Joel B. Green

Carolyn J. Sharp

Luke A. Powery

Thomas G. Long

Cynthia L. Rigby

Designed to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary. This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to other readings and to the congregation's experience of worship. Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Season after Pentecost

Connections: Year B, Volume 3

In Proclaiming the Parables, noted preacher and scholar Thomas G. Long moves away from past treatment of the parables primarily as literary devices and moves toward an emphasis on their theological impact as pointers to the kingdom of God. While the parables are indeed significant poetic literary creations that have enchanted readers over the centuries, their main power, he claims, lies in their disclosure of the kingdom of God, which is not merely an idea, nor even just a complex symbol with generative and centrifugal force, but an event: the inbreaking of the life of God into human history and experience. Long sees parables not merely as creative figures of speech but as GPS devices taking hearers to those places where the event of God is happening all around us. This book provides two chapters for each synoptic Gospel. The first focuses on the Gospel as a whole and the parables’ place in it, and the second provides preachers and teachers with detailed exegetical and homiletical commentary for each major parable in that Gospel. Two introductory chapters additionally situate this book in the history and theology of the parables’ interpretation and address questions that preachers have about preaching the parables. Preachers who consult this volume will be informed about each major parable, guided through the controversies regarding interpretation, and stimulated to preach on the parable in fresh, faithful, and creative ways.

Preaching and Teaching the Kingdom of God

Proclaiming the Parables

Thomas G. Long's insightful commentary on the Pastoral Epistles argues that these often-neglected letters are urgently important for readers today. Some of the issues faced by New Testament churches are ours as well: the lure and peril of "spirituality" for Christians, the character of authentic worship, the qualities needed for sound leadership, and the relationship between family life and the church. Long's interpretations of these books consider contemporary exegetical and theological outlooks and are presented through his seasoned homiletical and pastoral perspectives. Pastors will be strengthened by Long's view that the Pastoral Epistles can refresh our memory about what really counts in the Christian community and how important trustworthy leaders are.

A Theological Commentary on the Bible

1 & 2 Timothy and Titus

Thomas Lynch

"Before long I began to understand that showing up, being there, helping in an otherwise helpless situation was made heroic by the same gravity I had sensed when I first stood in that embalming room as a boythe presence of the dead made the presence of the living more meaningful somehow, as if it involved a basic and intuitively human duty to witness." from Chapter 1, "How We Come to Be the Ones We Are" Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lensesone as a preacher and one as a funeral directorThomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else with an interest in current funeral practices.

Death, Grief, and the Community of Care

The Good Funeral

Leonora Tubbs Tisdale

Preachings most able practitioners gather in this book to explore and explain the idea that preaching is a practice that can be taught and learned. Arguing that preaching is a living practice with a long tradition, an identifiable shape, and a broad set of norms and desired outcomes, these noted scholars propose that teachers initiate students into the larger practice of preaching, in ways somewhat like other students are initiated into the practice of medicine or law. The book concludes with designs for a basic preaching course and addresses the question of how preaching courses fit into the larger patterns of seminary curricula.

A New Approach to Homiletical Pedagogy

Teaching Preaching as a Christian Practice

Designed to empower preachers as they lead congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary. This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading in the three-year lectionary cycle by viewing that reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to the other readings and to the congregations experience of worship. Connections is published in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Year A, Volume 3, Season After Pentecost

Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship

Previously published under the title Shepherds and Bathrobes, this series of model sermons for Advent/Christmas includes such topics as John the Baptist's preaching in the wilderness, the Word made flesh, and a sound and light show on the mountaintop. Long's sermons demonstrate how preaching can be more like watching a movie than listening to a collection of ideas. They abound in a rich variety of fresh images and stories which flesh out the familiar passages and prepare both preachers and listeners for incarnational celebrations of Advent and Christmas. Wade P. Huie, Jr. Professor of Homiletics Emeritus Columbia Theological Seminary Decatur, Georgia The title says it: these are earthy sermons in which a believable voice tells our human story, recites our literature and drama, reports the news that is our daily lot, and does all this with a sharp eye for the Bible's images, a keen ear for the Tradition's youthful voices. A fine example of preaching. Charles L. Rice Professor of Homiletics Drew University Theological School Madison, New Jersey Thomas G. Long is Francis Landey Patton Professor of Preaching and Worship at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of many books and is one of the most well-known teachers of preachers in America.

Sermons for Advent and Christmas

Something Is about to Happen

The original audience for the Gospel of Matthew included converts from Judaism who wrestled with how to be faithful to Jesus Christ under difficult circumstances in a changing world. The Gospel of Matthew became a first-aid manual for this church in the midst of a struggle. Thomas Long identifies this first audience and its faith within the social and religious context of the day and clarifies the structure of the Gospel. Providing examples of contemporary relevance, Long helps today's reader discern the significance of this guide for faithful living in today's church. Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Matthew

Reviews the beliefs, customs, and rituals associated with Christian funerals; discusses the growing acceptance of cremation and memorial services; and explains how to plan a spiritually meaningful funeral service.

The Christian Funeral

Accompany Them with Singing

Lent through Pentecost

Connections: Year B, Volume 2

Cornelius Plantinga

In the interest of providing exemplary models of sermons, the editors have compiled examples that display excellence in form, aim, style, and content. Developed and delivered by renowned pastors, theologians, and homileticians, the thirty-six entries in this volume include sermons that make artful use of sources, pursue classic aims, and exhibit particular homiletic forms.

Model Sermons for Today's Preacher

A Chorus of Witnesses

Neely Dixon McCarter

This excellent resource provides help for ministers who must plan their sermons not only according to the liturgical church year but also in response to the secular calendar of national holidays and public ceremonies, and in response to the program calendar of local and denominational emphases. Individual chapters discuss preaching about racial relations; family, church, and nation; the global witness of the church; work; evangelism; stewardship; and giving thanks. Suggestions for sermons on each theme are provided as well.

Preaching in and Out of Season

• A straightforward treatment of the only existential issue that matters from the Christian perspective • The author is a renowned preacher, esteemed homiletician, and well-published author In What Happens When We Die? Tom Long provides information about the promises and convictions of the Christian gospel concerning death and life after death. He surveys in simple terms the major themes surrounding death, dying, and hope for an afterlife.

A Little Book of Guidance

What Happens When We Die?

Tsunamis, earthquakes, famines, diseases, wars &mdash these and other devastating forces lead Christians to ask painful questions. Is God all-powerful? Is God good? How can God allow so much innocent human suffering? These questions, taken together, have been called the "theodicy problem," and in this book Thomas Long explores what preachers can and should say in response. Long reviews the origins and history of the theodicy problem and engages the work of major thinkers who have posed solutions to it. Cautioning pastors not to ignore urgent theodicy-related questions arising from their parishioners, he offers biblically based approaches to preaching on theodicy, guided by Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares and the "greatest theodicy text in Scripture" -- the book of Job.

Evil, Suffering, and the Crisis of Faith

What Shall We Say?

This thorough revision of this classic text is even clearer and more helpful than the first edition. Long has updated the language, expanded the key chapter on biblical exegesis, and has included more examples of sermon forms, illustrations, and conclusions.

The Witness of Preaching

In this compelling and hard-hitting book, respected preacher and teacher Thomas Long identifies and responds to what he sees as the most substantive theological forces and challenges facing preaching today. The issues, he says, are fourfold: the decline in the quality of narrative preaching and the need for its reinvigoration; the tendency of preachers to ignore God's action and presence in our midst; the return of the church's old nemesis, gnosticism--albeit in a milder form--evidenced in today's new "spirituality"; and the absence of eschatology in the pulpit. Long once again has his finger on the pulse of American preaching, demonstrated by his creative responses to these challenges. Whether he is calling for theologically smarter and more ethically discerning preaching, providing a method of interpretation that will allow pastors to recover the emphasis on God in our midst, or encouraging a kind of "interfaith dialogue" with gnosticism, he demonstrates why he has long been considered one of the most thoughtful and intelligent preachers in America today.

Thomas G. Long

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