-sectional quantitative survey of attitudes toward the use of visual media in preaching. The survey was completed by 113 respondents age fourteen or older at New Hope Community Church of the Nazarene in Tempe, Arizona. The research findings contradicted the popularly held notion tying age to receptivity toward visual media, and underscored the importance of pastoral integrity in a visual hermeneutic.

A Liturgical Resource for Year B.Chris Warren is Pastor of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro. He has a Master's Degree in Divinity from the Vanderbilt Divinity School, a Master's Degree in Music from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. He has served in many capacities in local congregations, at the presbytery, and General Assembly level for the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Reverend Warren is married to Reverend Joy Warren, and they have two wonderful children, Emma and Micah.

A Liturgical Resource for Year A.Chris Warren is Pastor of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro. He has a Master's Degree in Divinity from the Vanderbilt Divinity School, a Master's Degree in Music from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. He has served in many capacities in local congregations, at the presbytery, and General Assembly level for the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Reverend Warren is married to Reverend Joy Warren, and they have two wonderful children, Emma and Micah.

So what IS this book? That's a great question. At first, I suppose it could be said that it is a collection of writings, a hodgepodge if you will created but not really belonging to a collection. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, "hodgepodge" goes back to medieval times and referred to a stew made of items that did not belong together. None of those items were disgusting alone, but collectively, they just didn't work.Were that to happen here, I would be most disappointed. I have come to think of my writing, my little children of the mind, as one. Many years ago, I began going to a spiritual director, an Episcopal brother trained in the field, spiritually challenging and intuitive about matters divine. I went out of a sense that I needed a person and place where I could bring my life to someone who could help me see what God was up to, one who could give good feedback and call attention to important traces of the divine.I began to officially journal, though I had been doing so since college. Journaling is ultimately a dismal experience, for a good journal is meant to be burned just after death. This is so that the writer will be utterly honest and it is hard to be so forthright with an audience in one's mind. But it is dismal also because, as one looks back and rereads a journal, the writer is likely to also see that the same handful of limitations, blind spots and preoccupations that were present at the start of life are still there.