The social distancing measures that have been prescribed in the attempt to “flatten the curve” of the Coronavirus pandemic, have resulted in the unprecedented (in our lifetime) necessity of celebrating the events of Holy Week and the season of Easter in relative isolation in our homes.
In the attempt to encourage the faithful, and also recognizing that many people now have additional time on their hands, I will be aiming to make available some audio and video of previously recorded sermons and lectures.
Last summer, one of my Good Friday sermons, “The Death of an Extremist” appeared in the journal Theodidaktos published by the Evangelical Mennonite Conference. I was able to track down an audio recording of the service in which the sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Community Church in Scarborough, ON in 2009.
I’ve had the privilege of spending this week with the Doctor of Ministry cohort at Providence Theological Seminary leading them a week-long intensive course entitled “Thinking and Interpreting Theologically.” While not large in size, the members of the cohort manage to represent both coasts of Canada, the province of Manitoba, and the country of Nigeria. Continue reading The Meaning of a Sermon: Some Wisdom from Flannery O’Connor→
Fleming Rutledge recently delivered the Parchman Lectures at Truett Divinity School located at Baylor University on the theme “By the Word Worked: The Unique Power of Biblical Preaching.” I recently had the opportunity to watch the first two lectures which are available for public viewing through the Parchman Lectures Media Library.
In the second half of the first lecture, Rutledge incisively identified four trends that weaken the power of contemporary preaching, before positing five counter-affirmations about the power of the preached word. In what follows, I’ll attempt to summarize her important observations, in the hope of encouraging interested readers to watch the lecture itself. Continue reading Powerful Preaching: Fleming Rutledge’s Parchman Lectures→
Over the summer, my Good Friday sermon “The Death of an Extremist” appeared as the Feature Sermon in an issue of Theodidaktos on the theme of “Atonement: What is the Message of the Cross?” Theodidaktos is published by the Evangelical Mennonite Conference. The sermon goes back to my time serving as a congregational pastor in Toronto, but it is one of my favourites, narrowly missing the cut for inclusion in Leaps of Faith.Continue reading “The Death of an Extremist”: A Good Friday Sermon→
Last night I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of my copy of The Word is Near You: Seeds of the Reformation. The book is a collection of sermons edited by Peter Robinson that were preached in the chapel at Wycliffe College last year to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. I was honoured by the invitation to preach as part of the series and am now delighted to see my sermon on Matthew 28: 16-20 in print alongside other sermons from the distinguished faculty at Wycliffe. The book is available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle. Continue reading The Word is Near You→
“This is Trinity Sunday. Across Christendom preachers are trying to explain “Trinity” to their congregations. God is one, but God is three. How can one be three we ask? Attempts to explain the Trinity I fear often result not only in dull sermons but, even worse, heresy. Even more debilitating is the reality that the heresy evoked by such attempts is not recognized as heresy. It is not even clear if the person that represents the heresy thinks being a heretic is a “bad thing.” Continue reading The Plague of Trinity Sunday Preaching (Series on “Minding the Web”)→
