If you’re in the Winnipeg area on November 1, think about joining us at Providence Theological Seminary for my upcoming public lecture, “A Plea for Pointless Preaching.” My colleague Lissa Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, will be responding to the presentation. Here’s a little teaser for the lecture to whet your appetite: (more…)
The Canadian Society of Presbyterian History has released videos of the papers that were presented this past Saturday at the CSPH annual meeting at Knox College in Toronto. Here’s the video of my presentation of a paper entitled, “Teaching Preaching in a Time of Cultural Change: The Forgotten Story of John J.A. Proudfoot, Knox College.”
I’m currently in the midst of what has turned out to be a “Farewell to Ontario” preaching tour. This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching at North Park Worship Centre in Brampton, Ontario, where my friend and former student Rev. Dr. Mark Lawrence is the Assistant Pastor. It was refreshing to preach in a context where people are disappointed if you don’t preach for forty minutes. (Although, preaching forty minute sermons at consecutive services did test my physical endurance!) It was also a great encouragement to be commissioned and prayed for by God’s people. (more…)
For anyone who happens to be in the north part of Toronto this coming Wednesday morning, I will be preaching at the Tyndale University College and Seminary Chapel. The service begins at 11:15 am and is open to the public.
Those who missed my presentation at last year’s Wycliffe College Preaching Day will have an additional opportunity to join me in reflecting upon the realities of preaching with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I will be leading a workshop at the upcoming Tyndale Preaching Conference on March 6 on the theme “Confessing Christ in Troubled Times: Bonhoeffer as a Resource for Preachers.” You can find more information about the conference and how to register here. (more…)
On November 2, I had the privilege of preaching at Morning Prayer at Wycliffe College in the faculty preaching series, entitled “The Word is Near You: Seeds of Reformation.” It was a privilege to join the distinguished faculty of Wycliffe College in this Reformation-themed preaching series and to preach from a pulpit that has, over the years, welcomed an impressive collection of archbishops, leading preachers, and distinguished theologians. My assigned text was Matthew 28: 16-20. You can listen to a recording of the sermon here. For those not familiar with Wycliffe, in the first few sentences of the sermon I am riffing on the titles of books written by members of the Wycliffe faculty.
In the 18th Joseph Smith Memorial Lecture delivered at Overdale College in Birmingham, England in 1979, published as a pamphlet under the title “Preaching Christ Today”, Lesslie Newbigin suggested that the crucial issue facing preachers today is discerning the proper relationship between Law and Gospel. (Interestingly, this was also a pressing concern for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his seminarians in the mid-30s.) (more…)
This is the seventeenth in a series of posts engaging with the sermons in Leaps of Faith: Sermons from the Edge. This post is a reflection upon a sermon entitled “The Clothes Make the Man” (pp. 57-65). The Scriptural text for the sermon was Colossians 3:12-17. (more…)
This is the sixteenth in a series of posts engaging with the sermons in Leaps of Faith: Sermons from the Edge. This post is a reflection upon a baptismal sermon entitled “Thoughtfully Following through the Waters” (pp. 145-153). The Scriptural text for the sermon was Exodus 14:1-31. (more…)
