NB: This is the outline for the first service at Christ Church Introduction Often we confront problems in our individual lives, or in our families, and after we have exhausted all the possibilities in our hunt for a solution, we ask others to pray for us. “Oh,” some might be tempted to think. “Has it …
Enemies Subdued
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #182 “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall …
Ordered Glory
“Order is the strength and glory of all things” (Foxcroft, The Gospel Ministry, p. 36).
True Balance
Ministers should cultivate “a mixed air of simplicity and majesty, decent neatness and elegance, without flaunting pomp and gaiety” (Foxcroft, The Gospel Ministry, p. 34).
Persuasion to What?
My adaptation of Weaver is: Rhetoric is persuasive communication in the service of Truth that creates an informed appetite for the Good” (Overstreet, Persuasive Preaching, p. 27)
Two Adams
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #181 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even …
The Rosetta Stone of Sermons
“We ought to preach in such a way that, if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then our sermons are utterly incomprehensible” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 83).
Mission, Vocation, and Body Life
Introduction: As you have heard here before, mission is not something the church does on the side. Mission is at the heart of what the church is. And so, outreach, mission, evangelism, church planting all amount to the same thing. In this fallen world, the church should be about two things—birth and growth, and mission …
So Not Just an Indoor Job With No Heavy Lifting
“Preaching is hard work, requiring the cultivation of a host of skills that are difficult to develop” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 72).
A Pitiable Lot
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #180 “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:18–19). If the dead are not raised, then …