Should preaching be pastoral or prophetic? Should preaching comfort the afflicted or afflict the comfortable? How do preachers decide what kind of balance to… Read More »How Challenging/Inviting is Your Preaching?
In his book “The Witness of Preaching” Thomas Long summarizes the three choices preachers face in terms of what materials we take to the… Read More »Notes or Not?
Over the years I’ve taught preaching in university courses and mentored a number of preaching apprentices and preachers-in-training. This series summarizes some of the most… Read More »A Real Three-Point Sermon (Preaching Point #19)
Over the years I’ve taught preaching in university courses and mentored a number of preaching apprentices and preachers-in-training. This series summarizes some of the most basic yet most useful preaching points I’ve emphasized in these settings.
I hope you’ll join the fantastic Jim Martin and me as we teach “Preaching That Connects” at Harding School of Theology (Memphis, TN) Feb. 28-Mar. 7, 2013. This D. Min. course promises to be practical and inspiring.
Preaching Point #18: The Community Factor – Preaching can increase its impact by being prepared and presented in ways that utilize and build community.
Community is highly valued in our culture. Postmoderns are relational. There is an increasing focus up on our interdependence and our need for networks of relationships.
Community is also highly valued in our Gospel. God is one in three. God exists in community. God’s very essence is community. In addition, God created for community (Gen. 1-2). He embeded community (Adam and Eve) into creation. Further, God’s mission has always involved the formation of a community not simply a collection of individuals (e.g., the formation of Israel, the establishment of the church). In addition, Jesus conducted his ministry in community not in isolation (hence his selection of the Twelve). And, the Gospel was intended to create community and tear down the barriers and walls which isolate us from one another (e.g., Ephesians 1-3 and the power of the Gospel to unite Jew and Gentile).