Craft of Preaching

Luke Powery considers ways for preachers to navigate difficult scripture passages, including Psalm 137 (Pent 17C/Ord. 27C) and Mark 10 (Pent 20B/Ord. 27B). …

No one is exempt from a strong searching of the heart. That’s the first thing that we should notice about these selected verses from Mark 7. The Pharisees, …

If you have already listened to Sermon Brainwave for this week, then you probably know what I am going to say right out of the gate -- add verses 70-71 …

Wow. It sure doesn’t take long to go from grumbling to arguing, from complaining to quarreling. And it seems it doesn’t take much, either. I …

I’ve always been puzzled by the idea of the unforgivable sin, identified in Mark as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30).

The passage …

The Gospel of John is a dangerous book. In the hands of those who need or want a God who chooses sides, a God they can control, a God who excludes, a God …

My first call was in a mixed-race neighborhood, across the street from a public middle school. The playground in our front yard was a beautiful reflection …

Dear Working Preachers, have you noticed that signs are often misinterpreted? While we count on them to point us in the right direction, with everything …

I know what you’re thinking, Dear Working Preachers. Five weeks of John 6. The bane of a preacher’s existence. Wishing you had taken a vacation, …

Preaching in a spiritual mode, as the Rev. Luke Powery puts it, is preaching with an awareness of the spiritual, homiletical tradition, with the way we …

My preaching turned to food around eight years ago when I grew tired of visiting members of my church in the hospital for diet-related illnesses. I wanted …

Deserted places are critical places. They are not always comfortable, although here in Mark Jesus seems to imply that they are. But that would be a grand …

In preaching Paul, the Rev. Otis Moss III describes his experience of immersion to the culture and politics of the era the more he reads into the Pauline …

I have a confession: I have had the tendency, throughout my life, to be the type of person where when things get too hard, I quit.

It’s not something …

Here’s the thing, Dear Working Preachers. We all know that Mark’s Gospel is the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of the Jesus’ …