Faith in the Risen One gives us a degree of certainty, even in the face of the trials of those around us, in our core understanding of self and world, for this faith relies on a person.
Any other foundation than the Gospel of Jesus Christ for shaping a reliable character will be inadequate, for all other foundations focus our lives on ourselves or some creature of God.
Dear preachers, if you recoil at the prospect of sermons which are generated by algorithmic bots, then here is a first step in your resistance: Make your preparation to preach more analog.
Willimon is living testimony that there is plenty of humor as well as pathos in being a pastor. This rambunctious Methodist preacher adds ample spice to the homiletical stew he doles out.
More easily than we think, our failure to respect and fear, love and trust in God above all things, can eat away at our peace, our joy, our life itself.
Preach the whole story, the whole macro narrative through the themes of Epiphany: light, illumination, baptism, enlightenment and divine glorification through Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate Advent and Christmas, we flex the muscles of a new season, a new year, a new life which His resurrection and our baptisms have bestowed upon us.
Advent is a time of expectation, it is a time of remembrance, it is a time of hope, and it is especially a time of preparation by faith for all His comings.
Advent is something of a liturgical speed bump that slows us down lest we rush to Christmas but forget that the baby born in Bethlehem will return with glory and power to judge the living and the dead.